Ukraine's counteroffensive against Russian forces continued in the country's southeast, Kyiv said on August 8, as official casualty figures from a Russian missile strike in the eastern city of Pokrovsk rose to nine dead and 82 wounded.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced the higher casualty figures in his evening address, saying all the injured were being provided with the necessary assistance. He noted that two boys, including an 11-year-old in serious condition, were among the injured.
He also drew attention to the timing of the two strikes, saying the second missile hit after the rescue operation was under way following the first strike.
"This is a conscious decision of terrorists to cause the most pain, the most damage. And Russia will bear the maximum responsibility for this -- no matter how events develop there must be verdicts against terrorists."
Regional officials said the attack damaged residential and administrative buildings, a hotel, catering establishments, and shops.
A photo posted by the Interior Ministry on social media showed a badly damaged apartment block with its upper floor completely demolished, while piles of concrete and rubble lay on the ground.
Russia claimed the missile strikes targeted a Ukrainian military command post.
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Ukraine Accuses Russia Of Targeting Rescue Workers In Deadly Strike
In the city of Donetsk, Russian-installed Mayor Aleksei Kulemzin accused Ukraine of shelling the city on August 8, killing three people and wounding 10. Kulemzin said that a number of buildings were damaged in several city districts, including a bus stop, a hospital, a store, and some residential buildings.
Ukrainian forces in the Tavria direction in southern Ukraine entered the first line of defense of the Russian Army, according to Serhiy Kuzmin, a representative of Ukraine's operational and strategic troops in Tavria, speaking on Ukrainian television.
Land mines and engineering barriers densely cover the area and there was a large number of Russian troops, Kuzmin said.
"We have already reached the first line of the invaders, and the first line is very difficult, but our military forces are pushing through. We are moving forward, and this movement is slowed down by minefields and our lack of aviation," he said.
RFE/RL could not independently verify the claims of either side.
Ukrainian troops continue to carry out attacks against the invading Russian Army in the direction of Berdyansk and Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhya region, the military's General Staff said early on August 8 in its daily update.
It said that Ukrainian forces carried out nine strikes over the previous day targeting the areas where the Russian Army's "personnel, weapons, and military equipment are concentrated."
Russian forces carried out seven missile attacks and 42 air strikes over the 24- hour period, the bulletin said.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian nuclear power plants located in territory held by Kyiv will be fully operational by winter to provide electricity for the country, Ukraine's atomic energy operator said on August 7.
"All the power at our disposal will be given to the electricity grid" after the servicing of some reactors before winter, Enerhoatom chief Petro Kotin told journalists.
Ukraine currently has three power stations with a total of nine reactors in the territory under its control.
In other developments, the British government has announced new sanctions against an Iranian drone maker and two dozen other businesses and individuals, accusing them of supplying Russia with weapons and components in its war against Ukraine.
"Today's landmark sanctions will further diminish Russia's arsenal and close the net on supply chains propping up [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's now-struggling defense industry," British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said on August 8.
Western countries have imposed a wide range of sanctions against Moscow since February last year to punish Russia for its unjustified invasion of Ukraine.
The new round of British sanctions targets 25 individuals and businesses in Iran, Belarus, Slovakia, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, as well as Russia.
Among them are Iranian drone maker Paravar Pars, seven of its executives, and two Turkey-based exporters of microelectronics. The Iranian supplier has already been subjected to U.S. sanctions announced in February.
The action imposes asset freezes of the sanctioned businesses and individuals, and also prohibits British entities from doing business with them.
The British government said the latest penalties marked its biggest ever action on third-country military suppliers. Britain has placed sanctions on more than 1,600 individuals and entities since the start of the war.