Key developments on Aug. 8:
- U.S., Russia discuss deal to cement Moscow's hold on occupied Ukrainian territories, Bloomberg reports
- Watchdog claims Russian troops enter Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, military says attack repelled
- Ukraine kills 12 soldiers in Russia's Krasnodar Krai, intelligence source claims
- Poland's Tusk says Russia-Ukraine war could be frozen "sooner rather than later"
The U.S. and Russia are seeking to reach a deal to cement Moscow's occupation of Ukrainian territories and end the war, Bloomberg reported on Aug. 8, citing undisclosed sources.
The news come as U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are expected to meet as soon as next week.
U.S. and Russian officials are working on a territorial agreement, the sources told Bloomberg.
The proposed deal is aimed at freezing the conflict and laying the groundwork for a ceasefire and technical negotiations toward a final peace settlement, the news agency reported.
Putin is demanding that Ukraine cede all of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, as well as Crimea, Bloomberg wrote.
Russia currently occupies roughly 20% of Ukraine's territory. This includes the whole of Crimea, occupied in 2014, and large parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts.
As part of the deal currently under discussion, Russia may cease offensive operations in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts along existing front lines, according to Bloomberg's sources. The terms remain in flux and could be changed.
It remains unclear whether Moscow is prepared to relinquish any of the territories it currently occupies, including Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, according to Bloomberg.
Washington is reportedly trying to secure support from Ukraine and its European allies for the potential deal, which remains far from certain.
The Kyiv Independent reached out to the President's Office for a comment.
The Trump-Putin meeting comes amid growing U.S. pressure aimed at cutting off Russia's war funding. Oil revenues make up roughly one-third of Russia's federal budget, and Washington is targeting those flows through secondary tariffs.
The U.S. president issued an ultimatum to Moscow on July 28, demanding a ceasefire within 10 days or face severe U.S. sanctions. As the Aug. 8 deadline approached, Trump signaled impatience and said the decision now "depends on Putin."
Watchdog claims Russian troops enter Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, military says attack repelled
Russian forces have entered Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and advanced near the village of Dachne in the region, the open-source battlefield monitoring group DeepState said on Aug. 8.
Victor Tregubov, the spokesperson for Ukraine's Dnipro group of forces, told the Kyiv Independent that intelligence and operational data showed no Russian presence in the area on the morning of Aug. 8.
"A few days ago, an attempted Russian attack in that direction was repelled," Tregubov said. "They (Russian troops) are now regrouping for further attempts, but remain positioned in Donetsk Oblast."
According to the DeepState, Russian soldiers have been spotted on the opposite bank of the Vovcha River, across from Dachne.
DeepState added that most of Dachne lies in a gray zone and that Russian forces have not secured a foothold in the settlement. Russia is reportedly deploying small infantry units to maintain pressure in the area.
In July, Kyiv acknowledged that small Russian units had entered Dachne on several occasions, but claimed that Ukrainian troops have been able to push Russian troops back.
The Russian Defense Ministry on July 7 claimed to have seized Dachne, which would be the first village under Russian control in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
The Ukrainian military denied the alleged capture, calling it "disinformation."
Ukraine kills 12 soldiers in Russia's Krasnodar Krai, intelligence source claims
Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) attacked a Russian air defense brigade in the town of Afipsky in Russia's Krasnodar Krai on Aug. 8, a HUR source told the Kyiv Independent.
The operation struck Russia's 90th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, which has been involved in Russian assaults in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, according to the source.
Two explosions near a checkpoint killed at least 12 Russian soldiers and injured dozens more, the source said. Russian military equipment was also destroyed, they added.
Russian Telegram channels reported that air raid sirens sounded across several settlements in Krasnodar Krai on the morning of Aug. 8 due to a drone threat.
Details of the operation remain undisclosed.
The HUR source claimed that an "anti-terrorist operation" had been declared in Afipsky following the explosions.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify these claims.
Poland's Tusk says Russia-Ukraine war could be frozen "sooner rather than later"
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Aug. 8 that a pause in the Russia-Ukraine war could happen soon, after holding a phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
"There are certain signals... that perhaps a freezing of the conflict – I don’t want to say the end of the war, but a freezing of the conflict – could happen sooner rather than later," Tusk told journalists at a news conference, according to the Guardian.
The comments come before an expected high-stakes summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin as early as next week, part of Washington's efforts to hammer out a peace deal in Ukraine.
"There is hope for this. Today is the deadline for the ultimatum. President Vlodymyr Zelensky is very cautious, but still optimistic," Tusk said.
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