On this day when it celebrates its independence, Ukraine launched a series of attacks on drones on Russian territory this Sunday, August 24, causing fires in a nuclear power plant and an oil terminal, while the prospect of a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodyr Zelensky is moving away.
Russian local authorities declared in the night that they had intercepted Ukrainian drones in regions sometimes far from the front like that of Saint Petersburg (northwest) or on the Volga.
Shorted up shortly after midnight by the Russian anti-aircraft defense, one of these devices “Has exploded and damaged an auxiliary transformer” On the field of the nuclear power plant located in the Russian region border of Koursk, announced its operator on its Telegram account. “The fire has been extinguished”, She added, adding that there was no victim but that the operation of a reactor had been reduced. “The level of radiation on the industrial site of the Koursk nuclear power plant and in the surroundings has not changed and corresponds to the normal levels“, According to the same source.
Since the start of the fighting, the International Atomic Energy Agency (AEIA) warns against the risk of a disaster, especially at the Zaporijia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, occupied since March 2022 by Russia. In August 2024, Vladimir Putin accused Kyiv of wanting to strike the power plant located in the Koursk region, then under Ukrainian offensive. Russian forces took it back in the spring.
On the Côte de la Baltic, the interception of 10 drones on the port of Oust Louga, near Saint Petersburg, caused a fire in an oil terminal in the Russian group Novatek, said regional governor Alexandre Drozdenko on Telegram. “The firefighters and the ministry of emergency situations are at work to extinguish it”, he added.
Overnight, several drones launched by Ukraine struck the gas and oil export terminal at the Port of Ust-Luga in the Leningrad Oblast of Northwestern Russia, near the border with Estonia and on the Gulf of Finland. Several fires can be seen burning at the port, with the smoke… pic.twitter.com/EsLiIgkBgW
– Osintdefender (@sentdefender) August 24, 2025
In recent weeks, while discussions are accelerating to end the pressure conflict by Donald Trump, Ukraine has launched dozens of drones to Russian territory. In particular, it targets Russian refineries and oil deposits to hinder their ability to finance the offensive.
These attacks have been implicated in the outbreak of fuel prices in Russia, which have reached records despite the suspension of petrol exports decreed by the government. The Russian Ministry of Energy awarded him the high prices to “High seasonal demand and agricultural work”without mentioning the Ukrainian attacks.
On Friday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced that he had asked for help from Donald Trump in the face of his Russian oil supply difficulties via the Droujba oil pipeline, bombed by Kyiv.
These new Ukrainian attacks are involved while Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, famous for its 34 years of independence on Sunday. “Here’s how Ukraine reacts when its calls for peace are ignored”said President Volodymyr Zelensky, when the prospect of a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin is moving away. “The Ukrainian people will never surrender and will never give up their independence”insisted the chief of the armies Oleksandre Syrsky, while the chief of diplomacy Andri Sybiga qualified the independence of Ukraine as “Emberant of Europe’s security”.
The American emissary for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, also attended the ceremony of the celebration of the day of independence this Sunday in Kyiv, just like the Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Russia and Ukraine nevertheless exchanged on Sunday 146 prisoners of war on each camp, the Russian Defense Ministry announced in a statement.
While Ukraine is bombed daily, a 47 -year -old woman died this Sunday morning in a Russian drone strike in the Dnipropetrovsk (East) region, according to the regional governor.
On the front, the Russian army has increased its territorial gains in recent months against less numerous and less well equipped Ukrainian forces. She claimed on Saturday the capture of two villages in the Donetsk region, in eastern Ukraine, progressing in particular to the city of Kostyantynivka, an important bastion on the road to Kramatorsk which is an important point for Ukrainian logistics.
While Moscow and kyiv accuse the organization of a possible meeting with his Russian counterpart respectively, Donald Trump announced on Friday to give himself “Two weeks” To decide on his line concerning this conflict. Furthermore, the Wall Street Journal revealed on Saturday that the Pentagon had “discreetly” prevented Ukraine from drawing long -range missiles against Russia, refusing “At least once” A Kyiv request to use American ammunition.
Update: At 2:43 p.m., with the addition of the exchange of prisoners in Ukraine and Russia.
