Poland scrambles jets due to Russian strikes on Ukraine
Poland has said its air force have scrambled fighter jets this morning to protect its airspace due to Russian strikes on Ukraine.
“In connection with the activity of long-range aviation of the Russian Federation, conducting strikes on Ukrainian territory… aircraft of the Polish Air Force and allied aviation are operating in Polish airspace,” the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces said on X.
Arpan Rai21 August 2025 07:06
Russia hits American electronics manufacturer in western Ukraine, says Kyiv
Russia has struck an American electronics manufacturer in western Ukraine in an overnight attack, causing serious damage and casualties, Ukraine’s foreign minister said this morning.
“A fully civilian facility that has nothing to do with defence or the military,” Andrii Sybiha wrote on X.
“This is not the first Russian attack on American businesses in Ukraine, after strikes on Boeing offices in Kyiv earlier this year and other attacks,” he said.
Russia used hundreds of drones, hypersonic, ballistic, and cruise missiles in the countrywide attack, he added.
Arpan Rai21 August 2025 06:58
Lithuania says it will provide boots on ground to keep Ukraine peace
Lithuania’s president says the country would contribute troops and equipment to any Ukraine peacekeeping mission.
“We are ready to contribute as many troops as the parliament allows for peacekeeping, and also military equipment”, Gitanas Nauseda said in an interview with TV3.
Amid accelerated diplomatic efforts to end the war, Western countries are discussing the possibility of sending peacekeeping troops to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv.
Arpan Rai21 August 2025 06:29
US wants to play minimal role in security guarantees to Ukraine – report
The US plans to play a minimal role in any security guarantees offered to Ukraine, the Pentagon’s top policy official has said.
Elbridge Colby, the defence undersecretary for policy, made the remarks in response to questions from European military leaders in a huddle led by Joint Chiefs chair Gen. Dan Caine, reported Politico.
The Trump administration has suggested this week that it wants to shift more responsibility for the costs of protecting Ukraine against present and future Russian aggression to European allies.
According to a Nato diplomat briefed on the high-level meeting, the US “is not fully committed to anything”.
“There’s the dawning reality that this will be Europe making this happen on the ground,” the diplomat said.
“I don’t know where that leaves us,” another European official was quoted as saying. “Pretty much back to where we were in the spring with the coalition of the willing.”
Arpan Rai21 August 2025 06:14
In numbers: Is the UK ready to put boots on the ground in Ukraine?
The meeting came in the wake of what he described as a “historic” summit in the White House on Monday, led by Donald Trump and attended by eight of Europe’s top leaders, including Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, to attempt to negotiate a peace settlement with Russia.
Sir Keir had already confirmed that he is “ready to put boots on the ground and planes in the air” to support a peace deal for the war-torn country. He has taken the lead in creating a “coalition of the willing” to help shore up Ukraine’s defences. Trump, meanwhile, has ruled out sending American troops to Ukraine.
Arpan Rai21 August 2025 06:01
Ukraine proceeds with work on security guarantees, says Zelensky’s aide
Diplomatic work is underway to establish the military component of post-war security guarantees for Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff said yesterday.
“Our teams, above all the military, have already begun active work on the military component of security guarantees,” Andriy Yermak wrote on X after a meeting of national security advisers from Western countries and Nato.
Yermak said Ukraine was also working on a plan with its allies on how to proceed “in case the Russian side continues to prolong the war and disrupt agreements on bilateral and trilateral formats of leaders’ meetings”.
A Western official had earlier told Reuters that a small group of military leaders was continuing discussions in Washington to work out options for security guarantees for Ukraine after the conclusion of a bigger virtual meeting.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky speaks as French president Emmanuel Macron, US president Donald Trump and Finnish president Alexander Stubb listen during a meeting with European leaders in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC (Ukrainian Emergency Service )
Arpan Rai21 August 2025 05:46
North Korea leader Kim praises ‘heroic’ troops in Russia
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un praised “heroic” North Korean troops who fought for Russia in the war against Ukraine.
Kim was speaking at a meeting with officers of the army’s overseas operation, state media KCNA reported this morning.
Kim “highly appreciated their feats of leading the combat units of our armed forces, which participated in the operations to liberate the Kursk Region of the Russian Federation, to victory,” KCNA reported.
Earlier, Kim paid tribute to North Korean soldiers killed during the war with Ukraine, covering their coffins with flags and resting both of his hands on them in a rare public display.
“Ours is a heroic army… Our army has fully demonstrated its unique qualities. Such a result has cemented its appellation and reputation as the most powerful army in the world,” Kim said, according to KCNA.
North Korea has dispatched more than 10,000 troops to support Russia’s war in Ukraine and is believed to be planning another deployment, according to a South Korean intelligence assessment.
Kim and Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a strategic partnership treaty in June last year, which includes a mutual defence pact.
Arpan Rai21 August 2025 05:39
Where could Putin and Zelensky meet for Ukraine war summit?
Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin could meet for the first time in six years in the hope of ending the Ukraine war – but it remains unclear just where the two leaders will come face-to-face.
The White House is in the process of selecting a location for the potential meeting, that has been championed by the US president Donald Trump.
Here are the potential destinations where a summit between Putin and Zelensky could take place:
Arpan Rai21 August 2025 05:10
Vance says Europe will have to take ‘lion’s share’ of burden for Ukrainian security
US vice president JD Vance has said that European countries will have to pay the “lion’s share” of costs for Ukraine’s security guarantees.
“I don’t think we should carry the burden here…. The president certainly expects Europe to play the leading role here,” Vance told Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” show.
“No matter what form this takes, the Europeans are going to have to take the lion’s share of the burden. It’s their continent, its their security, and the president has been very clear – they are going to have to step up here”.
As Donald Trump seeks to strike a peace deal to end Russia’s three and half year old war, one of Ukraine’s priorities is security guarantees against Russian aggression.
Trump has said he will not put US troops on the ground there but could offer US air support.
Vice president JD Vance speaks during a visit to airmen and family members of the 501st combat support wing at Royal Air Force Fairford in Gloucestershire in England (AP)
Arpan Rai21 August 2025 04:58
Russia’s Lavrov says talks on Ukraine’s security without Moscow are ‘utopia’
Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has said attempts to resolve security issues relating to Ukraine without Moscow’s participation are a “road to nowhere”.
Mr Lavrov, a key aide to Vladimir Putin, was speaking at a joint press conference in Jordan yesterday, where he pointedly made no reference to Donald Trump’s public calls for a summit between Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky.
He criticised talks about future security guarantees for Ukraine that were let by European leaders this week, calling them “rather clumsy” and “unethical” and adding: “We did not hear any constructive ideas from the Europeans there.”
“We cannot agree with the fact that now it is proposed to resolve questions of security, collective security, without the Russian Federation. This will not work,” he said.
“I am sure that in the West and above all in the United States they understand perfectly well that seriously discussing security issues without the Russian Federation is a utopia, it’s a road to nowhere.”
Lavrov added that Russia believed security guarantees should be ensured on an equal basis with the participation of countries such as China, the United States, Britain and France, a Russian news agency said.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and US secretary of state Marco Rubio talk as they attend a press conference held by US president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin (Reuters)
Arpan Rai21 August 2025 04:42