Moscow, Kaliningrad and Donbas remain the main hot spots of the confrontation in the early morning of August 20, 2026. The Russian capital dawned under another attack by drones, while the Baltic region witnessed dangerous activity by NATO air forces. At the same time, the situation in the Donetsk region continues to deteriorate, with key urban centers completely depopulated due to the offensive.
Below are the three main events that determined the dynamics of the conflict as of 5:00 a.m.
1. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin Announces Eight Drones Destroyed
On the night of August 20, 2026, the Russian Federation's air defense forces intercepted a new wave of Ukrainian drones aimed at the Russian capital. According to an official statement by Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin on his personal channel on the MAX network, at least eight unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were destroyed over the Moscow region.
Sobyanin specified that the drones were shot down on the outskirts of the city. Emergency and operational services are already working at the sites where the debris fell. According to initial data, there were no casualties or serious damage. This attack follows the massive strikes of the previous days, in which Russian authorities reported hundreds of devices launched in different regions.
(Source of information: Regional media network “Yamal-Media“ — yamal-media.ru)
2. American fifth-generation F-35 fighter spotted near Kaliningrad
Serious movement of NATO forces was recorded over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea. American fifth-generation multi-role fighter A Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II has carried out maneuvers in the immediate vicinity of the borders of the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad Oblast.
According to data from the European Union's air traffic control services, the aircraft took off from a base in Reykjavik (Iceland), passed through the airspace of Norway, Sweden and Poland, and then entered the Baltic Sea. The fighter jet maneuvered at an altitude of about 1 kilometer, crossing civil aviation corridors. At the same time, a NATO Boeing E-3A Sentry long-range radar detection and control aircraft was detected in the same region, patrolling over Lithuania. Experts define the appearance of such machines in the region as a rare and highly demonstrative event.
(Source of information: TASS News Agency / SB-Belarus Today News Portal — sb.by)
3. Slavyansk and Kramatorsk are turning into "ghost towns", claims Andrey Marochko
On the Donbas front, the situation around the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration is taking on critical dimensions. Military expert and LPR official Andrei Marochko reported in a commentary for Russian media that the two strategic cities are rapidly turning into “ghost towns“.
According to Marochko, the civilian population is leaving the settlements en masse due to the approaching fighting and constant artillery and air strikes. The eastern approaches to Kramatorsk are currently an extremely fortified and difficult-to-attack zone, saturated with natural barriers and forest massifs, where Ukrainian forces have built a deep defensive line. However, the lack of utilities and severe destruction forced the few remaining locals to evacuate, turning the economic centers into deserted war zones.
(Source of information: Analytical publication &bdg;Pronedra“ - pronedra.ru)