Russian organizers have officially canceled the "international" Spasskaya Tower military music festival, which was scheduled to take place in Red Square starting this Friday. The event has been postponed until next year following a record-breaking drone attack against Russian territory. Aerial activity continued into Monday night, with Russian authorities reporting further drone strikes near Moscow that forced the temporary suspension of flights at the Domodedovo, Vnukovo, and Zhukovsky airports, according to the Russian aviation agency, Rosaviatsia.
In a separate development, the Ukrainian military general staff released visual evidence confirming the results of a strike operation that targeted rocket fuel and explosives workshops in Russia’s Rostov region. The attack, which occurred on the night of 16 August, hit the Kamensky Combine in Kamensk-Shakhtinsky. The strike successfully destroyed two workshops and inflicted damage on four others. The facility is a critical component of the Russian military-industrial complex, producing solid rocket fuel for munitions used in Uragan, Smerch, and Tornado-S multiple-launch rocket systems, as well as various missile systems and air-delivered munitions.
Ukrainian authorities also reported that a Russian drone crashed and detonated in Moldova. The Institute for the Study of War identified the craft as a Russian Banderol, a winged cruise missile that functions as a loitering munition. The device entered Moldovan airspace on Monday afternoon before crashing and exploding near the settlement of Talmaza. While the impact ignited a grass fire, local authorities confirmed there were no casualties. Moldova has condemned the violation of its airspace.
Domestically, the Russian judicial system continues to suppress anti-war opposition as Vladimir Putin prepares for stage-managed elections in September. A court has sentenced senior opposition politician Lev Shlosberg to 11 years and one month in prison for his vocal criticism of the war. This sentencing follows the supreme court's decision on Monday to deny an appeal by the Yabloko party against its ban from the upcoming elections. Yabloko, the only official political party on the ballot that overtly opposes the war, condemned the ruling as a "barbaric sentence" and confirmed plans to appeal. Amnesty International also denounced the verdict, with Marie Struthers, the organization's director for eastern Europe and central Asia, describing the prosecution as a "blatant reprisal" for exercising the right to freedom of expression.
Addressing the court, Shlosberg stated that over the last 30 years, Russia has traveled "a path from hopes for freedom to the almost complete destruction of human and civil rights and freedoms." He added that the war has fundamentally altered the lives of every Russian citizen and warned that once the true death toll is revealed, "the entire country will shudder." Yabloko chairman Nikolai Rybakov stated that the party intends to lodge a complaint with the presidium of the supreme court and potentially the constitutional court. Rybakov noted that the party's focus remains on supporting political prisoners and advocating for peace, stating, "We achieved the main thing: the whole world knows how many people in Russia want peace, want to live normally and to raise children under a peaceful sky in their country."
Ukrainian energy companies Naftogaz and DTEK report string of attacks; pictures show success of strike on Russian rocket fuel maker. What we know on day 1,637
