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Volodymyr Zelensky has mocked Vladimir Putin for his reliance on ally North Korea, saying Russia is no longer capable of waging its war on Ukraine alone.
In his nightly video address, Zelensky said Russia was preparing to deploy an additional North Korean contingent on its territory and has also received additional ballistic missiles from North Korea.
“For the first time in its history, Russia cannot wage war without reinforcements from North Korea,” he said.
He also issued a warning to countries in Asia, saying North Korea will present a “greater danger” to Japan, South Korea and the Philippines as it gains military experience, correcting any shortcomings in the process.
On Monday, a Ukrainian drone attack hit targets over 600 miles deep inside Russia. The strikes hit both industrial and civilian infrastructure in the city of Nizhnekamsk and the Taneco oil refinery in the Tatarstan region.
At least 13 people, including seven Uzbek citizens and one child, were killed in the attacks.
A period of mourning has been declared in the region, according to the mayor of Nizhnekamsk, Radmir Belayev, in a post on Telegram.
Austria’s intelligence agency has uncovered an international network circumventing EU sanctions against Russia’s cruise missile and fighter jet programmes, the country’s interior ministry said.
“It is unacceptable that highly precise European technology is being channelled into the production of cruise missiles and air defence systems. We will continue to take decisive action, with full international cooperation, against those actors who attempt to circumvent legal prohibitions to support the Russian arms industry,” Austrian state secretary Jorg Leichtfried said.
The ministry said an Australian shell company had been established to export sanctioned defence equipment to Russia for use in cruise missiles and fighter jets.
The products were exported through intermediary countries, including Belarus, Hong Kong, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Poland, South Korea, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
“Using forged end-user certificates, European manufacturers were misled into believing the goods would remain in third countries. In reality, they were destined for companies affiliated with the Russian state-owned conglomerate Rostec,” Austria’s interior ministry said.
Shweta Sharma11 August 2026 07:33
Seven Uzbek citizens were killed in a drone attack in Russia’s Tatarstan region on Monday, the Uzbek consulate in Kazan said.
The consulate did not immediately provide further details about the victims.
They were among 13 people, including a child, killed in a Ukrainian drone attack on industrial and civilian targets in the city of Nizhnekamsk in Tatarstan region, some 680 miles from the border with Ukraine.
It was one of Ukraine’s deadliest and deepest strikes inside Russia.
Head of Tatarstan Minnikhanov visits Nizhnekamsk following drone attack (Reuters)
Between two and three million citizens of Uzbekistan, Central Asia’s most populous country, work in Russia, with the Uzbek economy partly based on remittances from migrants.
Uzbekistan has struck a diplomatic balance on the war in Ukraine, maintaining close ties with Russia while also stressing support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
Shweta Sharma11 August 2026 07:01
A drone attack killed one person and injured two others in Russia’s Voronezh region overnight, while falling debris triggered fires at warehouse facilities, Alexander Gusev, the regional governor, said on Tuesday.
Russia’s air defence units destroyed 15 drones over the city of Voronezh and five districts of the region, Gusev said on Telegram.
“A drone crash caused fires at two warehouses of a large company. At one facility, the fire has been contained to an area of 16,000 square meters, while at the other, a blaze covering 20,000 square meters is being extinguished. Emergency services are on scene,” the governor said.
He did not identify the company whose warehouses were affected.
Earlier on Tuesday, Russian online retailer Wildberries said its logistics facilities in the Voronezh region had been evacuated in accordance with safety requirements.
Shweta Sharma11 August 2026 06:31
Five people were killed and 20 were injured after a Russian attack in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia early on Tuesday.
Zaporizhzhia regional governor Ivan Fedorov said Russian troops deployed missiles and aerial bombs on the city.
Pictures showed buildings and vehicles ablaze. Air raid alerts were sounded in both Zaporizhzhia and in Kyiv.
A resident stands next to a building damaged by an overnight Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia (Reuters)
A firefighter works at the site of a car garages of residents which were hit by an overnight Russian missile strike (Reuters)
Aftermath of a Russian missile strike in Zaporizhzhia (Reuters)
Firefighters work at the site of a car garages of residents which were hit by an overnight Russian missile strike (Reuters)
Shweta Sharma11 August 2026 06:30
Volodymyr Zelensky has mocked Vladimir Putin for his reliance on ally North Korea, saying that: “For the first time in its history, Russia cannot wage war without reinforcements from North Korea.”
He said Russia was preparing to deploy an additional North Korean contingent on its territory and has also received additional ballistic missiles from North Korea.
“Everyone around the world must understand what this means. This is not only about the lives of people in Ukraine, and not only about the threats we face,” he said in his nightly address.
“North Korea’s ballistic missiles and other weapons are being improved through its collaboration with Russia.”
He also issued a warning to countries in Asia, saying North Korea will present a “greater danger” to Japan, South Korea and Philippines as it gains military experience, correcting any shortcomings in the process.
“That is why, when we speak about the need for joint action, for coordination and mutual support, when we speak about the need to help us strengthen our air defence, we are also, in fact, speaking about taking away North Korea’s appetite and any interest in coming here – to our land and into our skies – with its weapons in order to learn how to wage war,” he said.
Shweta Sharma11 August 2026 05:42
A Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jet caught fire and was lost during a combat mission, with the pilot ejecting safely, the Ukrainian Air Force said on Monday.
A statement on the Telegram messaging app said the pilot was targeting Russian positions while in the southern region of Odesa.
“According to preliminary data, during the launch of a missile, an emergency situation occurred, causing the plane to catch fire and the pilot to lose control, even though he tried to save the aircraft,” the statement said.
The Air Force said the pilot ejected safely and was transported to a hospital. The cause of the crash was under investigation.
Shweta Sharma11 August 2026 05:30
Russian forces attacked the Ukrainian capital Kyiv with missiles early on Tuesday, triggering fires in the city centre, officials said.
The city’s military administration said warehouses in a central district were ablaze. One person was reported injured.
A person checks a smartphone and others sleep as they take shelter overnight in a Kyiv metro station, following warnings of a possible Russian air attac (AFP/Getty)
The air raid alert was in effect for about 40 minutes before officials declared the all clear.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said medical personnel had been dispatched to a central district.
Russian forces also deployed missiles and bombs in an attack on the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, regional Governor Ivan Fedorov said on Telegram.
Shweta Sharma11 August 2026 05:12
Sweden’s security service says it shut down a Russian spying operation that had tried to influence decision-making there and discredit the Nordic country and its EU and NATO allies.
The operation had been planned and directed by Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence service and involved three people working under the cover of diplomatic immunity, Sweden’s SAPO service said on Monday.
“This is consistent with the threat we see Russia posing,” a SAPO spokesperson told Reuters.
They said the individuals allegedly involved “are no longer in Sweden” and that they have “been able to break up this operation”.
The spokesperson declined to give any further information about the operation or the actions taken by the security service.
James Reynolds11 August 2026 05:00
Russia has effectively shut down a key avenue for voting against the war in the upcoming elections, as most of Vladimir Putin’s opponents remain jailed or in exile.
The supreme court upheld a case brought by the small pro-Kremlin nationalist party Rodina to strip voters opposed to the war of their last chance to vote for Yabloko, the country’s last remaining anti-war party.
The court barred Yabloko’s entire slate of federal election candidates from running for seats in Russia’s State Duma.
Chairman of Russia’s Yabloko political party Nikolai Rybakov reacts after a hearing of the Supreme Court, which barred the party from contesting September’s parliamentary elections (Reuters)
Following the ruling, hundreds of Yabloko supporters gathered outside the courthouse to protest, as security forces prepared to disperse the crowd. Protesters chanted “Shame! Shame!” as about 500 people gathered outside the court.
Addressing the protesters, Yabloko leader Nikolay Rybakov said the party would appeal the decision.
Yabloko is the only liberal party still operating in Russia, while most of Putin’s opponents are jailed, exiled or dead.
Alternative voting options to Putin’s de facto party, the ruling United Russia, are tolerated only when they are too weak to win, support the Kremlin or act as “spoilers” by drawing votes away from candidates who could pose a threat to the regime.
The party told AFP over the weekend that 40 of its activists were facing prosecution for opposing the war.
Its deputy leader, Maxim Kruglov, was jailed for seven months in June over social media posts, while Rybakov was fined and barred from elections after posting a picture with Alexei Navalny.
Shweta Sharma11 August 2026 04:55
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he discussed a drone deal and food security with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday.
“There are domains in which Ukraine and Saudi Arabia can strengthen each other’s ability to protect lives and people,” he said on X after the call.
Speaking later in his nightly video address, Zelensky said a team of Ukrainian officials was in the region “and there are already areas in which our relations are developing well. I am counting on reciprocity in our mutual support.
Ukraine has developed expertise in dealing with Iranian-designed drones over more than 4-1/2 years of war with Russia (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
“Ukraine and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement on military cooperation in March when the president met the crown prince.
Ukraine has developed expertise in dealing with Iranian-designed drones over more than 4-1/2 years of war with Russia.
It has also signed deals on drone development with other countries in the Middle East and Gulf and elsewhere.
He said they also discussed Saudi Arabia’s recent defence agreements with Türkiye and Pakistan.
Shweta Sharma11 August 2026 04:16