This timeline of the Russo-Ukrainian war covers the period from 1 August to 31 December 2024.
August 2024 1 August Two people were killed by Russian shelling in Nikopol.
A Bulsae-4 anti-tank missile vehicle was reportedly spotted by a Ukrainian drone in Kharkiv Oblast, suggesting that Russia is using North Korean-made armoured vehicles.
Exiled Russian politician Ilya Ponomarev was injured in a drone attack on his residence near Kyiv.
Forbes claimed Ukraine launched more attack drones than Russia during the month of July.
The vessel Hetman Ivan Vyhovsky was launched in Istanbul as the second Turkish-built corvette commissioned for the Ukrainian Navy.
2 August Russian-installed officials and residents in Crimea reported missile and drone attacks across the peninsula, particularly in Sevastopol, Simferopol, Yevpatoria and Balaklava. Ukrainian forces claimed the submarine Rostov-na-Donu "sank on the spot" in the attack on Sevastopol while an S-400 launcher was also damaged.
The bodies of 250 soldiers were repatriated to Ukraine in exchange for those of 38 Russian soldiers.
Russian forces captured the village of Vesele in Donetsk Oblast.
Forbes estimated that 20 Russian regiments and brigades, "potentially" 40,000 troops, were advancing against six Ukrainian brigades of around 12,000 troops near Pokrovsk, and that the Russians were just 11 miles from the city. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy conceded that "this is where the fighting remains the most intense."
Romania and Ukraine announced a plan to manufacture and improve the Neptune missile.
3 August
In Russia, Ukrainian drones attacked an oil depot in Gubkinsky, Belgorod Oblast. The regional governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said that an explosion occurred at one of the storage tanks. Ukrainian drones struck a 16-story building in Zlyn, Oryol Oblast causing a fire; however, no casualties were reported according to the regional governor Andrey Klychkov. Drones also hit Morozovsk, in Rostov Oblast, targeting an airfield where explosions were reported by locals. Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) later claimed that a "fuel and lubricants warehouse" was hit by 15 drones in Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, Rostov Oblast. The regional governor also said that warehouses in the said areas were damaged.
The Ukrainian Air Force claimed that Russia fired 29 "Shahed-type drones", two S-300 missiles and two Kh-31 missiles. A Ukrainian official said that "critical infrastructure" in Vinnytsia was hit by Russian drones. In Kherson, according to the regional governor, "critical infrastructure", administrative and civilian buildings were damaged. Ukrainian forces claimed to have shot down 24 of the drones.
A photo was released showing a Ukrainian POW with his head and limbs cut off. Dymtro Lubinets, Ukraine's Human Rights Commissioner, accused Russia of having tortured and killed him.
4 August Zelenskyy confirmed the arrival and deployment of the first batch of F-16 fighter jets pledged by Western countries in Ukraine and their usage by the Ukrainian Air Force.
Russian-installed officials in Luhansk claimed that a Ukrainian missile strike caused a fire in a machine repair and storage facility used by the Russian military.
Ukrainian authorities ordered the evacuation of 744 children and their families from four frontline settlements in Donetsk Oblast due to Russian attacks.
5 August The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced the discovery of a "large-scale" sabotage network organised by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) that was operating in six oblasts, adding that nine people, including two city councilors in Dnipro and Yuzhne, Odesa Oblast, had been arrested on suspicion of membership of the group.
6 August In Russia, officials claimed that one person was killed in a Ukrainian drone strike in Belgorod Oblast, while two others were killed in a separate attack in Kursk Oblast, where Ukrainian forces reportedly attempted to make an incursion into the districts of Sudzha and Korenevo.
The SBU claimed to have damaged a Russian Mi-28 helicopter in Kursk Oblast with an FPV drone, calling it the first successful intercept of a helicopter mid-flight using a drone. Ukrainian military blog DeepState claimed that two Russian tanks were destroyed and a Ka-52 helicopter was also shot down in Kursk Oblast.
7 August The HUR claimed that it had carried out a raid with Ukrainian Special Forces on the Tendra Spit in occupied Kherson Oblast that inflicted casualties on Russian forces and destroyed MT-LB amphibious personnel carriers, electronic warfare systems and fortifications.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) estimated that Ukrainian forces had advanced up to ten kilometers into Russia's Kursk Oblast from their common border since the start of the incursion on 6 August and had seized a total area of some 45 square kilometers. The Ukrainian incursion involved some 1,000 soldiers, armoured vehicles and was supported by artillery and drones according to a Russian official. A state of emergency was declared in Kursk Oblast due to the ongoing incursion.
Russian forces seized the village of , east of Pokrovsk.
Ukrainian authorities ordered the evacuation of 6,000 people from 23 border communities in Sumy Oblast due to Russian attacks.
8 August
Two people were killed in separate Russian attacks in Nikopol and Sumy Oblast. Two people were also killed in a Russian airstrike in Selydove, Donetsk Oblast.
Wagner Group units were deployed to Kursk Oblast to repel the Ukrainian incursion.
Mexico turned down a request by Ukraine to arrest Russian president Vladimir Putin under the warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court for war crimes during his scheduled attendance at the inauguration of president-elect Claudia Sheinbaum in October.
9 August A massive drone attack was reported across Russia's Lipetsk Oblast, which authorities attributed to Ukraine. At least six people were injured, while four villages were ordered evacuated. Ukraine subsequently claimed that it had struck the Lipetsk air base and destroyed warehouses storing ammunition. Russian authorities also claimed that one person was killed in a separate attack in Belgorod Oblast. A HIMARS strike hit a Russian convoy of some 13 trucks, near Oktyabrskoye, Kursk Oblast. Video on social media showed burnt out trucks and soldiers' bodies. Ukraine increased its total amount of occupied territory in Kursk Oblast to an estimated 350 square kilometers. As of 9 August there is believed to be elements from 4–5 Ukrainian brigades operating in Kursk, some 10–12,000 troops.
The SBU have claimed to have struck a Russian helicopter mid-flight with an FPV drone. The drone, carrying a "powerful fragmentation warhead", struck the helicopter near the tail rotor. According to one Ukrainian source it was a Mi-8 helicopter. The fate of the helicopter or the crew is unknown.
Russia reportedly recaptured the village of Nevelske in Donetsk Oblast.
The HUR claimed that Ukrainian special forces, with the help of the Ukrainian Navy, launched an airborne raid on the Russian-occupied Kinburn Spit at the mouth of the Dnipro River in Mykolaiv Oblast, killing around 30 soldiers and destroying six armored vehicles. It also claimed to have destroyed a Russian KS-701 Tunets patrol boat and damaged three other vessels in a separate attack near Chornomorske, Crimea using a naval drone.
A supermarket in Kostiantynivka was struck by a Russian missile, killing at least 14 people and injuring at least 43 others.
The governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, reported an attack near Belbek airfield. He said the attack involved unmanned aerial and maritime drones plus one Neptune missile, which was shot down. Falling debris was reported in Sevastopol and other parts of Crimea.
The UK Defence Ministry assessed that Russian forces were now 16 kilometers away from Pokrovsk.
The United States pledged a $125-million military aid package to Ukraine that included Stinger missiles, 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition, HIMARS ammunition and vehicles.
10 August
A Ka-52 helicopter was reportedly shot down by Ukrainian forces in Kursk Oblast.
A video appeared to show Ukrainian soldiers in the village of Poroz, Belgorod Oblast.
11 August Two people were killed in a Russian missile attack on Brovary Raion, Kyiv Oblast.
During the night of 10–11 August, the Russian Defence Ministry claimed to have shot down 30 Ukrainian UAVs and four Tochka-U missiles over Belgorod, Kursk, Voronezh, Bryansk and Oryol oblasts. A downed missile struck a high rise apartment block in Kursk Oblast, causing a fire that also hit cars in the street. Some 13 people were reported wounded, two seriously. In Shebekino, Belgorod Oblast, houses and a high rise building were damaged. Part of the town lost power. In Voronezh Oblast, government and private buildings were damaged without casualties.
A fire broke out at a cooling tower of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, with Russian-installed authorities blaming the incident on Ukrainian shelling and Zelenskyy accusing Russian forces of responsibility.
12 August According to the Kursk governor, Alexei Smirnov, Ukraine controls 28 settlements along a front that is 12 km deep and 40 km wide. Some 2,000 Russians are living under Ukrainian control while another 121,000 have been evacuated and another 180,000 are awaiting evacuation.
Oleksandr Myhulia, the commander of an aviation unit of the 40th Tactical Aviation Brigade of the Ukrainian Air Force, was killed in action.
13 August Russian forces seized the villages of Ivanivka and , both 15 kilometers east of Pokrovsk.
President Putin appointed Aleksey Dyumin, a former bodyguard and current head of the State Council, as the head of the Russian response to the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk Oblast, where Ukrainian forces claimed to be holding approximately 1,000 square kilometres of territory. In his evening address, President Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian forces were in control of 74 settlements inside Kursk Oblast.
A Ukrainian Su-27 launched a JDAM at a Russian command post in Tyotkino, Kursk Oblast, which was reportedly destroyed. Russian jets were reported to have redirected up to half of their normal glide bombing missions against Ukrainian targets in Sumy Oblast, where the Ukrainian forces are headquartered.
14 August Russia accused Ukraine of carrying out a massive air and drone attack on Kursk, Voronezh, Belgorod, Nizhny Novgorod, Volgograd, Bryansk, Oryol, and Rostov Oblasts, adding that it had shot down 117 drones and four missiles. According to local media, at least 10 Ukrainian drones struck Savaskeyka airbase, causing explosions. Gleb Nikitin, the governor of Nizhny Novgorod, said that the raid had been repelled without any casualties. However, an HUR source told The Kyiv Independent that three Russian aircraft were destroyed and five others were damaged during the attack.
A state of emergency was declared in Belgorod Oblast by governor Vyacheslav Gladkov due to the Ukrainian incursion.
Russia captured the villages of Zhelanne and , east of Pokrovsk.
The Ukrainian military claimed to have shot down an Su-34 over Kursk Oblast.
Two medics were killed in a Russian drone strike in Bilyi Kolodiaz, Kharkiv Oblast, while two others were injured in a Russian missile attack on the port of Odesa.
The SBU announced the discovery of a spy network working on behalf of Russia whose membership included two members of former President Viktor Yanukovych's security team and a serving member of the National Guard of Ukraine.
A court in Germany ordered the arrest of a Ukrainian diving instructor on suspicion of involvement in the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline sabotage.
15 August