Key developments on Aug. 21:Zelensky confirms drone attack on oil refinery in Russia's PermRussian double-tap strike on shopping center in Kryvyi Rih kills at least 14, injures more than 100Ukrainian attack on Russian air base damages Su-34 bomberRetired FSB general found dead in Moscow, Russian media reportMore than 80 Ukrainian soldiers deserted during training in Germany, media reportsPresident Zelensky confirmed a drone strike on Russia's Perm oil refinery overnight on Aug. 21. Videos shared by the Ukrainian Telegram channel Exilenova+ purportedly show explosions and a fire in Perm, a city roughly 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) from Ukraine.Exilenova+ said local residents reported a series of explosions at the refinery. OSINT analysts from ASTRA, an independent Russian Telegram channel, geolocated footage showing smoke rising near the Lukoil-Permnefteorgsintez oil refinery."We continue to use our long-range sanctions to return the consequences of the war to where it came from," Zelensky wrote on Telegram.Local authorities warned residents of incoming unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) around 6.30 a.m. local time. Around the same time, temporary restrictions were introduced at Bolshoe Savino airport in Perm, ASTRA wrote. These have since been lifted.Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed its air defenses shot down 325 Ukrainian drones overnight.Russian forces launched a daytime drone strike on a shopping center in Kryvyi Rih on Aug. 21, killing at least 14 people and injuring 121 others, including 22 children, local authorities said.Zelensky said the drones struck in two waves, with the second strike taking place around half an hour after the first, when rescue services were already responding at the scene."An absolutely cynical and vile strike was carried out by the Russians against an ordinary shopping center in Kryvyi Rih," Zelensky said.Oleksandr Vilkul, head of Kryvyi Rih's Defense Council, said the second strike was carried out by a jet-powered Shahed-type drone, adding that the drones were flying at extremely low altitudes.The Dnipropetrovsk Regional Prosecutor's Office reported that 14 people were killed. Vilkul said 121 people were injured, 29 of whom were in serious condition, including five children."There are people who have gone missing and cannot be contacted," Vilkul said."Bloody damn Russian bastards," he added.Ukraine's Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said Russia was deliberately striking places where civilians gather in broad daylight.Ukrainian attack on Russian air base damages Su-34 bomberA Ukrainian drone attack on a Russian air base in Akhtubinsk overnight on Aug. 20 damaged a Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber, the General Staff said.The Akhtubinsk air base is about 650 kilometers (404 miles) from the front line and is home to Russia's 929th State Aircraft Test Center of the Ministry of Defense, the General Staff reported. This institution is Russia's primary center for testing new weapons and aircraft.Several Su-34 jets are based in Akhtubinsk. They are multifunctional fighter-bomber jets deploying different types of guided bombs (KAB) and high-explosive bombs (FAB).Retired Russian FSB Major General Igor Laptev, whose business supplied communications equipment to Russia's Defense Ministry and other state agencies, was found dead in his Moscow apartment, Russian media reported on Aug. 21.The 83-year-old was found with a gunshot wound to the head in his apartment on Verkhnyaya Krasnoselskaya Street, according to Russian outlets Moskovsky Komsomolets and Izvestia.The outlets, citing unnamed sources, reported that Laptev died by suicide on August 20.Russian authorities have not publicly confirmed the reports, and the circumstances surrounding Laptev’s death remain unclear.The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the claims.Around 80 Ukrainian soldiers have deserted while undergoing military training in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt since 2022, with cases across Germany estimated in the hundreds, Die Zeit reported on Aug. 20.The soldiers had been sent to Germany for training to fight Russia, but they left the training grounds unauthorized to avoid returning to Ukraine.The report comes as Ukraine struggles with a worsening manpower shortage after more than four years of full-scale war, increasingly relying on mobilized recruits as the pool of volunteers shrinks.More than 25,000 Ukrainian soldiers had undergone military training in Germany by early 2026, according to the Bundeswehr.Germany provides training as part of the EU Military Assistance Mission for Ukraine (EUMAM UA), launched in 2022. By early 2026, 22 participating European countries had trained around 87,000 Ukrainian soldiers. The training includes instruction in operating military equipment, weapons handling, camouflage, and first aid.