Ukraine admits Russia has entered a key region but denies that its forces have taken two villages. Elsewhere, Germany has reportedly scrambled jets to intercept a spy plane, and there are claims the US post-war role has been decided. Follow the latest on the war below.
Wednesday 27 August 2025 09:50, UK
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Michael Clarke, our military analyst, is back today at 12pm to answer your questions on the war in Ukraine.
Submit yours in the box at the top of this page.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says it’s time for a leaders’ discussion on the priorities and timelines of security guarantees for Ukraine.
Following a call with Finland President Alexander Stubb, Zelenskyy said teams were “actively preparing the architecture of strong and multilateral security guarantees”.
This, he said, included Europeans, Americans and other partners in the “coalition of the willing”.
But while those talks look to be accelerating, Zelenskyy accused Russia of “sending negative signals regarding meetings and the further development of events”.
“Strikes on our cities and villages continue. New victims every day,” he said.
“Pressure is needed. We count on it. Steps are needed specifically from Russia – steps toward real diplomacy.”
Ukrainians have turned drones into their most effective weapon against Russia, but Moscow too has been rapidly expanding and advancing the technology.
Here, Sky’s military analyst, Professor Michael Clarke, explains how military technology has developed and what the impact of it can be for both Russia and Ukraine.
If you’d like to find out even more about Ukraine’s drone manufacturing process, click here to read an exclusive piece by international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn inside a Ukrainian factory.
And remember, Michael Clarke will be holding his latest Ukraine Q&A session today at 12pm. There’s still time to submit a question to him at the top of this page.
Ukraine has confirmed that Russia’s military has crossed into the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region and is trying to establish a foothold there, but denied Moscow has taken control of two villages.
Moscow has repeatedly claimed that it has entered the area during the last three months as its forces try to push deeper into Ukraine from the Donetsk region.
Ukrainian battlefield analysts DeepState assessed yesterday that Russia now occupies two villages just inside the region, Zaporizke and Novohryhorivka.
This marked the first time the battlefield monitor reported Russia taking control of settlements in Dnipropetrovsk.
However, Ukraine’s armed forces general staff has denied that was the case. The military “continue to control” Zaporizke despite Russia’s best efforts, it said in a statement, and “active hostilities” are ongoing in the area around Novohryhorivka.
Russia’s defence ministry released an image claiming to show Russian troops inside Zaporizke.
Moscow has not laid claim to Dnipropetrovsk, unlike Ukraine’s other eastern regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, and Crimea, which it illegally annexed in 2014.
Vladimir Putin reportedly wants control of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions – known collectively as the Donbas – as a condition for ending the war.
Russia’s advances into Dnipropetrovsk will no doubt strengthen the Kremlin’s hand for any future peace settlement.
Ukraine downed 74 of the 95 drones launched by Russia into the country overnight, its air force says.
It added that at least 21 drones managed to strike at nine different locations.
Two people were killed in Kostiantynivka and Bokove in Donetsk, governor Vadym Filashkin said. Twelve more people suffered injuries in the region over the past day.
A mass drone attack on Sumy damaged infrastructure, with authorities reporting disruptions to the electricity and water supply in the city.
We’ve mentioned already the attack on Poltava (see 6.46 post), which officials said damaged an energy facility, an administrative building, vehicles, and equipment.
A 68-year-old woman was injured in an attack in Kharkiv, according to its governor, while two other women were injured in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, governor Ivan Fedorov said.
In Kherson, 11 people were injured as 36 settlements, including the regional centre, came under attack.
Two German air force Eurofighter jets were scrambled yesterday to intercept a Russian reconnaissance aircraft flying over the Baltic Sea, according to German outlet Deutsche Welle.
NATO’s air command gave the order to intercept the aircraft, which was flying in international airspace with its transponders turned off and without submitting a flight plan.
Moscow is suspected of using such aircraft to gather information about NATO military activity on the Baltic coast, particularly in Poland, Germany, Denmark and Sweden.
According to Russia’s defence ministry, cited by state news agency RIA, 26 Ukrainian drones were downed during an overnight attack.
It’s not clear where the drones were brought down, but the governor of the Rostov region has claimed one did strike a block of flats.
Yuri Slyusar said a fire broke out on the roof in Rostov-on-Don.
The picture below, shared on social media, appears to show the scene.
Washington is prepared to provide intelligence and air support for post-war Ukraine, according to a report.
The Financial Times cites four officials who say the US would be ready to contribute surveillance and reconnaissance as well as air defence assets.
This would enable any European-led team on the ground, the report added.
Last week, Donald Trump said he hadn’t ruled out putting US troops on the ground in Ukraine, but said they might provide air support as part of a deal to end the war.
“We’re willing to help them with things, especially, probably… by air,” Trump told Fox News, though he didn’t elaborate.
As he sat down for a cabinet meeting at the White House yesterday, Donald Trump made a number of comments on the war in Ukraine.
From claiming Volodymyr Zelenskyy “isn’t innocent” to warning Russia could face “an economic war” if the war doesn’t end, here is a look at what the US president said…
Economic sanctions
Trump didn’t offer any kind of deadline when asked if Vladimir Putin was back on the clock after their Alaska summit.
But he did say: “It’s very serious what I have in mind if I have to do it, but I want to see it end.
“I think in many ways he is there. Sometimes he’ll be there, but Zelenskyy won’t be there. I’ve got to get them both at the same time.”
Trump went on to say he was prepared to impose economic sanctions against Russia if Putin fails to agree to a ceasefire.
“We want to have an end. We have economic sanctions. I’m talking about economic because we’re not going to get into a world war,” he said.
“In my opinion, if I didn’t win this race, Ukraine could have possibly ended up in a world war. Just like India and Pakistan were going to end up in a nuclear war if I didn’t stop them.”
‘Zelenskyy isn’t innocent’
On the number of soldiers who have died in the past few weeks during the war (both Russian and Ukrainian), Trump said: “An economic war is going to be bad and it’s going to be bad for Russia and I don’t want that.
“Zelenskyy is not exactly innocent either. It takes two people to tango, I say it all the time.
“You’ve got to get them together. I get on with Zelenskyy now, but we have a much different relationship because now we are not paying any money to Ukraine.
“We’re paying money to ourselves. NATO’s buying all the equipment and paying in full.”
On his relationship with Putin
“If I can stop it because I have a certain power or certain relationship – I had a very good relationship with President Putin,” Trump said.
“That’s a positive thing.
“Steve Witkoff will tell you I’m the only one that can solve it.
“I have no ego when it comes to this stuff, I just want to see it solved.
“Thousands of young people are dying every week.”
There has been another report of a Russian attack on Ukrainian energy infrastructure overnight.
This time, Moscow targeted the Poltava region, according to the local governor.
Volodymyr Kohut said the attack – on an “energy sector enterprise” – briefly cut power for consumers.
It has since been restored.
Russia has often targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure during the winter months, aimed at damaging morale among the country’s civilian population.
However, strikes on energy targets are now becoming more common during the summer.
Ukraine’s energy ministry said last week that energy facilities had been attacked 2,900 times since March 2025 alone.
Our military analyst Sean Bell has said this marks an apparent shift in tactics at the Kremlin – watch his earlier take in the video below…
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