At least five dead as Putin launches ‘massive attack’ on Kyiv
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Russian forces have unleashed a major attack on Ukraine in the early hours today, with multiple ballistic missiles targeting the capital Kyiv.
At least 12 people were killed and 33 have been injured in the strikes, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said, as witnesses reported more than a dozen explosions.
Poland said it was activating a range of defensive measures in response to the strikes unfolding across the border, describing them as “preventive military aviation operations”.
A children’s hospital in Kyiv was struck in the attack, Klitschko said, while people were trapped in one destroyed residential building and fires broke out in multiple locations.
The attack comes hours after president Vladimir Putin admitted that Ukrainian attacks were causing Russia harm, in statements made on Wednesday.
“Of course, such attacks have not caused, and could not cause, critical consequences. However, they do inflict damage; this is obvious, and we fully understand and acknowledge it,” he told a conference of ministers and business leaders on the economy.
Ukraine has upped its long-range attacks on critical energy infrastructure over the last few months.
Kyiv calls for Ukrainians living abroad to take action against Russian ‘barbarism’
Foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha has called for Ukrainians living abroad to ‘take action.’
In a post on X, Sybiha said: “Each Russian ballistic missile is an act of barbarism. And each interceptor delivered to Ukraine is an act of humanity and saved human lives.”
Emphasising the need for stronger public support, the minister added: “I urge Ukrainians abroad to take action.
“We are calling on the Ukrainian World Congress, as well as all Ukrainian organisations and communities in key capitals and around the world, to raise their voices now.”
Suha Kidwai20 August 2026 11:15
Europe’s largest nuclear plant loses last external power line, confirms nuclear watchdog
Ukraine’s Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station has lost its only remaining external power line, the United Nations’ nuclear agency has said.
This has forced emergency diesel generators to start supplying vital safety systems.
In a post on X, The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that initial assessment indicated the damage was located on the northern bank of the Dnipro River, and technicians were unable to determine the outage’s cause due to military activity.
Russian forces seized the station, which is Europe’s largest nuclear facility, in the first weeks of their February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Suha Kidwai20 August 2026 10:45
Ukraine stresses importance of more Patriot air defence systems
Kyiv has emphasised the need for more Patriot missile systems to fend off Russian attacks.
Widely considered the most effective defence against both ballistic and cruise missiles, Ukraine has underlined the value of Patriot systems in its war effort.
In a post on X, the ministry of defence said: “And as long as Ukraine does not have enough anti-ballistic defence, Russia will not consider peace seriously.
“But Patriot interceptors cannot yet be replaced, and we need them every day. Every additional missile saves the lives of our people.”
The statement follows a devastating barrage of Russian missile attacks on Kyiv overnight.
Suha Kidwai20 August 2026 10:15
Russia launched dozens of missiles and 168 drones in overnight attack on Ukraine
Ukraine’s air force says Russia launched dozens of ballistic, cruise, and hypersonic missiles, as well as 168 drones, in its overnight attack on the country.
It said that air defence units downed 145 drones and most of the cruise missiles but none of the missiles that run on ballistic trajectory.
The Kyiv region was the main target of the attack, the air force said on the Telegram messaging app.
Arpan Rai20 August 2026 09:45
North Korea’s Kim Yo Jong denies Zelensky’s claim on additional troops deployment
North Korea’s Kim Yo Jong, sister of leader Kim Jong Un, denied Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s claim that Pyongyang plans to send up to 50,000 more troops to Russia to fight for its ally.
Kim Yo Jong, a top official in North Korea’s ruling party, said in a statement published by state media KCNA that Zelensky’s estimate was “groundless” and “a self-staged incident”.
Zelensky made his claim in a post on X this month, and he called on South Korea to provide support for his country’s air defences.
Kim Yo Jong said responsibility for the outbreak and for the prolongation of the Ukraine crisis lay entirely with the United States and the West.
North Korea sent an estimated 14,000 soldiers to Russia’s Kursk Region in 2024, under a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty agreed during Russian president Vladimir Putin’s June 2024 visit to Pyongyang.
Arpan Rai20 August 2026 09:10
Drone crashes in Romanian territory during Russian attack on Ukraine
A drone has crashed into Romanian national territory during a Russian attack on neighbouring Ukraine, the Romanian defence ministry said this morning.
The drone crashed into an uninhabited area of the Romanian county of Tulcea, the ministry said.
Arpan Rai20 August 2026 08:55
Zelensky says Russians prepared ‘for long time’ for major overnight attack on Kyiv
Russian forces had been “preparing for a long time” for the attack that took place in Ukraine overnight, president Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Russian ballistic missiles killed 12 people and injured more than 30 in Kyiv early on Thursday, officials said.
“It was a massive attack – the Russians had been preparing for a long time, combining different types of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones, aiming to cause as much damage as possible to civilian infrastructure,” Zelensky said in his overnight address.
Arpan Rai20 August 2026 08:25
Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant loses external power supply
The Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine has switched to emergency diesel generators after damage to a high-voltage line caused the facility to lose external power, the plant management said this morning.
“Plant personnel are monitoring the equipment’s operating parameters. All necessary measures to maintain the safe condition of the power units are being taken in full,” the Moscow-installed management said, adding that radiation levels were normal.
It is not immediately clear if the overnight barrage of Russian attacks are linked to the power outage at the facility.
The plant, Europe’s largest with six reactors, produces no electricity but needs power supplied by two external links to keep nuclear fuel cool.
Arpan Rai20 August 2026 08:10
Russia launched dozens of missiles and 168 drones in overnight attack on Ukraine
Ukraine’s air force says Russia launched dozens of ballistic, cruise, and hypersonic missiles, as well as 168 drones, in its overnight attack on the country.
It said that air defence units downed 145 drones and most of the cruise missiles but none of the missiles that run on ballistic trajectory.
The Kyiv region was the main target of the attack, the air force said on the Telegram messaging app.
Arpan Rai20 August 2026 07:54
Russia claims it struck drone component facilities and other targets in Kyiv
Russia attacked the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and the surrounding region with airstrikes and drones, hitting facilities producing drone components, a military depot and a logistics hub, among other targets, the Russian defence ministry said on Telegram.
Moscow has intensified ballistic missile attacks on the capital to constrain Kyiv’s air defence stocks.
Kyiv has limited systems capable of intercepting ballistic threats, while supplies of missiles for its US-made Patriot air defence systems remain chronically constrained.
Residents gather at a site of an apartment building destroyed by a Russian missile strike in Kyiv (Reuters)
Arpan Rai20 August 2026 07:25
