The Ukrainian Embassy in Thailand has advised Ukrainian citizens to observe heightened security measures in the southern provinces of Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat amid a sharp escalation of the situation and a series of simultaneous attacks that occurred on the night of August 23.
According to Thai security forces, 51 incidents were recorded in the three southern provinces on the evening of August 22, including explosions, arson, and damage to infrastructure. Of these, 22 incidents occurred in Narathiwat, 18 in Yala, and 11 in Pattani. In Narathiwat, at least two injured civilians were initially reported.
The attacks targeted, among other things, stores, telecommunications infrastructure, and other facilities. Following a series of attacks in Narathiwat Province, authorities temporarily imposed a curfew from 10:15 p.m. on August 22 until 6:00 a.m. on August 23.
On the morning of August 23, Thailand’s Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, Anutin Charnvirakul, convened an emergency meeting of law enforcement leaders in response to the scale of the nighttime attacks. Authorities have stepped up security measures in the region.
The attacks also affected transportation. The State Railway of Thailand temporarily closed the section between the Maruebo and Tanyong Mat stations in Narathiwat after damage to the railroad tracks was discovered as a result of an explosion. New explosions were also reported in Pattani and Narathiwat that morning.
The Ukrainian Embassy has advised citizens already in Pattani, Yala, or Narathiwat to take extra personal safety precautions and follow the instructions of local authorities. In the event of a threat to life or health, Ukrainians are advised to contact the Embassy’s hotline in Thailand: +66 970 107 760.
The current escalation is not directly related to the conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, which is unfolding along another section of the country’s border.
Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat are located in the far south of Thailand near the border with Malaysia. These are predominantly Muslim provinces that historically were part of the Malay Sultanate of Pattani.
An armed separatist conflict has been ongoing in the region for over 20 years. The Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) is considered the main insurgent group. Since the conflict reignited in 2004, the violence has claimed the lives of over 7,800 people. In recent months, the number of attacks has risen again.
One of the most serious incidents was the July 22 attack on a checkpoint in Narathiwat: armed men opened fire and used improvised explosive devices, killing five paramilitary personnel and wounding civilians. Following this, special security measures were stepped up in the province.
The day before, on July 21, a car bomb exploded near a police facility in Narathiwat. This was the first such car bombing in Thailand’s southern region in 2026.
Back in June, two separate explosions in Yala and Pattani left 11 police officers injured, and in Pattani, armed men attacked a biomass power plant, after which a key section of the highway was temporarily closed.
Amid the ongoing threat, the Thai government extended the state of emergency for the 85th time in July across much of Narathiwat, Pattani, and Yala—from July 20 to October 19, 2026. However, a number of calmer areas were excluded from the state of emergency.
At the same time, Bangkok is attempting to resume political dialogue. Thailand’s new chief negotiator, Tanut Suwannananda, announced in August his intention to change the approach to the peace process with the BRN, including discussions on political demands, elements of decentralization, and a possible amnesty. Negotiations mediated by Malaysia have been ongoing since 2013 but have been repeatedly interrupted.
Even before the current series of attacks, a number of foreign governments had recommended avoiding non-essential travel to Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat. For example, the British Foreign Office advises against traveling there unless absolutely necessary due to regular armed attacks near the Malaysian border.
Thus, the Ukrainian Embassy’s warning is not related to a general deterioration of security throughout Thailand, but rather to a sharp escalation of the chronic armed conflict in the three southernmost provinces. The country’s main tourist regions—Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya, Koh Samui, Krabi, and Chiang Mai—are located outside this conflict zone.
Due to security measures involving foreign delegations in the capital, temporary traffic restrictions will be implemented from August 22–25, according to the State Security Service of Ukraine.
It is noted that the restrictions will be in effect in the central part of the capital, as well as in certain areas of the Pechersky, Podilsky, Solomensky, and Shevchenkivsky districts.
“Please take this information into account when traveling,” reads a post by the State Security Service of Ukraine on Facebook.
KYIV, SECURITY, State Security Service, TRAFFIC, TRANSPORTATION
Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs Ivan Vygivsky held a telephone conversation with Azerbaijani Minister of Internal Affairs Vilayat Eyvazov, according to the press service of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs.
“We discussed our partnership in the field of law enforcement. The key areas of cooperation are combating organized and transnational crime, cybersecurity, and the fight against fraud, as well as strengthening practical cooperation,” Vygivsky said following the conversation.
During the talks, the head of the Ukrainian ministry also briefed his counterpart on the current situation in the country, particularly regarding the latest Russian shelling of civilian infrastructure and attacks on the civilian population.
The parties paid special attention to joint humanitarian initiatives, particularly in the areas of healthcare, rehabilitation, and social support for the families of Ukrainian defenders.
“In the past year alone, the Republic of Azerbaijan has hosted two groups of high school students from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The students had the opportunity to learn about the country’s culture and history and broaden their horizons. In recent years, our units have also received humanitarian demining equipment and technology from Azerbaijan that ensures uninterrupted operations during power outages. We are grateful to the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan for its support of Ukraine and assistance to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. We agreed to strengthen our partnership,” Vygivsky concluded.
AZERBAIJAN, COOPERATION, Ministry of Internal Affairs, SECURITY, UKRAINE
In 2026, Ukrnafta JSC will allocate an additional 2.5 billion hryvnia to protect its production infrastructure from shelling by Russia, which has intensified, said Bogdan Kukura, the company’s chairman of the board.
“We have shifted our priorities toward protecting facilities and ensuring the safety of equipment through underground construction. Therefore, this year we are allocating an additional 2.5 billion hryvnia to protect (production – IF-U) infrastructure; this is a huge investment,” he said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, the drilling plan for this year calls for 15 wells to be completed. At the same time, Kukura suggested that, thanks to a balanced drilling program, there is a possibility this figure could increase. (Last year, the company set a drilling record, bringing the total to 25 wells – IF-U).
“A total of 11 wells have already been drilled since the beginning of the year—including those drilled jointly with Ukrgazvydobuvannya. But for us, it is not so much the quantitative figure that matters as, first and foremost, economic efficiency, production rate, and the contribution to increasing output,” Kukura noted.
He noted that the collaboration between “Ukrnafta” and “Ukrgazdobycha” has proven effective, and together the companies have drilled three high-yield wells, each with a depth ranging from 4.5 to 5.6 km.
“This project has confirmed the effectiveness of combining the expertise of state-owned companies, so we plan to continue developing this kind of cooperation in the future,” emphasized the CEO of Ukrnafta.
Kukura also noted that the company has suspended the UKRNAFTA network expansion program in the east due to constant shelling by Russia, which “would render all modernization efforts futile,” and is currently focused on protecting its facilities there. At the same time, he noted that in the west of the country, UKRNAFTA is working as hard as possible to continue modernizing gas stations and is allocating part of the funds received from commercial operations toward this effort.
“Overall, we are trying to maintain a balanced allocation of revenue from both segments—production and commercial operations,” Kukura emphasized.
As previously reported, in this interview, Kukura stated that JSC “Ukrnafta’s” oil production losses for the first half of 2026 amounted to 150,000 metric tons—this includes both physical losses, i.e., oil that burned as a result of shelling, and the volume of oil not produced due to operational shutdowns. According to him, oil losses in the first half of 2026 significantly exceed the figures for the same period of the previous year.
In the first seven months of 2026, Russia destroyed 37 gas stations belonging to the Naftogaz Group; some of them were successfully restored, but the rest sustained critical damage and ceased operations.
Turkey has called on Russia and Ukraine to agree to a moratorium on attacks on ships and maritime-related facilities in the Black Sea amid a sharp increase in attacks on the commercial fleet.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated on August 8 that Ankara is proposing that the parties establish a special mechanism to halt mutual attacks in the Black Sea.
“We have called on both sides to establish a mechanism for declaring a moratorium,” Fidan said in an interview with the Turkish state news agency Anadolu. According to him, Ukraine had previously put forward a similar proposal, after which Turkey conveyed it to the Russian side and is now awaiting Moscow’s response.
The Turkish foreign minister noted that the war has effectively spread to the entire Black Sea. While the attacks initially targeted mainly military ports and warships, commercial vessels are now increasingly coming under fire.
Ankara is particularly concerned about attacks on vessels linked to Turkey—those flying the Turkish flag, owned by Turkish companies, or carrying Turkish crew members.
According to Fidan, Russia and Ukraine are also attacking logistics facilities of strategic importance to the opposing side, and the further escalation of such actions is becoming “extremely dangerous.”
Ankara’s statement came after a sharp deterioration in the security situation for commercial shipping.
According to data from Ukraine’s Ministry of Community and Territorial Development, as cited by Reuters, in July alone, Ukraine recorded 35 attacks on ships in ports, 22 attacks on ships at sea, and 67 strikes on port infrastructure.
By comparison, Reuters counted 14 attacks on ships in the Ukrainian sector of the Black Sea throughout all of 2025. At the same time, Ukraine has intensified its strikes on tankers linked to the Russian oil trade. Both Moscow and Kyiv claim that their targets are facilities associated with military activities.
The escalation is already affecting global trade in grain and oil. More than 90% of the country’s agricultural exports pass through Ukrainian Black Sea ports, while the Russian ports of Novorossiysk and Tuapse remain major export hubs for grain and petroleum products.
The cost of war risk insurance for ships calling at Black Sea ports has risen to approximately 2% of a ship’s value, up from about 1% two weeks earlier, while the cost of chartering oil tankers on certain routes has exceeded $300,000 per day.
Amid rising risks, reports emerged that Turkey had begun restricting the passage of certain commercial vessels into the Black Sea. However, on August 9, two Turkish officials told Reuters that traffic through the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles was proceeding as usual. Ankara has indeed implemented temporary additional security measures, but these do not mean that the straits are closed to commercial shipping.
Passage is governed by the 1936 Montreux Convention, which grants Turkey control over the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles and special powers regarding military vessels, while ensuring freedom of passage for civilian vessels.
For Ankara, the security of the Black Sea is of fundamental economic importance. Large volumes of Russian and Ukrainian agricultural products, oil, and petroleum products pass through this region, and Turkish shipowners are actively engaged in these routes.
Since the start of the full-scale war, Turkey has maintained contacts with both Kyiv and Moscow and has sought to play the role of mediator. Ankara has not joined Western sanctions against Russia, yet it continues to cooperate with Ukraine and has repeatedly acted as a mediator on issues related to Black Sea shipping.
The US embassies in Israel and a number of other Middle Eastern countries have advised US citizens to consider leaving the region due to the risk of unforeseen escalation and possible disruptions to air travel.
“Due to heightened tensions in the Middle East, the security situation remains challenging, and the possibility of an unforeseen escalation persists,” according to warnings issued on 1 August by US diplomatic missions.
US citizens already in the region are advised to exercise increased caution and be prepared for flight cancellations, periodic airspace closures and other travel restrictions.
“Americans in the region should consider leaving or be prepared to leave in the event of an escalation,” the statement notes. Americans outside the Middle East are advised to seriously reconsider any plans to travel to or transit through the region.
Similar warnings have been issued by US embassies and diplomatic missions in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Iraq. The diplomatic missions continue to provide routine consular and visa services.
The US Embassy in Jordan has additionally advised Americans to stay away from military bases in the country. The advisory also states that Iran and groups it supports may attack US interests and facilities abroad.
On 22 July, the US State Department issued a global travel advisory, urging Americans to exercise increased caution due to tensions in the Middle East. At that time, the department also warned of possible flight cancellations, airspace closures and disruptions at airports.
In other words, the US authorities have not ordered the mandatory evacuation of all citizens from Israel and other countries in the region. The advice is to make use of available commercial transport routes or to prepare an exit plan in advance in case the situation deteriorates further.
