Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wants to guarantee his country’s schoolchildren special protection from the war. “The school year is just around the corner and the priority now is for children to learn normally and not remotely wherever possible thanks to the shelters,” Zelensky said yesterday in his evening video address. The government has been instructed to speed up its efforts to build shelters.

Zelensky is also concerned about the country’s energy supply in autumn and winter. There are considerable opportunities to create new energy sources in most regions, he said, without going into detail. “At the national level, we are committed to protecting energy facilities.” In view of constant Russian attacks on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, especially the electricity supply, Kiev is trying to secure supplies for the winter.

Selenskyj visits troops on the border with Belarus

Zelensky also inspected the fortifications and defensive positions of his armed forces on the border with Belarus. During the working visit to the Volhynia region, he was accompanied by senior military officers, according to the presidential office in Kyiv. “We have a strong defense, both in terms of personnel and defense lines,” said Zelensky. “And we will continue to strengthen them.”

In recent months, the Ukrainian military has massively strengthened the border with neighboring Belarus. Due to the troop movements that could be seen on the Ukrainian side, Minsk responded by moving additional troops to the border. Just a few days ago, Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko declared the crisis at the border to be over and ordered the withdrawal of the additional troops.

Belarus is not directly involved in the war against Ukraine, but is allied with Russia and allowed Russian troops to enter Ukraine from its territory at the beginning of the invasion over two years ago. However, the direct advance on the capital Kyiv failed.

Kyiv reports damaged Russian bombers

The Ukrainian military intelligence service HUR claims responsibility for an attack on a Russian air force base in the far north near Murmansk. Two Russian Tupolev Tu-22M supersonic bombers were seriously damaged in the attack, HUR representative Andriy Yusov told the Unian agency. The information could not be independently verified.

“We are talking about an explosion over the location of the planes,” he said, indicating that the military airport may have been attacked by combat drones. The attack took place on the afternoon of July 25, but the result has only now become known to the secret service. Repair work on the two bombers will probably take several months, Yusov estimated.

In recent weeks, Ukraine has repeatedly attacked targets on Russian territory with combat drones. Most recently, an attack on a military airfield near the Russian border with Finland was reported.

Heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine

The Ukrainian military reported heavy Russian attacks in the region around Kurakhove in the Donetsk region in the east of the country. During the course of the day, several Russian attacks, supported by dozens of tanks and armored personnel carriers, were repelled. According to Ukrainian reports, at least eight Russian tanks and twelve armored personnel carriers were destroyed during the fighting, and the attackers’ losses were given as 36 dead and 32 wounded. These figures could not be independently verified either.

First North Korean armored personnel carriers spotted at the front

Following the close military cooperation agreed between Moscow and Pyongyang, Ukrainian intelligence claims to have spotted the first North Korean-made armored personnel carriers in the war zone. According to the report, armored personnel carriers with the Bulsae 4 anti-tank missile system were discovered on unspecified sections of the front. The missiles have a range of up to ten kilometers.

Air raid warning in Kyiv late in the evening

Air raid warnings were sounded late in the evening in the Ukrainian capital Kiev and other cities. Military administrators reported on Telegram that so-called kamikaze drones had flown in and warned of possible missile attacks.