Thus far in August, the intensity of Russian strikes on Ukraine appear to have eased. The first 11 days of this month have seen Moscow launch a daily average of 74 drones and one missile into Ukraine, compared with record-breaking July figures of 201 drones and around six missiles per day.

A Russian official says a Ukrainian drone attack has killed one person and wounded two others in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region

The Kremlin leader believes time is on his side as the exhausted and outgunned Ukrainian forces are struggling to stem Russian advances.