Here is the situation on Wednesday, September 4, 2024.

Fighting

At least 51 people were killed and 271 injured when two Russian ballistic missiles hit a military academy and a nearby hospital in Ukraine’s central town of Poltava in the deadliest single attack in the war this year. The missiles hit shortly after the air raid alert sounded when many people were on their way to a bomb shelter, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.
A woman and her eight-year-old son were killed after the Zaporizhia region hotel where they were staying was hit in a Russian missile attack. Her husband and daughter were injured, Ukrainian authorities said.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy said three employees were injured in a Russian drone attack on a power facility in the northern region of Chernihiv.
Ukraine’s state railway operator said Russia targeted railway infrastructure and rolling stock in the northeastern region of Sumy and the central Dnipropetrovsk region.
Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said the situation at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in central Ukraine was “very fragile” following new attacks near the site. Grossi will visit the plant on Wednesday.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said it had deployed additional air defence systems in its Belgorod region following repeated Ukrainian attacks.

Politics and diplomacy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepared a major shake-up of his government ahead of a visit to the United States later this month. Among multiple resignations on Tuesday was Minister for Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin who was in charge of weapons production and is expected to take up another defence role. More than one-third of cabinet positions are now vacant.
Zelenskyy spoke on the phone with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and asked him to step up advocacy among Ukraine’s Western partners to allow Kyiv to attack military targets deep inside Russia.
A Moscow court on Tuesday extended the detention of French researcher Laurent Vinatier who is accused of failing to register as a “foreign agent” in Russia and collecting military information of value to foreign intelligence agents. France has designated Vinatier as “arbitrarily detained”.
Vladimir Putin wrapped up his official visit to Mongolia undisturbed as Ulaanbaatar ignored an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for the Russian president.
The United Nations Human Rights Office said it was studying Kyiv’s ban on the Russian-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church, saying it raised serious concerns regarding the freedom of religion. Ukraine’s parliament voted last month to ban the church.

Weapons

Germany plans to donate six more IRIS-T SLM air defence systems to Ukraine, a source involved in the talks told the Reuters news agency.
Romania’s lower house of parliament approved a law allowing the donation of one of its two operational Patriot missile defence systems to Ukraine. Romania, a NATO member since 2004, shares a 650km (400-mile) border with Ukraine.
The United States is close to an agreement to provide Ukraine with Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSM), long-range cruise missiles that could reach deep into Russia, the Reuters news agency reported, quoting three government officials. Delivery would probably take several months, they added.