← WW3 RISK TRACKER / THEATER: Russia – Ukraine War
Russia – Ukraine war
- Ukrainian Defense Forces struck Russia's Kombinat Kamensky solid rocket propellant manufacturing plant in Rostov Oblast. Kyiv Post · 24 Aug 2026Ukraine Strikes Russian Rocket Propellant Plant in Rostov RegionUkrinform · 24 Aug 2026Ukrainian Defense Forces strike Russian defense industry plant in Rostov region
- Ukrainian drones struck Ozon logistics centers across Adygeysk, Dagestan, and Stavropol Krai. Meduza.io · 24 Aug 2026Ukraine attacks southern Russia with drones, killing three children, local officials sayKyiv Post · 24 Aug 2026Ukrainian Drones Hit Ozon Warehouses for Third Straight Night
- A Russian strike drone violated Moldovan airspace and entered Romania on August 24, prompting Romanian F-16 fighter scrambles. Kyiv Post · 24 Aug 2026Drone Crosses Into Moldovan, Romanian Airspace Amid Russian Attack on Ukraine
- Russian MLRS strikes hit Izium in Kharkiv Oblast on August 24, killing one civilian. Ukrinform · 24 Aug 2026Russian forces strike Izium with MLRS, killing man, injuring child
- Ukrainian forces destroyed a Russian Spirit-030 satellite communications terminal near Huliaipole. Ukrinform · 24 Aug 2026Defense Forces strike rare Russian counterpart to Starlink in Huliaipole areaUkrainska Pravda · 24 Aug 2026Ukrainian troops post video of rare Russian Starlink alternative being destroyed by drones
Defense Industry Interdiction
Ukrainian Defense Forces struck the Kombinat Kamensky plant in Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, Rostov Oblast. The facility produces solid rocket propellant for Uragan, Smerch, and Tornado-S multiple launch rocket systems. The attack expands Ukraine's deep-strike targeting against primary munitions supply infrastructure supplying active Russian artillery units. Kyiv Post · 24 Aug 2026Ukraine Strikes Russian Rocket Propellant Plant in Rostov RegionUkrinform · 24 Aug 2026Ukrainian Defense Forces strike Russian defense industry plant in Rostov region
E-Commerce Supply Chain Targeting
Ukrainian uncrewed aerial vehicles conducted a third consecutive night of strikes against Russian e-commerce logistics centers, hitting Ozon facilities in Adygeysk, Makhachkala, and Nevinnomyssk. The campaign disrupts major commercial transport networks inside the Russian Federation, forcing site shutdowns and administrative suspensions across southern regional hubs. Meduza.io · 24 Aug 2026Ukraine attacks southern Russia with drones, killing three children, local officials sayKyiv Post · 24 Aug 2026Ukrainian Drones Hit Ozon Warehouses for Third Straight NightMeduza.io · 24 Aug 2026Kremlin on Ukrainian strikes on Ozon warehouses: ‘Responses are felt in Kyiv every day, every night’
NATO Airspace Incursions
A Russian strike drone transited Moldovan airspace from Odesa Oblast before crossing into Romania's Galați County. Romanian air defense authorities scrambled two F-16 fighters and a helicopter to track the uncrewed aerial vehicle. The incident marks a recurring pattern of Russian strike vectors encroaching on neutral and NATO-aligned airspace during border region bombardments. Kyiv Post · 24 Aug 2026Drone Crosses Into Moldovan, Romanian Airspace Amid Russian Attack on Ukraine
Tactical Battlefield Communications
Ukrainian forces from the 1st Separate Assault Regiment located and destroyed a Russian Spirit-030 satellite communications terminal on the Huliaipole axis. Russian units deployed Spirit-030 systems to replace restricted Starlink access, attempting to maintain command-and-control connectivity across contested frontline sectors. Ukrinform · 24 Aug 2026Defense Forces strike rare Russian counterpart to Starlink in Huliaipole areaUkrainska Pravda · 24 Aug 2026Ukrainian troops post video of rare Russian Starlink alternative being destroyed by drones
Assessment
High-intensity interstate combat continues without operational pause, marked by expanding Ukrainian deep strikes against Russian industrial production and supply networks alongside persistent Russian frontline artillery and long-range drone bombardment.
- 2026-08-21
Russia deploys over 8,000 North Korean troops to combat operations
Ukrainian intelligence reported that Russia deployed over 8,000 North Korean troops, including drone operators, to support combat operations.
- 2026-08-19
Ukrainian parliament approves General Khmara as Defense Minister
Ukraine's parliament approved General Khmara as Defense Minister with 312 votes in favor.
- 2026-08-19
Russia and Ukraine execute prisoner exchange of 103 soldiers each
Russia and Ukraine conducted a prisoner exchange, returning 103 captured soldiers to each nation.
4 more
- 2026-08-12
Ukrainian strikes target Novorossiysk port, damaging Russian warships and grain export terminals
Ukrainian drone and missile attacks struck Russia's major Black Sea port at Novorossiysk, damaging four warships and grain export terminals while reportedly causing three casualties.
- 2026-08-12
Ukraine reports retaking 745 square kilometers of territory during ongoing operations this year
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukrainian forces liberated 745 square kilometers and 26 settlements over an eight-month period. The announcement coincided with continued long-range drone strikes against Russian oil and logistics targets.
- 2026-08-12
Ukrainian long-range drone strikes force the shutdown of a major Russian oil refinery.
A Ukrainian drone attack reportedly triggered the operational shutdown of a major Russian oil refinery alongside strikes on logistical infrastructure. The operations form part of an escalated Ukrainian campaign against key energy and economic facilities inside Russia.
- 2026-08-12
Ukraine launches long-range missile and drone strike on Russia's Novorossiysk naval base.
Ukrainian forces reportedly used Neptune missiles and Palianytsia drones to strike Russia's key Black Sea naval base in Novorossiysk, over 300 kilometers behind the front line. The attack reportedly caused casualties, while Russian strikes across Ukraine killed at least eight civilians.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Is there a war between Russia and Ukraine?
Yes. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and the war is ongoing. Ukraine is defending its own territory. Under international humanitarian law this is an international armed conflict, with parts of Ukraine under Russian military occupation — one of 102 armed conflicts in Geneva Academy's worldwide classification. The index reads 94/100 as of 1 January 1970 (total war); above 50 it grades the fighting itself rather than the risk of it.
How dangerous is the Russia and Ukraine situation right now?
The index reads 94/100 — total war. The scale is anchored on 22 historical episodes from 1914 to 2005, so the number means the same thing from one theater to the next. It is a measurement of what is reported, not a forecast.
How is the Russia and Ukraine risk index calculated?
By fixed formula from open-source reporting: events are extracted and graded by how well evidenced they are, scored across weighted factors, and the model never picks the number. How the index works, and what it does not measure, is explained at wwiii.report/methodology.
How often is this updated?
Every day. The report is rebuilt from that day's reporting and the index re-judged from it, and a fall is published only once the evidence confirms it.
Timeline events — hover the chart to read them
Timeline events — hover the chart to read them
Timeline events — hover the chart to read them
One 0–100 scale for the whole conflict. 0–49 is escalation before war; 50–100 is active war and how far it has gone.
50 is not a threshold the number can cross on its own. Which side a theater sits on is decided by whether verified belligerents are fighting there, so war onset always moves the score up across 50 — the number never declares a war by climbing.
It is a stage, not a probability: 42 is not a 42% chance of war. Below 50 it grades movement toward war, above 50 the war itself.
Why it moved, under the chart, names what changed in the latest move: the day’s readings — strikes, casualties, talks — and, when the conflict’s stage was re-judged, what was graded differently and the events behind it. Open it for the detail.
Re-judged from open reporting by fixed formula — the model never picks a number — and a fall publishes only once the evidence confirms it. A dot on the line is a day the stage itself moved. How it is made →
Direction — which way the week pushed. Severity — where the index sits. Connections — how much of the rest a shock here reaches. Cascade — that reach combined with how ready this theater is to go off.
The index reads the state of the conflict, not the volume of news. Each run grades the factors listed below against fixed rubrics, and the score follows by formula.
So a dramatic headline moves nothing unless it changes a grade. A theater already graded for recurring incursions absorbs one more without moving — it is priced in.
Open How this was measured for every grade, its movement since the last run, and the events behind it. Full construction →
A different measurement from the score above, from a different source. This line counts how much of the world's news reports conflict between these two states, against their own long-run normal: 100 is normal, 200 is twice the usual level.
It is computed mechanically from the GDELT Project's open event stream every 15 minutes and never touches the assessed index above — when both move together, that agreement is the signal. A day with too few events shows no reading rather than a guess. Click the chart for the full history.
Data: the GDELT Project.