Ukraine shifts to Nato-style command in Donetsk as drone strikes target Russian energy

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appointed two prominent commanders to reinforce the defensive “fortress belt” in Ukraine’s Donetsk region. Andrii Biletskyi and Denys Prokopenko will lead new groupings tasked with holding critical industrial cities against advancing Russian forces.

The appointments mark a deliberate pivot toward Nato-style doctrine and network-centric warfare. Military analysts note this move grants the new commander in chief, Mykhailo Drapatyi, greater strategic flexibility, moving away from the micromanagement criticised under former general Oleksandr Syrskyi.

Russian troops are currently intensifying pressure on Kostiantynivka, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. Open-source monitoring indicates Moscow is infiltrating residential areas in Kostiantynivka while escalating air and artillery bombardments to prepare for targeted offensives on the broader stronghold.

Economic and Infrastructure Targets

In response, Ukraine has expanded its long-range strike campaign deep into Russian territory, targeting 16 sites including oil facilities and logistics hubs. A strike on a Lukoil refinery in the Nizhny Novgorod region set the facility ablaze, disrupting a site capable of processing 125 million barrels annually.

Ukrainian drones also destroyed a Wildberries warehouse in the Tambov region. These attacks on Russian commercial and energy infrastructure highlight Kyiv’s strategy to degrade the economic assets that sustain Moscow’s war effort, a dynamic that continues to ripple through global energy markets.

Moscow has retaliated by targeting Ukrainian critical infrastructure. A guided aerial bomb severely damaged a combined heat and power plant in Kherson, while ballistic missiles struck an industrial facility in Kryvyi Rih, injuring two people.

Reports indicate Russia is considering escalating ballistic missile strikes on Kyiv and other critical sites after concluding that peace negotiations have reached a dead end. The Kremlin maintains its demand for total control of the Donbas region, dashing near-term hopes for a diplomatic resolution.

In a minor de-escalation gesture, Ukraine freed 10 Russian prisoners of war, following Moscow’s release of 10 Ukrainian prisoners on Monday. However, this has not altered the broader trajectory of the conflict.

The conflict’s technological dimensions also remain prominent. Zelenskyy awarded the Order of Freedom to Elon Musk for Starlink support, though Kyiv continues to seek the removal of restrictions preventing the system’s use for weapon navigation over Russian territory.

Meanwhile, a pro-Russian hacker group claimed a denial-of-service attack on Norway’s digital services agency, Digdir, in retaliation for Oslo’s renewed security cooperation with Ukraine on 23 August. The agency reported that services remained operational, but the incident underscores persistent cyber threats to European public infrastructure.