Here are the highlights of events related to the war in Ukraine over the past 24 hours:

A drone was shot down over the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Crimea

A drone was shot down over the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the Crimean peninsula on Saturday, AFP reported.

"The drone was shot down while it was flying above the headquarters of the navy" in Sevastopol, the governor of the city, Mikhail Razvozhaev, reported in Telegram. He blamed Ukrainian forces for the drone.

"He fell on the roof and started a fire," Razvozhaev pointed out, adding that there was no major damage or casualties.

This is the second attempted attack on the naval headquarters in less than a month

On July 31, a drone attack in the headquarters yard injured 5 people, leading to the cancellation of a celebration planned for Navy Day.

What happened was another attempt to attack Russian military facilities in Crimea, which Russia captured and annexed in 2014.

On Saturday, air defense was activated in Yevpatoria, Western Crimea.

On Thursday, Russian forces shot down a drone near the air base in Sevastopol.

On Tuesday, explosions rocked a military base and ammunition depot in Crimea.

And earlier in August, an explosion at the Saki Air Force base killed one person and injured several others.

Russia is strengthening security measures in the occupied part of the Kherson region and Crimea

There is no change in the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, although Russia expected a provocation from Ukraine in connection with the visit of the UN Secretary-General to the country. This is what the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War claims in its daily analysis.

The presidents of France and Russia, Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin, agreed in a telephone conversation on a recent International Atomic Energy Agency inspection of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Russian forces have conducted limited attacks in the Bakhmut, Izyum, Siversk and Kharkiv areas.

TASS reported that the Russian occupation authorities have established a Council of Ministers in the occupied part of the Ukrainian Kharkiv region. Kharkiv is the second largest Ukrainian city. The Russian army tried to capture it in late February but was repulsed and currently controls less than half of the administrative region bordering Donbas to the south.

Across southern Ukraine, and especially in Kherson, Russia intends to deploy so-called "volunteer" units, the Institute for the Study of War claims.

"Recent Ukrainian strikes on Russian military and transport infrastructure in Crimea and the Kherson region appear to be undermining Russian confidence in the security of their rear areas," the Washington Institute commented.

Russia has visibly stepped up security measures in Crimea, indicating growing concern among Russian officials and civilians about the threat of Ukrainian strikes. And Reuters quoted the newly appointed commander of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral Viktor Sokolov, as saying the navy should receive 12 new ships and additional aircraft and land transport assets.

Explosions at the Saki air base on the annexed Crimean peninsula earlier this month put more than half of the combat aircraft of the Russian Black Sea Fleet's naval aviation out of service, the Institute for the Study of War said.

At night, an air alert was sounded on the territory of all regions of Ukraine.

Powerful explosions rocked Nikolaev, Ukrainian media reported, quoting Mayor Alexander Senkevich. There was also Russian rocket fire against objects of the critical infrastructure of Kharkiv, Mayor Igor Terekhov announced.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the residents of Ukrainian cities that are under the most intense shelling by Russian units.

"Kharkiv and Mykolaiv, all cities in Donbas, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia region... We will not leave any of these strikes unanswered. And we will definitely restore everything that the terrorists are trying to leave in ruins," promised Zelensky.

Putin senses 'catastrophe' at Ukraine nuclear plant during telephone conversation with Macron

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron held a telephone conversation on Friday to discuss the situation in Ukraine, the Kremlin said in a statement.

During the phone call, Putin stressed that "the systematic shelling by the Ukrainian military" of the territory of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (NPP) creates the danger of a catastrophe that could lead to vast radiation contamination. "The discussion focused on various aspects of the situation around Ukraine. Vladimir Putin, in particular, stressed that the regular strikes on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant by the Ukrainian military creates the danger of a major nuclear disaster that could lead to radiation contamination of vast territories," the statement read.

Ukraine and Russia have recently exchanged accusations over shellings on the Zaporizhzhia NPP, which is one of the largest atomic power complexes in Europe and generates a quarter of Ukraine's total electricity.

In the phone call, Putin and Macron noted the importance of sending an IAEA mission to the Zaporizhzhia NPP as soon as possible to assess the real situation on the spot, the statement said.

"Both leaders noted the importance of sending an IAEA mission to the power plant as soon as possible to allow experts to assess the situation on the ground. The Russian side confirmed its readiness to provide the necessary assistance to the agency's inspectors," Kremlin said.

Vladimir Putin also stated Russia had invited experts from the UN Secretariat and the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit the pre-trial detention center in Yelenovka, where a large number of Ukrainian prisoners of war died following a missile strike. The Russians claim the strike was done by the Armed Forces of Ukraine while the AFU claims the opposite.

Putin also briefed Macron on the implementation of the grain export deal signed in Istanbul last month, underlining that there are still obstacles to the export of Russian food and fertilizers to world markets.

"The President of Russia also informed the French leader about the progress of the package deal signed on July 22 in Istanbul to facilitate the export of Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports and the export of Russian food and fertilizers to world markets," the statement said.

Putin pointed out the remaining obstacles to the above Russian exports, adding that the situation is doing little to resolve global food security problems.

What British intelligence reports on the war today

- In the last week, only minimal changes in territorial control along the front line have been observed. In Donbas, after small advances since early August, Russian forces have moved closer to the outskirts of the town of Bakhmut, but have not yet entered the built-up area.

- Russia has not made serious efforts to advance in the Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv sectors.

- In the southwestern part of the country, neither the Ukrainian nor the Russian forces are advancing along the front line near Kherson. However, the increasingly frequent explosions behind Russian lines are likely to strain Russian logistics and air bases in the south of the country.

- It is unlikely that the situation will change significantly in the next week. For now, Russian forces are likely to be prepared to undertake only limited local assaults that rarely involve more than one company of soldiers.

- In the coming months, however, the initiative will be with the country that succeeds in creating reliable and committed forces for offensive operations.

Kissinger: Negotiations on Ukraine, but no concessions on Russia

Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger believes that the protracted conflict in Ukraine threatens to escalate and must be ended through negotiations. He expressed this view in a podcast with CNN correspondent David Axelrod published on Friday.

"It (the conflict) must end with negotiations. I would suggest that Russia will ultimately remain a country and Ukraine will also remain a country and the situation will change radically because Ukraine was armed by NATO, it was closely associated with NATO and certain relations with NATO will remain," he said. "I think the proposals for Ukraine to join NATO were a mistake, but that's in the past given what happened. So there needs to be negotiations and I would caution against dragging the war out indefinitely. Because then it will look more and more like the First World War, there will probably be an escalation. So I hope that soon the NATO countries will understand among themselves what the end will be, what results the negotiations can lead to."

At the same time, Kissinger spoke out against Russian concessions and noted that "they (Russia) must retreat to the line that existed before the beginning" of the conflict. NATO countries must then decide how to build their relationship with Russia, "whether it will be part of Europe, is it possible now, or will it be a Chinese outpost on the fringes of Europe." "I would aim for the former. We will not decide in this conversation how to achieve it, but that will be my strategic goal," added the former US secretary of state.

The US announced a new package of arms aid to Ukraine for 775 million dollars

The US Department of Defense announced a new package of arms aid to Ukraine, which is worth 775 million dollars, AFP reported.

That brings Washington's military aid to Kyiv since President Joe Biden's inauguration in January 2021 to a total of about .6 billion.

The 19th package of weapons from the United States to Ukraine includes additional missiles for the already delivered high-precision American high-mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS). It also contains mobile gun systems and 105mm projectiles compatible with guns sent by Britain, a senior Pentagon official told reporters.

Kyiv will receive 15 more ScanEagle reconnaissance drones, which have a range of more than 100 kilometers and make it possible to monitor the battlefield even in bad weather conditions, as well as 1,000 Javelin anti-tank missiles.

In addition, the US for the first time will provide Ukraine with mine-protected MaxxPro armored vehicles, which are designed to transport soldiers through mined terrain.

The package also includes HARM air-to-surface anti-radar missiles, which the Ukrainian armed forces have been able to adapt to their Soviet-made MiG bombers, said the Pentagon spokeswoman, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

She emphasized that in recent weeks the Ukrainian army has managed to stop the Russian advance in the eastern and southern parts of the country, specifically mentioning its successful use of the HIMARS missile systems.

"You can see a complete lack of progress by the Russians on the battlefield," said the spokeswoman for the US Department of Defense.

At the same time, she admitted that the Pentagon had not established the recapture of territories by Ukrainian forces.

"However, we note a clear weakening of Russian positions in several places," added the representative of the US Department of Defense.

Until now, the United States has assured that it supplies Ukraine with only defensive weapons. However, the Pentagon spokeswoman made it clear on Friday that the goal is now to help the Ukrainian army in its planned counteroffensive to retake the strategic southern city of Kherson, which Russian forces seized at the start of the war.

"The anti-mine equipment is a good example of what the Ukrainians need to advance their troops and take back territory," she noted.

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