What the first week of September 2024 showed

What did the opening days of September 2024 reveal about the state of the war as of 6 September 2024? Mainly that civilian-populated areas in Ukraine were being struck repeatedly, that Ukraine was reaching deeper into Russia, and that the fight over accountability was moving into diplomacy.

Strikes on Ukrainian cities

On 1 September, Russian missiles hit a shopping mall and events complex in Kharkiv, injuring at least 47 people. Two days later, on 3 September, Russian missile strikes on Poltava killed at least 55 people and injured more than 328, as reported at the time. Later accounts put the toll higher: at least 59 dead, 16 missing and at least 328 injured. Those accounts say two missiles hit a branch of the Military Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technologies and a nearby hospital, and describe it as the deadliest attack in Poltava Oblast during the war.

On 4 September, Russian drones and missiles hit buildings in Lviv, killing at least seven people and injuring 53. Within four days, then, Kharkiv, Poltava and Lviv, in the east, centre and west of the country, had all been hit.

Ukrainian strikes on Russia

The fighting ran in both directions. On 31 August, five civilians were killed in Ukrainian missile strikes on Belgorod, Russia. On 1 September, Ukraine launched more than a hundred drones against targets in Russia, including the Konakovo Power Station in Tver Oblast and the Moscow Refinery in Moscow. Energy facilities were among the named targets, and the reach extended to the Russian capital region.

The Mongolia dispute

The diplomatic dimension surfaced on 2 September, when Russia's President Vladimir Putin arrived in Mongolia. The visit was to discuss a China–Russia gas pipeline meant to recoup Russian losses from Western sanctions. Ukraine and the European Union had urged Mongolia to arrest Putin under his International Criminal Court warrant.

Mongolia did not do so. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry responded that, by not arresting Putin during a state visit, Mongolia shared responsibility for the war crimes committed by Russia. It said it would work with allies to enforce punitive measures on Mongolia.

Why it matters

Taken together, the events of 31 August to 4 September 2024 show three tracks running at once. Russia's strikes caused heavy civilian casualties across Ukraine. Ukraine answered with long-range drone and missile attacks on Russian territory, including energy infrastructure. And Kyiv pressed partners and third countries over the International Criminal Court warrant, treating a state visit as a test of international justice. By 6 September, none of these tracks had eased.