Russian strikes on Ukraine carried out with long-range drones have decreased by a third in the past month of August compared to the previous month of July. This is according to an analysis by the French news agency Agence France-Presse, published today amid intense diplomatic efforts to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which, however, remain fruitless, writes BTA.
This reduction in drone attacks comes after three months of increased Russian airstrikes and coincides with the meeting in Alaska between Russian and US presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, followed by the meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, accompanied by several European leaders, the head of the European Commission and the NATO secretary general, which took place in Washington.
And if all these meetings raised hopes for progress in peace talks, there has been no progress on this file since, notes Agence France-Presse.
According to an analysis by the French agency of the daily reports of the Ukrainian Air Force in August, Russia launched a total of 4,132 drones during these midnight attacks on Ukraine. This is 34 percent less than in July.
Despite this reduction, Russian bombings remain deadly, causing many civilian casualties, commented Agence France-Presse.
Ukrainian military reports, however, remain indicative and very often only include midnight attacks, Agence France-Presse emphasizes, citing the Ukrainian Air Force. According to them, the global number of long-range drones used by the Russian army is undoubtedly slightly higher.
In July, Moscow launched 6,297 long-range drones and 198 missiles into Ukraine, according to the same Ukrainian military reports. This was a record since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
On August 28, Kiev was subjected to the most devastating attack by Russian drones and missiles, killing 25 people, many of them children, mainly residents of the same block.
In June, Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities led to a record number of civilian deaths and injuries in Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict more than 3 years ago, according to UN data.
Midnight strikes have been a daily occurrence since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II. In addition to the Geran drones, designed by Russia based on the Iranian Shahed drones, Russia also fired 156 missiles at Ukraine in August.
Ukrainian air defenses shot down 83 percent of Russia's drones and missiles in August, compared with 88 percent in July, the AFP analysis also showed.
The decline in drone attacks in the first half of the month, which preceded Trump's meeting with Putin in Alaska, ended without significant progress on ending the conflict. In the second half of August, Russia carried out two major air strikes on Ukraine, involving several hundred drones and missiles.