Russian shelling kills three on Ukraine’s Independence Day
At least three people were killed and at least 18 were injured in Russian attacks across the Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, and Sumy Oblasts on August 24, according to the National Police.
A house in the Donetsk region was shelled by Russia on August 24, 2025One civilian was killed in each of the Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Sumy regions.
The deceased were an 82-year-old woman in Kupiansk who died in an artillery attack, and two people from the Novoslobidska hromada – a local government area that includes one or more nearby settlements – in the Sumy region and Drobysheve in the Donetsk region, whose identities were not disclosed.
In addition to the fatalities, a total of 15 civilians were wounded across these regions, with the highest number of injuries reported in the Sumy region. Among the injured were residents of Kostiantynivka, which was struck by six Russian FAB-250 bombs containing 550 pounds of explosives each.
An apartment building in the Donetsk region ablaze after a Russian strike on August 24, 2025
A building in the Donetsk region was shelled by the Russian army, with a large part of the structure destroyed after the strike
Firefighters attempt to extinguish a fire in a residential building in the Donetsk region that was hit by a Russian shelling on Aug. 24, 2025Three people were wounded in the Kherson region: an elderly man from Antonivka and two city residents in Kherson. Their injuries were a result of Russian artillery and drone strikes.
A police officer in the Sumy region measures the size of a crater left by a Russian shell or its fragments in a private house’s yardExplosions were also reported in the Chernihiv and Zaporizhzhia regions; however, no casualties were reported. Significant damage was sustained; for example, in the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian forces launched 500 strikes on 13 settlements in one day.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion, more than 13,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine. The number of civilian casualties has continued to rise this summer, a trend that began last year as the Russian army increasingly used indiscriminate weapons and changed its attack tactics.
By way of background, U.S. President Donald Trump didn’t impose harsh sanctions on Russia on August 8, as he had earlier promised.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s statements in an interview with NBC confirmed that the Russian Federation is not going to halt its war. Lavrov had earlier disseminated the false thesis that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lacks the legitimacy required to sign legal documents with Russia. Ukraine’s Constitution scheduled the next presidential elections for March 2024. However, martial law prohibits any elections in Ukraine during this period.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s statements about President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s alleged illegitimacy absurd, noting that Russia’s head of state has not changed in more than 25 years. Sybiha said Lavrov has “no legitimacy whatsoever” to speak about legitimacy.
“Such unfounded statements demonstrate that Russia rejects peaceful efforts,” he stated.
Meanwhile, U.S. Vice President JD Vance described Russia’s alleged readiness to abandon the goal of installing a puppet regime in Kyiv and its supposed willingness to accept certain security guarantees for Ukraine as “significant concessions” to America regarding the war in Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia’s statements claiming it would not advance further into Ukraine are not concessions. The President of Ukraine noted that discussing such ideas falls outside international law.
Zelensky has stressed that there is no alternative to putting pressure on Russia and announced that Ukraine is making new diplomatic efforts to end the war with Russia.
“Right now, the signals coming from Russia are, to be honest, simply obscene. They’re trying to wriggle out of the need to hold a meeting. They don’t want to end this war; they’re continuing to carry out large-scale attacks on Ukraine and fierce assaults on the front line. On top of that, they’ve launched missiles at a US-owned plant – as they have at many other civilian targets,” the President said.
He also stressed that he views Russia’s attack on a US-owned plant in Mukachevo, the Zakarpattia Oblast, as a targeted strike on American property and US investments.
