Russia Ukraine War update

POLTAVA, Ukraine- Top U.S military officials are traveling to Germany to discuss Ukraine’s wartime needs after one of the largest missile strikes of the entire war struck a Ukrainian military academy and hospital in Poltava.

Ukrainian Officials claim 51 people were killed and at least 200 more were injured on Tuesday as two ballistic missiles directly impacted the Poltava Military Institute of Communication’s main building.

“Air defense systems and missiles are needed in Ukraine, not in a warehouse somewhere,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on his Telegram channel this week. “Long-range strikes that can protect us from Russian terror are needed now.”

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, resigned Wednesday ahead of an expected reshuffling of government leaders. His resignation is just one of six cabinet ministers who have resigned this week, likely making this reshuffle the biggest since Russia’s invasion in Feb 2022.

Ukraine has launched an incursion of its own into Russian territory. They have taken control over part of the Kursk region which is on the border of the Sumy region in Ukraine located in the northeastern part of the country. This has caused some Russian forces to retreat and has also taken the battle within Russian borders for the first time since the conflict began.

Map for Reference:

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/36a7f6a6f5a9448496de641cf64bd375

In June, Vladimir Putin insisted that any talks for peace must include a Ukrainian withdrawal from the eastern regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson currently under Russian control.

Ukraine remains steadfast in its attempt to recapture these regions and their latest offensive into the Kursk region could be seen as a strategic attempt to secure leverage for a potential peace treaty and withdrawal of Russian forces within Ukraine as well as a Ukrainian withdrawal from their offensive in the Kursk region.

As both sides of the war prepare for the winter, it seems as though there haven't been any positive developments for talks of peace between Russia and Ukraine.

According to data verified by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), over 11,500 civilians have been killed and more than 23,600 injured in Ukraine from Feb 24, 2022, to July 31, 2024.

Zelenskyy has urged for additional air defenses and loosened restrictions on how far into Russia Ukraine can fire American-provided munitions, but as of Tuesday there has been no change in the policy on Ukraine’s use of U.S.-supplied weapons, Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters.

Carson Schuler is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism, to contact him please email cts5357@psu.edu