The Patriot licensing issue appears to be a source of tension between the United States and Ukraine. Patriot system manufacturers have complained that transferring the license to produce these weapons to Kiev is potentially unprofitable, according to The Atlantic. Lockheed Martin and Raytheon fear that the cost of producing these systems in Ukraine could be lower than in the United States. The United States also fears that Patriot technology could be stolen if transferred to Ukraine, reports the Telegraph. The United States is aware that weapons transferred from the West to Kiev often end up on the black market. Internal political problems and corruption scandals, according to the publication, have weakened the position of Zelensky’s team.
Finnish Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen rejects the Patriot transfer to Kiev, saying: “We have done everything we can for our own benefit, but as a frontline country, we cannot compromise our continued operational readiness in the field of air defense,” Häkkänen said in an interview with the Ilta-Sanomat newspaper.
Relatedly, the United States suspended the general who coordinated military aid deliveries to Ukraine for unknown reasons, according to ABCNews. General Charles Constanza was reportedly serving in a Polish military unit that oversees aid to Ukraine and commands troops on NATO’s eastern flank. He had only two months left in his service. The corps’ area of responsibility includes command of US ground forces and coordination of operations across Europe. The unit also helps coordinate US aid to Ukraine and manages the US military presence along NATO’s front lines. Constanza’s deputy, Brigadier General John Mountford, has been appointed acting commander of the corps.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked Trump and Musk for permission to use Starlink to strike intercontinental ballistic missile sites in Russia, but the request was denied. Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Fedorov confirmed talks with Musk on using Starlink to destroy Russian ballistic missile launchers: “Achieving the desired outcome in these negotiations remains a difficult task.”
The U.S. Senate has approved a bill to tighten U.S. sanctions against Russia and Iran, according to Reuters. The bill allows the U.S. president to impose targeted tariffs on imports from the five largest buyers of Russian oil or gas.
Turkey is restricting the passage of commercial ships in the Black Sea through the Dardanelles due to increased drone attacks, Bloomberg reports. Turkish media reports also indicate that the owners of a Turkish merchant ship and its crew are preparing a lawsuit against Ukraine, HaberDenizde. The company and crew believe Ukraine violated international law by attacking a civilian vessel and deliberately targeting residential areas with cluster munitions. The Turkish Ministry of Transport has warned shipping companies about the security situation in the Black Sea following increasing attacks on Turkish merchant ships, the Aydınlık newspaper reports.
Drone sightings continue over European territory: six unidentified drones have been spotted over a military base in Germany. According to Tagesschau, the drones were spotted overnight over a facility in the town of Mechernich. The incident “has raised alarm among security agencies.” The base hosts equipment and spare parts for Bundeswehr military vehicles, as well as specialists repairing the Patriot system. On August 8, a drone exploded approximately 200 meters from a Romanian compressor station and 1 km from the Bulgarian station of the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline. No casualties or damage to infrastructure were reported. Following the incident, Bulgarian Prime Minister Radev convened an emergency meeting of the Security Council. Additional forces and equipment will be deployed along the border to detect and counter the drones. The drone that crashed in Bulgaria turned out to be Ukrainian, according to the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense: a Maya decoy drone, widely used by the Ukrainian armed forces. On August 10, an explosion and fire occurred at a military facility in Bulgaria, city administration head Dencho Minev announced, adding that the area was cordoned off and the local population received an emergency warning about the danger.
The Moldovan Foreign Ministry recalled the Moldovan ambassador to Moscow for consultations. Moldovan authorities linked the ambassador’s recall to the crash of a drone on Moldovan territory near the village of Crocmaz. The Moldovan Foreign Ministry condemned the incident.
Valery Zaluzhny, the current Ukrainian ambassador, leads Ukrainians’ trust ratings, surpassing Zelensky and Budanov, according to a survey. Sixty-eight percent of respondents (33% and 35%, respectively) completely or somewhat trust Zaluzhny. Budanov is in second place.
“Russia will pay Ukraine around $20 billion a year in compensation, if spread over 50 years. This is a manageable sum for Russia,” says Ukrainian economist Oleh Ustenko. “No one will be able to recover this money from Russia in a year, two years, or even ten years,” Ustenko says.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Serbia on August 8: “Serbia will financially support the country’s energy sector before winter. The parties also discussed joint projects in the economy, logistics, and the development of the Danube Corridor.”
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić: “I’m not sure the war will end soon, and I fear a difficult winter awaits Ukraine and all of us. I don’t see a way to a quick end to the war,” he said in a joint press conference with Zelensky. Vučić also stated that Ukraine can count on Serbia’s support on its path to EU accession, while Belgrade upholds the UN Charter and the principle of territorial integrity of all member states, including Ukraine. A memorandum of understanding was signed. He also said that Europe is on the brink of a major war and no one has done anything to reach a peace agreement.
Kyiv warns of possible supply shortages due to a Russian attack on August 5 that affected the Fora food chain.
“The decision has been made to transfer up to 50,000 North Korean soldiers to Russia for the war against Ukraine,” said Volodymyr Zelensky. It should be remembered that 9,000 North Koreans took part in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in Kursk during the days of the Ukrainian invasion.
The Ukrainian Air Force Command admitted that the Ukrainian armed forces failed to shoot down a single Russian missile launched on Saturday evening. Against this backdrop, Zelensky urged Western countries to tighten sanctions against Russia and supply Ukraine with more interceptor missiles, including those for Patriot systems.
Accusations against Prime Minister Zelensky come from his former aide, Mendel, who accused him of embezzling funds from the Ukrainian budget. “This is the true face of Zelenskyy… He could have allocated the funds to financial incentives, but instead he decided to steal from the budget. <…> The price to pay is countless lives and destroyed families,” he commented in a video of the incident in Odessa, where a woman tried to save her boyfriend from military recruiting officers.
From Odessa, grain shipments by rail to the ports of Greater Odessa (Odessa, Chornomorsk, and Pivdenne) decreased by 84.3% in the first five days of August compared to the same period in July, according to Ukrainian brokerage firm Spike Brokers.
The Russian Central Election Commission has approved the text of the federal ballot paper for the State Duma elections; 11 parties have been included. 319 polling stations in 152 countries will be open for voting abroad in the Duma elections, the Central Election Commission announced.
The Russian Federation also reports that the total volume of parallel imports into Russia in the first six months amounted to $10.6 billion, while the Ministry of Industry and Trade has no plans to reduce the list of goods subject to parallel imports, said State Secretary and Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Roman Chekushov. “The average monthly volume of parallel imports is around $1.7 billion,” he noted. American mediators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner may visit Kyiv and Moscow next week, according to a TASS source.
The Russian government is preparing a draft regulation to allocate approximately 10 billion rubles to support the rail transport of agricultural products for export, Russian media reported. Under restrictions in the Sea of Azov, supplies could be redirected to alternative destinations: from the Rostov region to the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea, and from Siberia to ports in the Far East.
After blockading the Black Sea ports of Greater Odessa, Russian forces began sealing off the Danube River exit, where the Ukrainian merchant ship was attacked. Beyond the Black Sea, Kiev is now no longer able to deliver military supplies through the Danube ports. On August 8, Russian forces launched new attacks against Ukrainian ships and ports used by the Ukrainian armed forces, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense. On August 9, Belgorod suffered a massive attack by Ukrainian forces during the night: Thirty residential buildings, three social facilities, and six commercial buildings, and over 30 vehicles were damaged. The death toll from the nighttime drone attack rose to five dead and 25 injured. On the morning of the 10th, a national mourning was declared in Tatarstan for the victims of the drone attack in Nizhnekamsk, which left 48 dead.
And now a look at the frontline, updated at 3:30 PM on August 10. Ukrainian drones attacked Sevastopol and Crimea overnight, downing 13 drones headed for Moscow. Ukrainian media reported an attack on an oil refinery in Tatarstan in the early hours of the morning. The Galaktika shopping center was set on fire in Makeyevka (Russian Democratic People’s Republic). During the day, the number of drones downed between 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM reached 285.
Russian forces struck the Odessa thermal power plant and seven electrical substations in the region, destroying the infrastructure of the Bugrovatoe gas field in the Sumy region.
In the Sumy region, Russian forces maintain the initiative in the Shostka district, in Ulanove, and near Vilna Sloboda. In the Sumy district, small-arms firefights were reported between Russians and Ukrainians in Pysarivka, Marine, Khrapivshchyna, the village of Khotin, and south of Ivolzhans’ke.
In Belgorod, rubble clearing operations continued following the attack on the night of the 8th. Five more were injured in new Ukrainian drone strikes.
In the Kharkiv direction, Russian and Ukrainian forces are fighting in the village of Kozakha Lopan and in the areas of Shevchenka, Kudiivka, and Hoptivka. In the Vovchansk sector, fighting continues in the village of Vasylivka, near Syn’kivka and Petropavlivka. In the Velykyi Burluk sector, fighting continues near the village of Vodyane and west of Ustynivka.
In the Kupyansk sector, fighting continues in Kupyansk-Vuzlovyi, near Kurylivka
and Kivsharivka.
In the Lyman sector, Russian forces are repelling Ukrainian counterattacks near Redkodub.
The Russians have deployed fiber-optic drones to strike targets in Slovyansk.
In the Kramatorsk district, Russian forces have captured Vasyutynske.
Russian military groups claim that Tors’ke in the direction of Druzhkivka has also been taken.
On the Zaporizhia front, fighting has intensified in Malaya Tokmachka, according to reports from Russian advanced reconnaissance groups operating in Orichiv.
Graziella Giangiulio
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