Key developments on Aug. 13:
- Trump to push ceasefire in Alaska meeting with Putin, says Zelensky after call with US president
- Ukraine strikes oil facility in western Russia in overnight drone attack, Kyiv confirms
- Ukraine open to discussing aerial truce with Russia, Zelensky's aide says
- Over 121,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine identified by media investigation
- Russia aims to build 79,000 Shahed-type drones in 2025, Ukraine's military intelligence says
- Germany pledges $500 million for NATO-led US weapons supply to Ukraine
U.S. President Donald Trump held a video call with President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders on Aug. 13, just two days before his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
"We talked about a ceasefire today. President Trump said this is one of his priorities in conversation with President Putin," Zelensky said after the call during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
"I very much hope that some agreement will be reached, because so far all the talks held with Putin... have ended only with him increasing military presence, intensifying attacks."
The leaders of Finland, France, the U.K., Italy, Poland, the EU, and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte attended the video conference.
According to Merz, European leaders are doing everything possible to steer the planned meeting between Trump and Putin "in the right direction."
"We want the correct sequence: first, a ceasefire — this must be at the very beginning. Later, there may be a framework agreement. Third, Ukraine is ready to negotiate on talks and territorial issues, but our starting point is the contact line," the chancellor said.
"We have addressed several important points. We made it clear that Ukraine must be at the negotiating table if there is to be a follow-up meeting."
The German chancellor also pointed out that the issue of legally recognizing territories occupied in violation of international law "is not up for discussion."
Following the call, the U.S. president described the conversation as "very friendly," saying he would "rate it a 10." He also noted the possibility of a second meeting after his planned summit with Putin.
"There's a very good chance that we're going to have a second meeting, which will be more productive than the first, because the first is that I'm going to find out where we are and what we're doing," Trump said during a visit to the Kennedy Center in Washington.
A source cited by Axios said Trump told the leaders that he could not make final decisions on territorial issues but believed "land swaps" would likely be part of any peace agreement.
The call comes as Kyiv and its European partners seek to present a united front before the Trump-Putin Alaska summit on Aug. 15 amid concerns that the two leaders might cut a deal unfavorable to Ukraine and Europe, according to Reuters.
Trump has described the upcoming Alaska talks as a "feel-out" meeting in his efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war. He has said both Kyiv and Moscow would need to cede territory to reach a deal, a stance that has alarmed European capitals and Kyiv.
In a press conference on Aug. 11, Trump confirmed Zelensky would not attend the Alaska meeting with Putin, saying "he wasn't part of it." Trump added that he ultimately intends to bring the Ukrainian and Russian presidents together, either with him present or not.
Since returning to office in January, Trump has pledged to broker a swift peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow — efforts that quickly stalled as Russia repeatedly rejected a ceasefire and pushed maximalist demands during peace talks with Ukraine in Istanbul.
This led to the U.S. president adopting a more critical tone on Russia and threatening additional sanctions, though he did not unveil any new measures by his most recent deadline to reach a peace deal on Aug. 8. U.S.-Russian diplomatic engagement gained fresh momentum last week after Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, met Putin in Moscow, leading to an agreement on the summit between leaders.
Publicly, Putin has demanded a ban on Ukraine's NATO membership and a full Ukrainian withdrawal from partially occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, among other conditions.
Zelensky has rejected the possibility of recognizing the Russian occupation of Ukrainian territory and ceding additional land, calling for a ceasefire as the first step toward peace negotiations, a position supported by Kyiv's European allies.
The EU has publicly welcomed Trump's diplomatic efforts while signalling steadfast support for Ukraine and urging increased pressure on Moscow. Kaja Kallas, the bloc's chief diplomat, has announced that the EU would start working on the 19th package of sanctions.
Ukraine strikes oil facility in western Russia in overnight drone attack, Kyiv confirms
Ukrainian drones struck a major oil pumping station in Russia's Bryansk Oblast overnight on Aug. 13, according to the Ukrainian military and the Kyiv Independent's source in the military intelligence agency (HUR).
The news comes as Ukraine escalates long-range drone strikes against Russian oil facilities, with the Russian oil industry being a key source of revenue that helps fund Moscow's aggression in Ukraine.
Ukrainian drones targeted the Unecha oil pumping station, part of the Transneft Druzhba pipeline network, sparking a large fire, the intelligence source told the Kyiv Independent.
The facility is one of the largest nodes in the Druzhba system, which spans about 9,000 kilometers (5,600 miles) and is used to supply Russia's defense industry. The operation was carried out in coordination with Ukraine's Armed Forces, the source said.
Ukraine's General Staff separately confirmed the attack, saying the Unecha station facilitates the transport for two pipelines with an annual capacity of 60 million metric tons.
"Damage and a large fire were recorded in the area of the support pumping station building," the military said, adding that explosions near oil tanks were also reported.
Unecha lies roughly 60 kilometers (35 miles) from the Russia-Ukraine border.
Russia's Defense Ministry said its air defenses intercepted and destroyed 46 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones across multiple regions overnight.
According to the ministry, 15 drones were downed over Bryansk Oblast, 11 over Volgograd Oblast, seven over Rostov Oblast, five over Krasnodar Krai, two each over the Belgorod and Voronezh oblasts, two over Russian-occupied Crimea, and two over the Sea of Azov.
In Krasnodar Krai, drone debris fell on the territory of a refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban, igniting a truck, regional authorities said. There were no casualties reported.
Independent Russian outlet Astra reported, citing local residents, that other suspected strikes occurred near oil facilities, including in Volgograd. Debris from a drone fell onto the roof of a 16-story apartment building in Volgograd, prompting an evacuation, Astra reported.
The building is located in a district where the Lukoil-Volgogradneftepererabotka, one of Russia's largest oil refineries, has previously been targeted.
In Belgorod, a civilian facility was hit by a Ukrainian drone, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov claimed. No casualties were reported. The blast reportedly caused a fire, damaged windows, and damaged the building's facade.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims.
Ukraine open to discussing aerial truce with Russia, Zelensky's aide says
Ukraine is open to considering a ceasefire in the sky with Russia, even though Moscow has so far rejected similar scenarios, presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said in an interview with Corriere della Sera published on Aug. 12.
The comments come a few days before a high-stakes summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Aug. 15, part of Washington's efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
"Russia is unlikely to abandon the use of strategic aviation or large-scale drone deployments," Podolyak told the Italian newspaper when asked about a possible aerial truce.
"However, Ukraine is ready to discuss and consider this scenario, and sees it as the initial phase in reaching realistic negotiating positions."
Discussions about a mutual halt on aerial strikes have emerged on several occasions during the full-scale war.
Podolyak noted that a ceasefire in the sky would also be part of a comprehensive truce previously proposed by Washington. In March, Ukraine supported a U.S. proposal for a full 30-day truce during talks in Saudi Arabia.
Moscow has repeatedly refused to accept an unconditional ceasefire, only declaring temporary truces on several occasions, which Ukraine dismissed as a sham.
As Trump renewed his diplomatic push to broker a peace deal, Bloomberg reported on Aug. 5 that the Kremlin is weighing a proposal to pause its long-range strike campaign, even as it remains committed to continuing ground offensives.
No such offer has been publicly announced. Earlier in the week, a source close to Ukraine's Presidential Office told the Kyiv Independent that the claim was likely false and spread by Russia.
Throughout the full-scale war, Russia has battered Ukraine with missile attacks and drones, inflicting heavy civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure.
In turn, Ukraine has launched a campaign of long-range drone attacks against Russian energy facilities and military sites deep in the rear.
Over 121,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine identified by media investigation
Russian independent media outlet Mediazona, in collaboration with the BBC Russian service, has confirmed the identities of 121,507 Russian military personnel killed in Ukraine.
The publication's latest report covers the period of Feb. 24, 2022, to July 31, 2025. Since it was last updated at the start of July, 2,353 additional Russian military personnel have been confirmed killed.
The journalists note that the actual figures are likely significantly higher, as their verified information comes from public sources such as obituaries, posts by relatives, memorial community tree-plantings, regional media reports, and statements from local authorities, among other sources.
Moscow and Kyiv rarely officially report their losses. Ukraine estimates that Russia's overall casualties during the full-scale war have surpassed 1 million.
In a briefing reported on Aug. 12, President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that Russian losses are approximately three times greater than those of Ukraine, without specifying the total number of losses suffered.
In a podcast interview on Aug. 12, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed that 60,000 Russian soldiers were killed in July, while U.S. President Donald Trump claimed on Aug. 1 that the number stood closer to 20,000.
The reported death toll now includes 33,100 volunteers, 18,000 recruited prisoners, and 13,300 mobilized soldiers, according to the media outlets. Over 5,400 officers have also been confirmed to have been killed.
Amid renewed summer offensives in multiple sectors of the front, Russia has steadily gained ground in eastern Ukraine and Kursk Oblast in recent months, but at the cost of heavy casualties as well as equipment losses. Among other units, internal documents published on July 17 by Ukraine's "I Want to Live" government project show that Russia's 41st Combined Arms Army fighting in eastern Ukraine has suffered "catastrophic" losses.
Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of the Prisoners of War (POWs) said on June 12 that more than 100,000 Russian families have contacted a Ukrainian-run initiative in search of information about missing Russian soldiers.
As of Aug. 12, Ukraine's General Staff estimates that Russia has lost 1,065,220 troops in Ukraine since the start of the war on Feb. 24, 2022. The numbers are largely in line with estimates made by Western intelligence agencies.
The Kyiv Independent cannot independently verify the total number of casualties sustained by either side.
The outlet published the complete list of identified casualties for the first time in February, marking three years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. According to the publication, volunteers manually enter and verify each record to prevent duplicate entries in the database.
Russia aims to build 79,000 Shahed-type drones in 2025, Ukraine's military intelligence says
Russia plans to produce 79,000 Shahed-type drones in 2025, Vadym Skibitskyi, deputy head of Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR), said in an Aug. 12 interview with Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne.
Shahed-type drones, originally designed in Iran, have become a key element of Moscow's long-range strike arsenal against Ukraine, frequently used to target cities, infrastructure, and energy facilities.
Skibitskyi said Russia is expanding its manufacturing capacity, opening new production lines, and working to replace imported parts with domestically made components for assembling the drones.
"Today, the glider is theirs, and the internal combustion engine they install is also theirs. The navigation system, with the exception of chips and microelectronics, is Russian-made," he said.
The Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Russia's Republic of Tatarstan hosts a major Shahed assembly plant. Ukrainian forces have targeted the site twice in recent days, most recently on Aug. 12, after a similar strike on Aug. 9.
Skibitskyi said drone attacks are a part of an effort to prevent Russia from meeting its production goals.
"Our task here is to prevent this from happening, to prevent such an increase. And, if possible, to destroy the production facilities themselves," Skibitskyi added.
The warning comes amid a surge in Russian drone use. Ukraine's Air Force recorded 6,129 Shahed-type drones launched in July, a new monthly record, surpassing June's 5,337, compared to just 423 in July 2024, a more than fourteen-fold increase.
The escalation has fueled fears that Moscow's growing stockpile could enable sustained, high-intensity bombardments against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.
Germany pledges $500 million for NATO-led US weapons supply to Ukraine
Germany will contribute $500 million to a NATO initiative supplying Ukraine with critically needed U.S.-made weapons, the alliance announced on Aug. 13.
The support will come through NATO's Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) mechanism, which coordinates funding for Kyiv's most urgent battlefield needs.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte praised Berlin's decision, saying the announcement "underlines its commitment to help the Ukrainian people defend their freedom."
"I commend Germany for stepping up once again," he said. "Germany is the largest European contributor of military aid to Ukraine."
The PURL initiative pools contributions from NATO members to finance American weapons, munitions, and equipment from U.S. stockpiles.
Germany's pledge follows earlier commitments of about $500 million from the Netherlands, as well as contributions from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.
The program stems from a July 14 agreement announced by U.S. President Donald Trump, allowing European countries to purchase American arms for Ukraine.
Germany, which committed a record 5 billion euros ($5.65 billion) in military aid to Ukraine in May, has faced criticism for slow weapons deliveries early in the full-scale war but has since become Kyiv's second-largest military backer after the U.S.
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