Russia strikes border crossing with Moldova as Kryvyi Rih search enters fourth day

Russian forces widened their targeting of civilian infrastructure on the night of 24–25 August, striking the Vynohradivka international road border crossing with Moldova with a Shahed drone, according to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. The attack damaged infrastructure and forced the temporary closure of the crossing, with traffic being redirected to other checkpoints. The Moldovan side has been informed Source: Ukrainska Pravda.

The strike on Vynohradivka – a key artery for civilian and commercial traffic between Ukraine and Moldova – marks a new phase in Russia’s campaign against border infrastructure. Although the crossing is not a major military logistics hub, its closure disrupts supply chains for ordinary Ukrainians and adds pressure on Moldova, which has already seen a surge in refugees and trade flows since the war began.

Meanwhile, in Kryvyi Rih, search operations at the site of the 21 August double-tap drone strike on a shopping centre continued for a fourth day on 24 August. The State Emergency Service reported that three people – including one child – remain missing. The attack killed 16 and injured 136, among them 26 children Source: Ukrainska Pravda. As of the morning of 24 August, 49 of the injured were still hospitalised, 15 in serious or critical condition.

Emergency workers have deployed 185 personnel and 42 pieces of equipment to the site. Eight sniffer dogs from Sumy, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Poltava and Dnipro have searched more than 1,000 square metres of rubble, while teams have dismantled 1,900 square metres of damaged structures. The prolonged search effort reflects the difficulty of locating survivors in the collapsed concrete and steel.

Elsewhere overnight, Russian forces attacked premises of a business in the Koriukivka district of Chernihiv Oblast, sparking a fire that spread over 3,000 square metres, the State Emergency Service reported. Fires also broke out at road and forestry sector facilities and private properties. No casualties were reported Source: Ukrainska Pravda.

In Kherson, a Russian drone strike on the evening of 23 August hit a Ukrainian Red Cross warehouse, destroying humanitarian supplies worth nearly UAH 28 million (about US$627,000), the organisation said. The destroyed stock included equipment and materials for autumn and winter preparations, emergency response supplies, medical supplies, blankets, hygiene kits, and water and electricity equipment Source: Ukrainska Pravda. The attack deliberately targeted aid intended for civilians ahead of the winter months, a pattern that human rights groups have documented repeatedly.

Kharkiv also came under missile fire overnight. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported that a missile struck an industrial area in the Osnovianskyi district, killing one person Source: Ukrainska Pravda.

On the military side, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on 25 August that Russia had lost 1,230 soldiers killed and wounded over the previous 24 hours. Total Russian combat losses since 24 February 2022 are estimated at approximately 1,479,300 personnel Source: Ukrainska Pravda. These figures, which cannot be independently verified, are consistent with the grinding attritional warfare that has characterised the front in recent months.

The combination of strikes on a border crossing, a humanitarian warehouse, civilian infrastructure in multiple oblasts, and the ongoing search in Kryvyi Rih underscores Russia’s continued willingness to target non-military sites far from the front line. For Ukraine, the immediate consequences are logistical disruption, a mounting civilian toll, and the strain on emergency services that must now operate across a widening geography of attacks.