Russia attacks Kyiv and Odesa with drones, US waiting for plan to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 jets

It is day 524 of the war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian air defence shot down several Shahed drones launched by Russia against Kyiv and Odesa overnight.

Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 20,000 to 50,000 Ukrainians have lost one or more limbs, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The US is still waiting for Europe to provide it with a plan to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets, though the training was expected to start as early as August, CNN writes citing officials familiar with the matter.

A woman in St. Petersburg attempted late Tuesday night to set fire to a draft office in the city centre, local media reported. This is the third such incident in St. Petersburg within the last two days. 

Explore what happened overnight with Novaya-Europe’s roundup.

Russia attacks Kyiv and Odesa with drones

Ukrainian air defence shot down several Shahed drones launched by Russia against Kyiv and Odesa overnight.

Kyiv mayor Vitalii Klychko reported that the fallen debris damaged a non-residential building and set fire to a tree in the western part of the capital. The Kyiv military administration added that parts of the drones’ wreckage crashed onto a playground in the southern part of the city.

“Groups of drones entered Kyiv from several directions simultaneously. Nevertheless, air defence, all aerial targets detected and destroyed all the drones — more than 10 of them — in time,” the head of the administration, Serhiy Popko, said, adding that there was no serious damage or reports of anyone sustaining injuries.

Russian shelling of the Odesa region caused fires at the local port and industrial facilities and damaged a grain elevator, the head of the regional military administration, Oleh Kiper, said. 

Operational Command South noted that the drones were launched from the Sea of Azov through the Black Sea and directed at the southern parts of the Odesa region. 

“The enemy’s obvious targets were port facilities and the regional industrial infrastructure.”

WSJ: tens of thousands of Ukrainians lost limbs in current war

Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 20,000 to 50,000 Ukrainians have lost one or more limbs, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The newspaper cites data from Germany’s Ottobock, the world’s largest manufacturer of prosthetic limbs, which is working with Kyiv to help amputees. The company estimates the number of amputees at about 50,000 people based on data from the government and medical partners. 

In turn, the HOUP Foundation, a Kyiv-based charity organisation, estimates the number of people seriously injured as a result of the war at 200,000. The foundation points out that about 10% of serious injuries usually require amputation.

The true figure may be higher because the prosthetics process takes time, meaning not all of those who have already lost a limb have yet been registered in such statistics. WSJ notes that in WWI about 67,000 German soldiers and 41,000 British soldiers had to have limbs amputated — at a time when that was often the only procedure to prevent death. By comparison, fewer than 2,000 US veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq had undergone amputations.

Such figures,WSJ writes, reflect the way Russia is waging war — actively using mines and artillery systems, missiles and drones, striking both soldiers and civilians.

Kyiv keeps the official losses confidential in order not to demoralise the population.

CNN: US waiting for plan to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 jets

The US is still waiting for Europe to provide it with a plan to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets, though the training was expected to start as early as August, CNN writes citing officials familiar with the matter.

Washington needs to authorise the transfer of F-16-specific equipment and materials, but cannot do so in absence of a final training plan.

Politico reported earlier that despite Denmark and the Netherlands leading a coalition of 11 countries supporting this training, no country has yet allocated aircraft for the programme. Earlier, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said that the training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16 jets would begin in August.

Woman attempts to set fire to draft office in St. Petersburg

A woman in St. Petersburg attempted late Tuesday night to set fire to a draft office in the city centre, local media reported.

According to media reports, the perpetrator was a 67-year-old woman residing not far from the draft office in question. She fled the spot but was soon arrested by the police.

Fontanka writes that the draft office’s security guards managed to extinguish the fire on their own and that nobody was injured.

This is the third such incident in St. Petersburg within the last two days. On 31 July, a man set fire to the doors of another draft office in the city centre. On Tuesday morning, two Molotov cocktails were found in the bag of a woman who had come into a draft office in the northern part of the city.