Ukraine Secures Territorial Gains in Dnipropetrovsk as Russia Intensifies Ballistic Missile Strikes

Ukraine has declared the successful end of an operation in which it recaptured 745 square kilometres of its territory this year in its southern region of Dnipropetrovsk. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Wednesday that the campaign was carried out exactly as determined and stated that almost 10,000 Russian soldiers were killed during the process. The counteroffensive deprived Russia of nearly all the territory it had gained in Dnipropetrovsk since entering that region in June 2025, pushing forces back over the regional borders of Donetsk and Zaporizhia.

However, this positive development for Ukraine was overshadowed by intensified Russian missile strikes against cities, which remain increasingly vulnerable due to depleted Patriot interceptor supplies. Combined strikes involving drones and ballistic or hypersonic missiles hit Kyiv on August 8 and 11, plunged Odesa into darkness on August 9, and struck Zaporizhzhia on August 11, resulting in at least nine deaths across all incidents.

President Zelenskyy noted that the Dnipropetrovsk operation successfully liberated 26 settlements. The Institute for the Study of War conservatively assessed that Ukraine has clawed back at least 627 square kilometres in the area. Former commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskii, who planned the operation, stated that the achievement demonstrates the Ukrainian army's capacity to hold defences, seize the initiative, and liberate land.

Despite concerted Russian offensives in the eastern Donetsk region prioritised by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Institute for the Study of War assessed that Russia has suffered a net loss of 233 square kilometres across the front this year. Russian assaults from Pokrovsk towards Dobropillia and from Chasiv Yar towards Kostiantynivka captured territory, but resulted in exceptionally high casualties, with Russia reporting 39,000 casualties in June and nearly 43,000 in July.

Ukraine's battlefield success has been bolstered by scaling up production of short-term, first-person view drones, fielding 16 drones for every 10 Russian units. Deputy military intelligence chief Vadym Skibitskyi reported that Russia is now pressing its advantage by increasing the deployment of ballistic and hypersonic missiles. With Patriot interceptors running low, Russia has diverted components to build greater numbers of Iskander-M ballistic missiles and S-400 hypersonic missiles, currently producing over 100 ballistic and hypersonic missiles a month.

Additionally, Ukraine has utilized long-range drones to destroy nearly a third of Russia's refining capacity this year, successfully targeting multiple refineries and striking ships and air defence systems in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, while President Zelenskyy hailed the coordination of 14 types of domestically built aerial and surface drones.