Ukraine has been trying to inflict major blows on Russia in overnight and early morning cross-border attacks, including carrying out a strike on the Olya seaport in Russia’s Astrakhan region, targeting a vessel reportedly transporting Shahed drone parts and Iranian-supplied ammunition.
Ukraine's General Staff described Friday that its operation involved Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces (SSO) seeking to weaken Russia’s ability to conduct airstrikes utilizing the Iranian-designed suicide drones which have long wreaked havoc on Ukrainian cities.
Olya has become viewed as a critical logistical hub for receiving military equipment from Iran. The vessel identified as the Port Olya 4 was said to be carrying unmanned aerial vehicle components and munitions at the time of the attack.
The early hours of Friday also saw a wave of Ukrainian drones targeted an oil refinery in Syzran, located in Russia’s Samara region.
This flurry of drone activity seeking to take out sensitive Russian targets happened just hours before much anticipated talks between Presidents Trump and Putin are to get underway, and appears a last-ditch effort for the Ukrainian side to establish some badly needed leverage, even as Russia has made big, rapid gains on the ground on the Donbass region.
Yesterday, analysis by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) made clear that "The Russian army took or claimed 110 square kilometers (42.5 square miles) on August 12 compared to the previous day," and that "It was the biggest advance since late May 2024."
So the Ukrainians are trying to provide a quick 'answer' for these ground losses for all the world to see just head of the Alaska summit. President Zelensky has repeatedly claimed this week that Putin is not actually interested in peace and that he's "bluffing".
Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense has detailed additional overnight inbound drone intercepts from Ukraine, as follows on Telegram:
Further, a string of significant oil and gas sites were struck by Ukrainian forces over the last week. Ukraine's military says these are 'military targets' - as Russia's energy sector props up Putin's military machine. On Thursday, Ukrainian drones successfully struck an oil refinery in Russia’s Volgograd region, sparking a huge fire.
Rubio and the CIA chief will be in Alaska, but not Pentagon leadership:
On Thursday, prior attacks on southern Russia resulted in a number of casualties:
Ukraine launched drone attacks on cities in southern Russia, killing one person and injuring at least 16 more — just a day before President Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
A Ukrainian drone hit an apartment building in Rostov-on-Don, injuring 13 people who were transferred to medical facilities for treatment, according to the region’s Gov. Yury Slyusar.
In another attack, Ukraine’s drone strike in Belgorod injured three people, according to local officials. Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the region, posted a video appearing to show the drone striking a car in the city, located about 24 miles north of the Ukraine border.
As for Alaska, the summit is expected to commence at 11am local time, which is 3pm eastern US. President Trump on Friday stated simply on Truth social the words HIGH STAKES!!! The Russian delegation has already arrived, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov telling reporters, "What we do know is that we have clear arguments to contribute to the discussion, and our position is well defined. We will present it accordingly."
And White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has presented Trump's general stance by saying "The president wants to exhaust all options to try to bring this war to a peaceful resolution."