In Kharkiv region, Russian military killed an elderly family by targeting their car with a drone
Russian forces killed two civilians on August 19, 2025, when they struck a car with an FPV drone in the Kharkiv Oblast, according to Ukraine’s National Police in Kharkiv Oblast.
A Russian combat drone hit a civilian car — a ZAZ-1103 Slavuta – on a road near the village of Petrivka in the Zolochiv hromada, a local government area that includes one or more nearby settlements, at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.
The attack by Russians killed the 70-year-old driver and his 71-year-old passenger.
Police investigators, forensic experts, and bomb disposal experts responded to the scene.
Investigators opened a criminal case under Article 438 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code (war crimes).
Ukrainian Air Force Command also reported that Russia attacked Ukraine with two Iskander-M ballistic missiles and 93 Shahed drones Monday night into Tuesday. By 9 a.m., Ukrainian air defense units had shot down and jammed one Iskander-M ballistic missile and 62 Shahed UAVs and decoy drones over the country’s north and east.
Russian missiles and drones struck 20 locations.
Ukrainian aircraft, anti-aircraft missile units, electronic warfare assets, unmanned systems units, and mobile fire groups repelled the aerial attack.
Earlier, Bohdan Bernatskyy, a member of the Sanctions Policy Working Group of the Crimean Platform Expert Network, revealed at the Third Parliamentary Summit in Latvia that over 1,300 Russian military companies and 2 million industrial workers continue to operate, many without international restrictions.
As is known, China, North Korea, India and Brazil also assist Moscow in killing citizens of Ukraine in Russia’s war, including funding the Russian budget through trade.
Western intelligence agencies and media outlets have increasingly documented a sophisticated network of Chinese technology transfers bolstering Russia’s military capabilities in Ukraine. According to assessments from US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, made on May 2, 2025, China has helped shift momentum in Russia’s favor in the Ukraine war by providing Moscow with technology.
The technology pipeline operates through dual-use exports—civilian technologies with military applications. These include advanced semiconductors, precision manufacturing equipment, and communications technology that Russian forces are incorporating into weapons systems and battlefield communications. Unlike direct military aid, these transfers occur through legitimate commercial channels, making them difficult to track and sanction.
China continues to purchase Russian oil, funding Russia’s military budget. Reuters reported that refineries in China are actively purchasing Russian oil, taking advantage of the opportunity to acquire petroleum products at discounted prices, which India has refused to purchase due to pressure from Washington.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused India of profiteering from its sharply increased purchases of Russian oil during Russia’s war in Ukraine, saying Washington viewed the situation as unacceptable. Bessent told CNBC in an interview that Russian oil now accounted for 42% of India’s total oil purchases, up from under 1% before the war, and contrasted that with longtime buyer China, whose Russian oil purchases had increased to 16% from 13%.
