What Ukraine's regions faced in the days before 25 August 2025
A look back at Russian strikes on Poltava, Chernihiv, Donetsk and Zakarpattia oblasts, and a deadly blast in Luhansk Oblast, in the days before 25 August 2025.
What had Ukraine's regions endured in the days leading up to 25 August 2025? Reports from 19 to 22 August described a steady run of Russian attacks across the country, from the east to the far west.
On 19 August, Russian forces launched 270 drones and ten missiles at critical infrastructure in Poltava and Chernihiv oblasts. The next day, 20 August, a Russian MLRS rocket strike on a market in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk Oblast, killed three people and injured four others, according to Governor Vadym Filashkin.
A combined attack reaches Zakarpattia
Overnight on 21 August, the Russian Armed Forces carried out a combined attack, launching at least 570 drones and 40 hypersonic, ballistic and cruise missiles across Ukraine. Two cruise missiles struck an American electronics factory in Mukachevo, Zakarpattia Oblast, injuring more than a dozen people.
Blast in Luhansk Oblast
On 22 August, an explosion at a house in Kalynove, Luhansk Oblast, killed three militants who had been involved in the Bucha massacre in 2022 and injured two others. The Bucha massacre was the mass murder of Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war by Russian forces during the fight for and occupation of the city. Photographic and video evidence emerged on 1 April 2022, after Russian forces withdrew from the city.
