From: Transform Ukraine By Douglas Landro / August 5, 2025
As Putin discusses water catastrophe with Donetsk puppet leader and Russian gasoline prices hit record highs, Ukraine destroys five fighter jets in Crimea while Trump’s envoy prepares for Moscow mission before Friday’s sanctions deadline
Summary of the Day – August 4, 2025
The fourth day of August exposed the deepening contradictions of Russia’s occupation project as Vladimir Putin met with Denis Pushilin to discuss a catastrophic water crisis engulfing occupied Donetsk Oblast, where major cities receive water for only a few hours every few days while children beg the Russian president for basic sanitation. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Security Service struck deep into occupied Crimea, destroying a Su-30SM fighter jet and damaging four others at Saky Airfield in a precision drone operation that demonstrated Kyiv’s expanding reach into Russian-held territory. On the diplomatic front, Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff prepared for a Wednesday or Thursday mission to Moscow as the August 8 sanctions deadline approaches, while Russia formally abandoned its moratorium on intermediate-range missile deployments in response to American pressure. The day’s most sobering revelation came through gasoline prices hitting record highs on Russian exchanges following Ukrainian drone strikes on refineries, underscoring how Kyiv’s deep-strike campaign continues to pressure Moscow’s war economy even as the Kremlin struggles to provide basic services to populations under its control.
Putin’s Water Disaster: Children Beg for Basic Sanitation in Occupied Donetsk
In a meeting that starkly illustrated the failure of Russia’s occupation project, Vladimir Putin sat across from Denis Pushilin, head of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, to address what Pushilin admitted was the “most difficult and serious challenge” facing occupied territories: a complete breakdown of water infrastructure that has left millions without reliable access to basic sanitation.
The conversation revealed the extent of the humanitarian catastrophe Putin’s war has created in territories under Russian control. Major settlements including Donetsk City, Makiivka, Yenakiyeve, and Mariupol now receive water for mere hours every few days, with Yenakiyeve reduced to a four-day cycle. Social media footage published on August 4 showed desperate residents collecting water from rainfall, puddles, and leaking pipes using plastic buckets—scenes that would be shocking in a developed nation but have become routine under Russian occupation.
Voice of Ukraine 