Russia has successfully tested a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile that could reach the US, the defence ministry has said.
The missile, which has a range of more than 6,700km, was fired from the Arkhangelsk region in the country's northwest and reached its designated target at the Kura test site in Russia's far eastern Kamchatka region
It comes just days after CIA Director John Ratcliffe had travelled to Moscow to warn Russia off any attack on a NATO member. The Kremlin has said he did not meet president Vladimir Putin during the visit.
Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelensky has ordered his military to increase its long-range drone strikes against Russia to 1,000 per day, up from around 300 currently.
He also said the US had given Kyiv information about a number of meetings in Moscow over the last few days.
In a Telegram post, he wrote: "Today we received information from the American side about the meetings in Moscow that took place these days. There were a number of meetings there.”
Key Points
- Russia tests nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile days after Ratcliffe visit
- Zelensky orders military to hit Russia with ‘1,000 drones a day’
- Trump dismisses concerns over possible Russian attack on Nato
- Drones hit oil depots and apartment building in Crimea
- Russia threatens retaliation after UK PM says he will help Ukraine start producing long-range missiles
- Kremlin dismisses reports of CIA warning
Russia tests nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile days after Ratcliffe visit
07:23 , Stuti Mishra
Russia's defence ministry said it successfully tested a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile, fired from the Arkhangelsk region in the country's northwest, days after CIA director John Ratcliffe made an unannounced visit to Moscow.
The missile, launched from a mobile platform, reached its designated target at the Kura test site in Russia's far eastern Kamchatka region, with a range of more than 6,700km, the ministry said.
“The Strategic Missile Forces practised the procedure for redeploying a mobile intercontinental ballistic missile launch battery to a remote area, preparing for and conducting the launch,” the statement on Friday said.
Mr Ratcliffe travelled to Moscow on 25 August for talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Naryshkin, with several US media outlets reporting the visit was intended in part to warn Russia against an attack on a Nato member.
The Kremlin has said he did not meet president Vladimir Putin during the visit.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told TASS news agency that Ratcliffe's visit involved "contacts between security services."
Russia's petrol output falls to 70% of demand after Ukrainian drone strikes on refineries
07:15 , Stuti Mishra
Russia's petrol production fell to about 70 per cent of domestic demand by late August after a wave of Ukrainian drone strikes forced major refineries offline, two industry sources told Reuters.
Current output stands at around 80,000 tons a day against demand of about 115,000 tons, the sources said, after drones struck and halted refineries in Perm, Nizhny Novgorod and Yaroslavl over the past week.
Regional authorities have reimposed restrictions on fuel sales, including limits per customer and schedules based on vehicle registration plates.
The shortage has forced Russia to increase imports, with about 270,000 tons of seaborne petroleum expected from Asia in August alongside supplies from Belarus.
Ukraine strikes Ozon warehouse in Russia's Rostov region
06:46 , Stuti Mishra
Ukrainian forces struck an Ozon warehouse and other sites across the southern Russian region of Rostov Oblast overnight, the Kyiv Independent reported.
A drone hit an Ozon logistics facility in the city of Rostov-on-Don, causing a small fire that was quickly put out, the Russian e-commerce giant said in a statement.
"We have temporarily suspended operations at the facility to allow emergency services to inspect the area and ensure that it is completely safe," Ozon said.
Putin thinks Trump is ‘weakened’ by Iran war, says report
06:00 , Adam Withnall
Vladimir Putin believes Donald Trump has been “weakened” by the war in Iran and this could allow the Russian president to ramp up aggression in Europe, US intelligence has indicated.
While the details of CIA director John Ratcliffe’s trip to Moscow this week remain elusive, The Washington Post has reported that the meeting cautioned Moscow against banking on the US president being distracted by conflict with Tehran to escalate action against Ukraine.
Read more here:
Putin thinks Trump is ‘weakened’ by Iran war, says report
Putin wants to avoid direct Nato confrontation, Western officials say
05:30 , Stuti Mishra
Vladimir Putin wants to avoid a direct military confrontation with Nato, despite increasingly hostile rhetoric aimed at the UK and other allies over their support for Ukraine, Western officials have said, according to BBC.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said recent warnings from Moscow, including that UK forces could be targeted or that Russian weapons factories could be hit, were consistent with Russia's long-standing military doctrine of pressuring the West rather than signalling any new threat.
They said Russia was likely to continue "hybrid activity" short of direct military action, including cyber-attacks, sabotage and assassination attempts, aimed at breaking Western resolve over Ukraine.
The officials also said Russia was losing 6,000 more soldiers a month, killed or wounded, than it could recruit, though there was no indication the Kremlin planned mass mobilisation.
Zelensky says US gave Kyiv information about meetings in Moscow
04:52 , Stuti Mishra
Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the United States had given Kyiv information about a number of meetings in Moscow over the last few days.
"Today we received information from the American side about the meetings in Moscow that took place these days. There were a number of meetings there," Mr Zelensky said on Telegram, without going into detail on who was at the meetings.
"I thank them for the information and for the necessary tone of the conversation with Russia," he added, again without elaborating. The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that CIA Director John Ratcliffe had travelled to Moscow to warn Russia off any attack on a Nato member.
The Kremlin dismissed the report, while US president Donald Trump said Russian president Vladimir Putin would not attack a Nato country, playing down media reports on Ratcliffe's trip. Reuters reported that Ratcliffe had raised the possibility of a Russian operation against a Nato member during the meeting, although it was unclear whether that was the primary purpose of the trip. The talks also covered Russia's support for Iran, one source told Reuters
Serbia secures further sanctions waiver for Russian-owned NIS oil firm
04:16 , Stuti Mishra
Serbia has secured a further sanctions waiver from the United States for its Russian-owned NIS oil firm until 30 September, energy minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic wrote on Instagram on Friday.
The waiver granted by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control will allow NIS, which operates Serbia's only oil refinery, to continue importing crude oil until the sale of a Russian majority stake in the company to Hungarian oil and gas company MOL.
"The extended licence allows us to continue supplying (the market), while at the same time working on a long-term solution for NIS," Djedovic Handanovic said.
OFAC imposed sanctions on NIS last October as part of wider measures targeting Russia's energy sector over the war in Ukraine, and demanded divestment of the combined 56 per cent stake held by Gazprom Neft and Gazprom. The waiver is crucial for Serbia as NIS refinery covers around 80 per cent of the country's demand.
Djedovic Handanovic said negotiations between MOL and Gazprom Neft are in their final phase.
"The new licence extension is a signal that there is progress and a willingness to ensure the additional necessary time to complete this complex transaction," she said without elaborating.
OFAC has granted NIS several sanctions waivers allowing it to import crude via Croatia's Janaf pipeline while MOL completes the acquisition after signing a provisional agreement in January.
The Serbian government owns 29.9 per cent of NIS, with the remainder held by small shareholders and employees.
Russian drones batter Ukraine's Kyiv region, hitting apartments and warehouses for a second day
03:00 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Russian forces on Friday resumed their drone barrage of Ukraine’s Kyiv region, hitting more than a dozen apartment buildings and storage depots in a second straight day of aerial attacks, officials said.
Prolonged air raids in Kyiv on Thursday essentially locked down the Ukrainian capital for 15 hours, the Foreign Ministry said, choking the economy and severely disrupting civilian life more than four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor. Even longer alerts are a daily reality in regions closer to the front line, the ministry said.
Russian drone and missile attacks are also taking aim at the power grid in what Ukrainian officials say is an annual campaign to “weaponize winter.” In Ukraine’s southern Kherson region on the Black Sea, where glide bombs a day earlier forced a combined heat and power plant to shut down, officials predicted a winter of extended outages and told people to move elsewhere if they could.
Russian drones batter Ukraine's Kyiv region, hitting apartments and warehouses for a second day
What head of CIA told Russian counterpart on secretive visit to Moscow
02:00 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
- CIA Director John Ratcliffe secretly met FSB chief Aleksandr Bortnikov in Russia.
- Ratcliffe presented evidence of heavy Russian losses caused by Ukraine's drone mastery.
- He urged Moscow to begin serious peace negotiations with Ukraine to end the conflict.
- The CIA chief raised concerns over potential Russian actions against Nato and its support for Iran.
- Moscow threatened to target British military assets after the UK granted Ukraine missile technology.
Putin thinks Trump is ‘weakened’ by Iran war, says report
01:00 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Vladimir Putin believes Donald Trump has been “weakened” by the war in Iran and this could allow the Russian president to ramp up aggression in Europe, US intelligence has indicated.
While the details of CIA director John Ratcliffe’s trip to Moscow this week remain elusive, The Washington Post has reported that the meeting cautioned Moscow against banking on the US president being distracted by conflict with Tehran to escalate action against Ukraine.
For Putin, the ground war in Ukraine has not proved to be the quick victory he presented to the Russian public, where in 2014, he claimed he could, if he chose to take Kiev, do so “in two weeks.”
Putin thinks Trump is ‘weakened’ by Iran war, says report
Gordon Brown warns Ukraine faces ‘worst winter’ of war as he urges Trump to act
Saturday 29 August 2026 00:00 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Ukraine is facing its "worst winter" since the conflict with Russia began, Gordon Brown has warned, urging Britain and allies to press Donald Trump to bolster support for the nation.
The former prime minister said the US president should be urged to let Ukraine produce Patriot interceptor missiles, explaining these could help defend the country from Russian bombardment.
Brown said the war – which began when Vladimir Putin’s forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022 – is in a "critical moment", and recalled Trump previously "promised he would give the design for interceptors to Ukraine", but "hasn’t yet done so".
Gordon Brown warns Ukraine faces ‘worst winter’ of war as he urges Trump to act
Zelensky orders military to hit Russia with ‘1,000 drones a day’
Friday 28 August 2026 23:19 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain
Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that he has ordered his military to increase its long-range drone strikes against Russia to 1,000 per day, up from around 300 currently.
"There needs to be more: there is a concrete goal, and we will fulfil this task," the Ukrainian president said in his evening address.
In pictures: Moment Russian drone strikes Ukrainian town in Kyiv region
Friday 28 August 2026 23:00 , James Reynolds
UN warns humanity is ‘close’ to handing kill decisions to machines
Friday 28 August 2026 22:00 , James Reynolds
The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross intensified a joint appeal on Tuesday for countries to enact bans and restrictions on autonomous weapons systems — often called killer robots — warning that "the risks have intensified."
Building on a proposal first issued three years ago and years of multilateral discussions, the stance stops short of requesting a complete ban.
It highlights that such systems are currently under development, though neither the U.N. nor the Red Cross has confirmed their deployment on the battlefield. Still, protections for civilians are urgently required for when that moment comes...
UN warns humanity is ‘dangerously close’ to handing kill decisions to machines
Watch: The woman making Ukraine safe from landmines amid a brutal war
Friday 28 August 2026 21:00 , James Reynolds
A theater is reimagining Homer’s Odyssey through the agony of Ukraine’s war
Friday 28 August 2026 20:00 , James Reynolds
War’s timeless ache — death, captivity, the agonizing wait and the pull of home — has found a new stage in wartime Kyiv, with Homer’s epic reimagined as a contemporary Ukrainian odyssey.
The play “Odysseus, Maeotis” is ready to open in the Ukrainian capital as the ancient tale enjoys a global moment with Christopher Nolan’s IMAX spectacle and box-office hit “The Odyssey” starring Matt Damon.
In Kyiv, the story is performed by professional actors and active-duty soldiers, including Daniil Mireshkin, a serviceman who plays the warrior king Odysseus...
A theater is reimagining Homer’s Odyssey through the agony of Ukraine’s war
Recap: What head of CIA told Russian counterpart on secretive visit to Moscow
Friday 28 August 2026 19:00 , James Reynolds
The head of the CIA told his Russian counterpart to make a deal with Ukraine as Moscow’s position deteriorates during a secretive visit this week, according to a report.
US officials told the New York Times that CIA director John Ratcliffe presented FSB chief Aleksandr Bortnikov with evidence of the enormous price Russia has paid for relatively small gains in Ukraine, attributed to Kyiv’s “mastery” of drone technology.
The CIA boss urged that Russia should enter serious negotiations with Ukraine to end the war given their difficulties on the ground and mounting economic woes, the sources claimed in comments to the newspaper.
Mr Ratcliffe flew to Russia on Tuesday to meet briefly with his intelligence counterparts in the first visit by a CIA director since 2021, when William Burns warned Russia against sending troops into Ukraine.
Read the full story:
Ukraine war latest: CIA chief ‘told Russian counterpart to make peace with Kyiv’
Trump must be pressed to hand over interceptor designs to Ukraine, says Gordon Brown
Friday 28 August 2026 18:00 , James Reynolds
Ukraine is facing its “worst winter” since the conflict with Russian began, Gordon Brown has warned, as he called for Britain and other nations to press Donald Trump to do more to help the Eastern European nation.
The former prime minister said the US president should be pushed to allow Ukraine to produce Patriot interceptor missiles – saying these could help the country defend itself from Russian attacks.
Describing the conflict – which began when Vladimir Putin’s forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022 – as being at a “critical moment”, Mr Brown recalled how Mr Trump had previously “promised he would give the design for interceptors to Ukraine”, but “hasn’t yet done so”.
Read the full story:
Trump must be pressed to hand over interceptor designs to Ukraine, Brown says
Ukraine says it stockpiled enough gas for winter season
Friday 28 August 2026 17:00 , James Reynolds
Ukraine has stored 14.6 billion cubic metres of gas in underground storage, enough for the upcoming winter season, the country's energy minister said on Friday.
"Ukraine has stockpiled natural gas for the baseline scenario for getting through the winter," Denys Shmyhal said on the Telegram app.
Catch up: Moscow warns UK ‘playing with fire’ over plans to help Kyiv produce missiles
Friday 28 August 2026 16:00 , James Reynolds
Russia has threatened Britain with retaliation after prime minister Andy Burnham vowed to provide Ukraine with access to technology to produce Storm Shadow missiles domestically.
Maria Zakharova, Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, said that London was just “one step away” from becoming legally complicit - in their eyes - for what she called “terrorism” against Russian civilians and warned of “inevitable catastrophic consequences” unless Britain changed course.
“We have repeatedly warned that any British military installations and equipment in Ukraine and beyond its borders could be targeted in response to Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory carried out using British weapons,” she said.
Zakharova accused both the UK and France of “playing with fire” after France also agreed to supply long-range missile technology to Ukraine.
After the comments on Thursday, a spokesperson for Britain's ministry of defence said London stood “shoulder to shoulder” with Ukraine and was committed to providing the equipment that Kyiv needed “to defend itself against Putin's illegal invasion”.
In pictures: Aftermath of Russian strikes on Ukrainian shopping centre in Zaporizhzhia
Friday 28 August 2026 15:30 , James Reynolds
Mapped: The UK military bases threatened by Russia as Kremlin rages over missiles for Ukraine
Friday 28 August 2026 14:50 , James Reynolds
Russia has threatened to bomb UK military bases in its latest threat over Britain’s support for Ukraine.
Britain has been told to back off on its hostile stance towards Ukraine by Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, who said the UK risked taking the conflict to a new level.
She told the same Moscow news briefing earlier that Britain and France were "playing with fire" by supplying sensitive missile technology to Ukraine.
Read the full story:
Mapped: The UK military bases threatened by Russia
Drone damages grocery store and health centre in Moscow region
Friday 28 August 2026 14:15 , James Reynolds
A drone struck a grocery store of Russian retailer Magnit in the town of Pavlovsky Posad in the Moscow region, the governor of the Moscow region said on Friday.
The drone also shattered windows at a nearby health centre but the centre remains open, governor Andrei Vorobyov said on Telegram.
At least two injured in drone attacks at occupied Zaporizhzhia power plant, says UN nuclear watchdog
Friday 28 August 2026 14:11 , James Reynolds
The UN’s nuclear watchdog says it has been informed of three ‘drone incidents’ at the site of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant earlier this week.
The IAEA says that radiation levels at the site remain normal. One drone attack on 25 august reportedly occurred near the cooling pond, injuring two plant employees.
US Patriot missile stocks are ‘beyond critical’ in Europe due to Iran war, report says
Friday 28 August 2026 13:45 , James Reynolds
The U.S. military is reportedly experiencing a “beyond critical” shortage of advanced missile interceptors in Europe, largely driven by President Donald Trump’s war with Iran.
Citing a U.S. defense official in Europe and a NATO official, The Associated Press reported Thursday that the most concerning shortfall involves Patriot missile interceptors, raising concerns about vulnerabilities in NATO countries to a potential Russian attack.
The NATO official confirmed the low inventories of Patriots missile interceptors, which can shoot down Russia’s high-speed ballistic missiles, among American and NATO forces in Europe. Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters.
US Patriot missile stocks in Europe ‘beyond critical’ due to Iran war, report says
Industrial facility in Russia hit by Ukrainian drone debris
Friday 28 August 2026 13:15 , James Reynolds
The industrial facility in Russia's Yaroslavl region was hit by Ukrainian drone debris, the local governor said on Friday.
One person was killed in the attack, and 27 people were injured, Mikhail Evrayev said in a Telegram post.
Watch: Kyiv region faces repeated strikes as rescuers continue work
Friday 28 August 2026 12:45 , James Reynolds
Recap: Donald Trump says Putin will not attack Nato
Friday 28 August 2026 12:15 , James Reynolds
Donald Trump said on Thursday that Russian president Vladimir Putin will not attack a Nato country, playing down reports that the head of the CIA warned Moscow against such an attack this week.
“He's not going to attack a NATO territory,” Trump said of the Russian leader while speaking to reporters in the Oval Office.
Earlier in the day, Trump told Axios that there would be no such attack, and that CIA director John Ratcliffe, who flew to Russia on Tuesday to meet briefly with intelligence counterparts, had not been dispatched to deliver any particular message.
“Ratcliffe sees his Russian counterpart once every six months or once every year. They have a very good relationship. There was no message and there was nothing unusual,” Trump told the news outlet.
‘We do a big shop and stock up on dry goods’: Readers on how they’re preparing for food shortages
Friday 28 August 2026 11:45 , James Reynolds
The government is preparing to tell Britons to stock up on tinned food and bottled water, as ministers step up planning for extreme weather and potential attacks on the UK’s infrastructure.
The advice comes against a backdrop of heightened tension with Russia over Britain’s support for Ukraine, as well as a summer of heatwaves that has left farmers warning of the worst food security crisis in decades.
For many readers, the advice was nothing new. Dozens described habits many had already adopted – stocking up on tinned goods, running solar-powered freezers, growing their own veg – driven less by the cost of living.
Here’s what you had to say:
‘We stock up on dry goods’: Readers on preparing for food shortages
Top story: Russia threatens to bomb UK military bases over support for Ukraine
Friday 28 August 2026 11:15 , James Reynolds
Russia has warned it could strike British military targets over the UK’s support for Ukraine.
Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson told the UK to back off on what she called London’s hostile stance on the war, which she said risked taking the conflict to an entirely new level.
Maria Zakharova told the same Moscow news briefing earlier that Britain and France were “playing with fire” by supplying sensitive missile technology to Ukraine.
Russia threatens to bomb UK military bases over support for Ukraine
The Independent View: Six months on, Donald Trump’s Iranian ‘excursion’ must end
Friday 28 August 2026 10:45 , James Reynolds
Editorial: Iran was clearly the wrong war for America to intervene in, not just because it was so senseless, but because there were others where US power and prestige could have been more fruitfully deployed.
The most obvious is, of course, Ukraine, where, had Mr Trump continued the policies of his predecessor (and of his own instincts in his first term, when the trouble was brewing), it is quite conceivable that Ukraine might well have prevailed by now, armed as it would have been with all the weaponry and anti-missile defences that have been squandered in and around the Persian Gulf.
Read the full story:
Six months on, Donald Trump’s Iranian ‘excursion’ must end
The latest: Russia strikes Ukraine's capital with waves of drones
Friday 28 August 2026 10:35 , Reuters
Russia launched waves of drones at Ukraine's capital Kyiv and surrounding region on Friday, damaging warehouses and homes in a second consecutive day of strikes Ukrainian officials said were an attempt to derail daily life for millions of residents.
At least one person was killed outside Kyiv, said Governor Tymur Tkachenko, adding that 14 warehouse premises, 16 homes and three blocks of apartment buildings had been damaged.
Frequent air-raid sirens blared throughout the city on Friday morning, a day after an hours-long missile and drone attack on Ukraine that targeted major retailers and consumer logistics in Kyiv and elsewhere.
Those strikes continued on Friday, destroying sorting centres belonging to Ukraine's top private courier Nova Poshta near Kyiv and in the northern city of Sumy, the company said.
In the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, a Russian drone tore into major home-improvement store Epicenter, wounding at least four people, Governor Ivan Fedorov said on Friday.
Ukraine thanks EU members for push to restart debate around using frozen Russian assets
Friday 28 August 2026 10:15 , James Reynolds
Ukraine's foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said on Friday that Kyiv was grateful to four European Union member states for their initiative to reopen the debate on using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine.
“Russia refuses to end the war and escalates terror instead. Ukraine needs to bridge gaps for growing defense expenditures and recovery costs.”
“It is only fair and logical to use Russian assets, rather than only European taxpayers money’, to cover additional costs of defending Ukraine and the rest of Europe from the Russian threat,” he said, adding that he was looking forward to talks with EU colleagues next week to “examine paths forward”.
The four states that proposed reopening the debate are the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden.
The latest: Nearly 1,500,000 Russian casualties in Ukraine since 2022, says Kyiv
Friday 28 August 2026 09:45 , James Reynolds
Ukraine’s general staff claims in its daily update that Russia has lost 1,483,780 troops in Ukraine since 24 February 2022.
That includes an additional 1,630 recorded over the past day, they say.
Three suspects accused of plotting arson attack on Ukrainian drone maker
Friday 28 August 2026 09:15 , Maroosha Muzaffar
Three suspects allegedly planned an arson attack on a drone factory operated by Skyeton, a Ukrainian-founded company in eastern Slovakia, prosecutors said.
“The attack was supposed to aim at the Skyeton company’s factory,” a spokesperson for the regional prosecutor’s office said.
A 26-year-old Latvian suspect was detained in Hamburg and faces extradition proceedings, while Slovak authorities said a Latvian and a Ukrainian had been detained in Slovakia.
Skyeton makes drones for civilian and military use.
Six Russian drones cross into Moldova’s airspace
Friday 28 August 2026 08:45 , Maroosha Muzaffar
Six Russian drones crossed into the airspace of neighbouring Moldova during the latest wave of attacks on Ukraine, according to local authorities.
One of the drones was later found on Moldovan territory.
Moldovan president Maia Sandu “strongly condemn[ed] this intimidation” as the incident raised fresh concerns about the conflict spilling beyond Ukraine’s borders.
Ukraine receives small batch of US Patriot interceptors amid Russian attacks
Friday 28 August 2026 08:15 , Maroosha Muzaffar
Ukraine has received a small batch of US-made Patriot missile interceptors, president Volodymyr Zelensky said, as Russian forces continue using ballistic missiles against Ukrainian cities.
The systems are among the few air-defence weapons capable of intercepting Russia’s ballistic missiles.
The delivery comes as Ukraine faces another major Russian barrage involving drones, ballistic missiles and hypersonic weapons.
Four EU countries urge bloc to use frozen Russian assets for Ukraine
Friday 28 August 2026 07:45 , Maroosha Muzaffar
The Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden are pushing the EU to reconsider using frozen Russian central bank assets to help fund Ukraine.
In a letter to the European Commission, the four countries said: “We believe now is the time to revert to the issue of how we can make further use of Russia’s immobilised assets for the benefit of Ukraine.”
The EU has struggled to agree on using the roughly €200bn held in frozen Russian assets, with Belgium raising concerns over potential legal liability.
One killed and two injured in Russian attack on shopping centre in Kharkiv, governor says
Friday 28 August 2026 07:15 , Maroosha Muzaffar
A lunchtime Russian strike on a shopping centre in Kharkiv killed one person and injured two others, Ukrainian officials said.
The attacks also hit commercial and industrial infrastructure elsewhere in the country, including a retail distribution centre in the Kyiv region and a shipment hub belonging to a toy company.
Roshen, the chocolate company founded by former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, said one of its warehouses outside Kyiv was destroyed.
Strikes were also reported in Poltava, Odesa and Kryvyi Rih.
Russian strike knocks out Kherson power plant’s entire generating capacity
Friday 28 August 2026 06:45 , Maroosha Muzaffar
A Russian strike on a thermal power plant in Kherson has wiped out all of its generating capacity, according to Ukraine’s state oil and gas company Naftogaz.
“The Russians struck a purely civilian facility that provides heat” to a significant portion of Kherson’s residential buildings, Naftogaz CEO Sergiy Fedorenko said.
Regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin urged residents who can to leave, “especially families with children and elderly people”.
He warned: “Kherson may find itself without electricity or heating” for an extended period.
Russia launches major overnight attack on Ukraine, military says
Friday 28 August 2026 06:15 , Maroosha Muzaffar
Russia launched a major overnight assault on Ukraine, with the Ukrainian military saying it shot down seven ballistic missiles and 258 drones.
The attack continued into Thursday, hitting ports, grain storage sites, energy facilities, industrial targets and other infrastructure.
“Overnight, Russia carried out a massive strike against Ukraine, targeting ports, grain storage, energy, industry and other infrastructure with ballistic and hypersonic missiles and combat drones,” foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said.
In Kyiv, commuters headed to work as air defences fired at waves of incoming drones.
Russia strikes Nova Poshta warehouses near Kyiv, authorities say
Friday 28 August 2026 05:49 , Maroosha Muzaffar
Russian forces have struck warehouses belonging to Ukrainian delivery company Nova Poshta near Kyiv, according to local authorities.
The attack damaged logistics facilities in the area, adding to a series of Russian strikes targeting Ukraine’s infrastructure and civilian sites.
Kyiv records 13 air raid alerts in single day
Friday 28 August 2026 05:45 , Maroosha Muzaffar
Kyiv experienced a record 13 air-raid alerts in 24 hours on Thursday, keeping the capital under warning for nearly 15 hours as Russia launched waves of drones and missiles.
It was a single-day record for the capital since the start of Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
“For regions closer to the frontline, even longer alerts are an everyday reality,” the foreign ministry said in a post on X.
“But what Kyiv experienced on Aug. 27 shows another way Russia is using its weapons to disrupt civilian life: repeated drone launches keeping a city of millions under threat throughout the day.”
Explosions continued into the early hours of Friday, as Ukraine’s air defences face added pressure from a shortage of Patriot interceptor missiles, according to The Kyiv Independent.
Trump dismisses concerns over possible Russian attack on Nato
Friday 28 August 2026 05:15 , Maroosha Muzaffar
Donald Trump has dismissed concerns about a possible Russian attack on Nato after CIA chief John Ratcliffe’s Moscow visit, saying he was “not concerned ... at all” and that “there is no problem”.
Trump called the trip “standard business” with “no message” and “nothing unusual”."Ratcliffe sees his Russian counterpart once every six months or once every year. They have a very good relationship. There was no message and there was nothing unusual," Trump told Axios.
However, US media reports say Ratcliffe warned Moscow against attacking Nato, amid intelligence that Russia could test the alliance with a limited move against a Baltic state, while also urging Russia to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war.
Kremlin dismisses reports of CIA warning
Friday 28 August 2026 04:45 , Maroosha Muzaffar
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has dismissed reports that CIA chief John Ratcliffe warned Moscow against attacking Nato, calling them “scare-story material”.
“A lot of this kind of scare-story material is being published right now. Of course, it has nothing to do with reality and nothing to do with the intentions of the Russian Federation,” he said.
It comes amid reports that CIA chief John Ratcliffe warned Moscow against attacking Nato during a secretive visit to Russia, following a US intelligence assessment that Russia could be considering a limited assault or other test of the alliance, potentially in the Baltics.
Meanwhile, concerns are growing over Nato’s ability to respond, with US and Nato stocks of Patriot missile interceptors in Europe reportedly at critically low levels.
Drones hit oil depots and apartment building in Crimea
Friday 28 August 2026 04:22 , Maroosha Muzaffar
Drones struck depots containing oil products and a five-storey apartment building in Sevastopol, in Russia-held Crimea, Russian news agencies quoted Moscow-installed authorities as saying on Friday.
Russia threatens retaliation after UK PM says he will help Ukraine start producing long-range missiles
Friday 28 August 2026 04:16 , Maroosha Muzaffar
Russia has threatened retaliation against the UK after British prime minister Andy Burnham said Britain would give Ukraine access to technology to produce Storm Shadow long-range missiles domestically, with Moscow accusing the UK and France of “playing with fire”.
The threats come amid reports that CIA chief John Ratcliffe warned Moscow against attacking Nato during a secretive visit to Russia, following a US intelligence assessment that Russia could be considering a limited assault or other test of the alliance, potentially in the Baltics.
Moscow denies any such plans, while Donald Trump has also played down the reports.
Watch: Russia threatens to bomb UK military bases over support for Ukraine
Friday 28 August 2026 03:00 , Joe Middleton
Ukrainian refugees open jellyfish museum in Florida
Friday 28 August 2026 02:00 , Joe Middleton
Inside a darkened venue in South Florida, glowing saltwater tanks and wall projections cast light upon tentacled predators as they swirl and pulse in hypnotic rhythms.
Located in Pompano Beach, just north of Fort Lauderdale, the private Jellyfish Museum is believed to be the first museum in the United States focused exclusively on the translucent invertebrates, and among a rare few globally, according to founders and local officials.
The space was established by Alex and Yana Yanovsky, who previously ran thriving aquariums in Ukraine, including a dedicated jellyfish museum in Kyiv. The founders were forced to abandon those venues when they fled the country following the 2022 Russian invasion, according to operations manager Jessica Eisenbarth.
Ukrainian refugees open America’s first ever jellyfish museum in Florida
Why did Trump’s CIA director make a mysterious short trip to Moscow?
Friday 28 August 2026 01:00 , Joe Middleton
The White House is facing scrutiny after the CIA director made a mysterious visit to Moscow on Tuesday, the first visit by a chief of the intelligence agency in nearly five years.
The US Air Force C-17A Globemaster III flew into Moscow from Latvia before landing at the capital’s Vnukovo International Airport on Tuesday, according to Flightradar24.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said he did not have any information about the visit, while President Donald Trump stayed uncharacteristically silent on the matter.
On Tuesday, US media reported that that CIA director John Ratcliffe was on board the aircraft - but no further details were briefed on the purpose of his visit.
Why did Trump’s CIA director make a mysterious short trip to Moscow?
Kremlin dismisses US media reports that Russia may attack Nato as 'scare-stories'
Thursday 27 August 2026 23:59 , Joe Middleton
The Kremlin has dismissed US media reports that Russia could attack a Nato member state and that the purpose of CIA Director John Ratcliffe's visit to Moscow this week had been to warn Moscow against such a move.
Asked to comment on the reports, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “A lot of this kind of scare-story material is being published right now. Of course, it has nothing to do with reality and nothing to do with the intentions of the Russian Federation.”
Ukrainian refugees open jellyfish museum in Florida
Thursday 27 August 2026 23:00 , James Reynolds
Inside a darkened venue in South Florida, glowing saltwater tanks and wall projections cast light upon tentacled predators as they swirl and pulse in hypnotic rhythms.
Located in Pompano Beach, just north of Fort Lauderdale, the private Jellyfish Museum is believed to be the first museum in the United States focused exclusively on the translucent invertebrates, and among a rare few globally, according to founders and local officials.
The space was established by Alex and Yana Yanovsky, who previously ran thriving aquariums in Ukraine, including a dedicated jellyfish museum in Kyiv. The founders were forced to abandon those venues when they fled the country following the 2022 Russian invasion, according to operations manager Jessica Eisenbarth.
In full:
Ukrainian refugees open America’s first ever jellyfish museum in Florida
Putin arrests Russians worried about fuel shortages
Thursday 27 August 2026 22:00 , James Reynolds
Russian police have arrested citizens complaining of fuel shortages at the pump, as Ukraine’s drone campaign sparked fighting at petrol stations and rationing.
Moscow and its surrounding regions have been forced to reimpose purchase limits on fuel, capping sales at between 50 and 60 litres per vehicle.
As Ukraine intensifies its “deep strike” campaign, hitting another major oil refinery on Wednesday, the strain on Russia’s domestic energy grid continues to grow. Across at least 12 regions, miles of gridlocked traffic now stall forecourts, with motorists waiting up to 30 hours only to find the pumps empty.
Read the full story:
Putin arrests Russians complaining about fuel shortages amid petrol station fights
Watch: Russia threatens to bomb UK military bases over support for Ukraine
Thursday 27 August 2026 21:00 , James Reynolds
Arson plot targeted Ukraine-founded drone maker, Slovak prosecutor says
Thursday 27 August 2026 20:00 , James Reynolds
An arson attack planned by three suspects in eastern Slovakia targeted drone maker Skyeton, prosecutors said on Thursday, while a little-known group describing itself as peace activists claimed responsibility.
Skyeton, founded in Ukraine, says it produces drones for civilian and military use in Ukraine and other countries.
"The attack was supposed to aim at the Skyeton company's factory," a spokesperson for the regional prosecutor's office in the eastern city of Presov said in an email, confirming an earlier report by Slovak news website dennikn.sk.
A German prosecutor told Reuters that a 26-year-old Latvian had been detained in Hamburg and extradition proceedings were under way.
Kremlin promises 'harsh' retaliation against Ukraine for energy attacks
Thursday 27 August 2026 18:45 , Maira Butt
The Kremlin said on Thursday that Russia has no need to escalate in Ukraine as its troops are already advancing there.
It added that Russia’s response to Ukrainian strikes on Russia’s economic and trade infrastructure will be “harsh”, according to TASS.
CIA director warned Russia against Nato attack, say sources
Thursday 27 August 2026 18:15 , Maira Butt
CIA director John Ratcliffe warned Russia against an attack on a Nato member, sources familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal and Politico.
Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that US intelligence assessments had indicated that Putin could test Nato’s resolve with a limited assault on an allied country over the coming years.
Several possible scenarios had been posited from cyber-attacks to a small-scale land incursion, according to the report.
President Donald Trump said “something may come out of” Ratcliffe’s visit to Moscow on Tuesday.
Kremlin dismisses US media reports that Russia may attack Nato as 'scare-stories'
Thursday 27 August 2026 17:45 , Maira Butt
The Kremlin has dismissed US media reports that Russia could attack a Nato member state and that the purpose of CIA Director John Ratcliffe's visit to Moscow this week had been to warn Moscow against such a move.
Asked to comment on the reports, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “A lot of this kind of scare-story material is being published right now. Of course, it has nothing to do with reality and nothing to do with the intentions of the Russian Federation.”
Watch: Trump issues first comment on CIA chief’s mysterious visit to Moscow
Thursday 27 August 2026 17:15 , Maira Butt
Why did Trump’s CIA director make a mysterious short trip to Moscow?
Thursday 27 August 2026 16:45 , Maira Butt
The White House is facing scrutiny after the CIA director made a mysterious visit to Moscow on Tuesday, the first visit by a chief of the intelligence agency in nearly five years.
The US Air Force C-17A Globemaster III flew into Moscow from Latvia before landing at the capital’s Vnukovo International Airport on Tuesday, according to Flightradar24.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said he did not have any information about the visit, while President Donald Trump stayed uncharacteristically silent on the matter.
On Tuesday, US media reported that that CIA director John Ratcliffe was on board the aircraft - but no further details were briefed on the purpose of his visit.
Why did Trump’s CIA director make a mysterious short trip to Moscow?
Mapped: The UK military bases threatened by Russia as Kremlin rages over missiles for Ukraine
Thursday 27 August 2026 16:15 , Maira Butt
Russia has threatened to bomb UK military bases in its latest threat over Britain’s support for Ukraine.
Britain has been told to back off on its hostile stance towards Ukraine by Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, who said the UK risked taking the conflict to a new level.
She told the same Moscow news briefing earlier that Britain and France were "playing with fire" by supplying sensitive missile technology to Ukraine.
Mapped: The UK military bases threatened by Russia
Ukraine rejects Russian accusations of involvement in Mali attacks
Thursday 27 August 2026 15:45 , Maira Butt
Russian accusations of Ukraine being involved in militant attacks in Mali are fake and not supported by any evidence, Ukraine's foreign ministry said.
"We reject this typical and long-standing lie by Russian officials, which they do not even attempt to back up with any plausible evidence," Heorhii Tykhyi, the ministry's spokesperson, told Reuters.
Watch: Russia threatens to bomb UK military bases over support for Ukraine
Thursday 27 August 2026 15:17 , Maira Butt
Full story: Russia threatens to bomb UK military bases over support for Ukraine
Thursday 27 August 2026 14:51 , Maira Butt
Russia has warned it could strike British military targets over the UK’s support for Ukraine.
Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson told the UK to back off on what she called London’s hostile stance on the war, which she said risked taking the conflict to an entirely new level.
Maria Zakharova told the same Moscow news briefing earlier that Britain and France were “playing with fire” by supplying sensitive missile technology to Ukraine.
but the Ministry of Defence has hit back saying Russia “should be in no doubt about the resolve of this government to stand against Russian aggression, in Ukraine and against the UK and our allies.”
Russia threatens to bomb UK military bases over support for Ukraine
In pictures: Aftermath of Russian aerial attack on Kyiv
Thursday 27 August 2026 14:15 , Maira Butt
CIA director did not inform EU of visit
Thursday 27 August 2026 13:45 , Maira Butt
CIA director John Ratcliffe did not tell the European Union about his trip to Russia earlier this week, according to European Commission spokesperson Paula Pinho.
"The CIA director did not inform us about his schedule," she told reporters on Thursday.
Marine’s release from Russian prison reignites calls to free other Americans with health problems
Thursday 27 August 2026 13:15 , Maira Butt
The recent release of Marine veteran Robert Gilman from Russian custody ended more than four years of imprisonment, but his visibly frail condition has raised alarming questions for the families of Americans still detained there.
Watching the news coverage from the United States, Harold Jezler saw Gilman's gaunt appearance and immediately worried about what it meant for his 36-year-old wife, Olga, who has been held in Russia since 2022 while suffering from her own deteriorating health issues.
"You just look at the pictures and the guy is not in good shape. It’s concerning for me and for all the families, I would imagine," Jezler said in an interview with The Associated Press. "Is this what it takes for the government to really make a move and prioritize this — that the person is basically in dire straits? It was a very bittersweet thing to see that."
Husband pleads for wife’s release from Russian prison as her health issues worsen
Kremlin says Moscow would go to court to fight any new 'illegal' EU plan to seize its frozen assets
Thursday 27 August 2026 12:45 , Maira Butt
The Kremlin said on Thursday that Russia would go to court to try to stop any new and "illegal" European Union plan to use its frozen sovereign assets to aid Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was responding to a report in the Financial Times which said that some EU states, including Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland, were urging Brussels to revive efforts to use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine
Pentagon's Colby pushes Europe to do more on defence
Thursday 27 August 2026 12:30 , James Reynolds
Europe has made progress in taking over the responsibility for its conventional defence but more needs to be done, US Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby told allies in Brussels ahead of talks about potential US troops cuts in Europe.
"Let's look at some of things like access, basing, overflight. Well, there is a lot of good, but there's some things that we need to work out to make sense going forward," Colby said at Nato headquarters, adding Europe would remain a critical interest of the US and he had come in a spirit of consultation.
Nato allies worry that a six-month review of troops in Europe, announced in June and due by December, will lead to large-scale cuts to the roughly 80,000 US forces across Europe and punish countries that Donald Trump believes failed to support the war against Iran.
Ukraine's president coos over a puppy, starting a new volley in his war of visuals against Russia
Thursday 27 August 2026 12:15 , Maira Butt
Wait. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine's war chief, holding a puppy?
Yes, and it's no accident. In a collision of dog lovers, sports and ongoing war with Russia, the Ukranian president on Tuesday was captured on video as never before — cuddling and cooing over a floppy, three-month-old American pit bull terrier, handed to him by U.S. former boxer Terence Crawford.
The cute and fluffy scene in Zelenskyy's office in Kyiv was the latest volley in a deadly serious battle of visuals that runs in parallel to Ukraine's fight against Russia's brutal four-year invasion.
Crawford, a longtime supporter of Ukraine and a devotee of the American pit bull terrier, came forward and handed a reddish-yellow puppy to Zelenskyy.
Ukraine's president coos over a puppy, starting a new volley in his war of visuals against Russia
Watch: Trump issues first comment on CIA chief’s mysterious visit to Moscow
Thursday 27 August 2026 11:45 , Maira Butt
Kremlin dismisses US media reports that Russia may attack Nato as 'scare-stories'
Thursday 27 August 2026 11:15 , Maira Butt
The Kremlin has dismissed US media reports that Russia could attack a Nato member state and that the purpose of CIA Director John Ratcliffe's visit to Moscow this week had been to warn Moscow against such a move.
Asked to comment on the reports, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “A lot of this kind of scare-story material is being published right now. Of course, it has nothing to do with reality and nothing to do with the intentions of the Russian Federation.”
In pictures: Aftermath of Russian attack on Ukraine
Thursday 27 August 2026 10:45 , Maira Butt
Full story: Russia threatens to bomb UK military bases over support for Ukraine
Thursday 27 August 2026 10:25 , Maira Butt
Russia has warned it could strike British military targets both inside and outside Ukraine over the UK’s support for Kyiv.
Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman told Britain to back off on what she called London's hostile stance on Ukraine, which she said risked taking the conflict to an entirely new level.
She told the same Moscow news briefing earlier that Britain and France were "playing with fire" by supplying sensitive missile technology to Ukraine.
Britain announced on Monday it would allow Kyiv access to classified technology to start its own production of Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles, capable of carrying out strikes deep within Russia.
Russia threatens to bomb UK military bases over support for Ukraine
Russia threatens to attack British military targets over 'hostile line' on Ukraine
Thursday 27 August 2026 10:04 , Maira Butt
Russia has said on Thursday that it could retaliate against London over its help for Kyiv by striking British military targets both inside and outside Ukraine.
The country called on Britain to back off its “hostile line” on Ukraine, which is creating risks of taking the conflict to a new level.
Earlier this week prime minister Andy Burnham doubled down on the UK’s support for Ukraine and in response to Kremlin comments that Britain was “fuelling the fire”, he responded: “Who started the fire?”
Why did Trump’s CIA director make a mysterious short trip to Moscow?
Thursday 27 August 2026 09:55 , Maira Butt
The White House is facing scrutiny after the CIA director made a mysterious visit to Moscow on Tuesday, the first visit by a chief of the intelligence agency in nearly five years.
The US Air Force C-17A Globemaster III flew into Moscow from Latvia before landing at the capital’s Vnukovo International Airport on Tuesday, according to Flightradar24.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said he did not have any information about the visit, while President Donald Trump stayed uncharacteristically silent on the matter.
Why did Trump’s CIA director make a mysterious short trip to Moscow?
Russia's top commander says his troops are 4 kilometres from Ukrainian fortress city of Sloviansk
Thursday 27 August 2026 09:30 , Maira Butt
Russia's top military officer Valery Gerasimov has said that his forces are just four kilometres (2.49 miles) from the eastern outskirts of the Ukrainian fortress city of Sloviansk.
The chief of Russia's General Staff, made the comments in a video released by the Defence Ministry on Thursday.
President Vladimir Putin has made clear Moscow wants to control the fortress.
The Independent could not immediately verify the claim.
Russia launches missiles and drones at Ukraine, authorities say
Thursday 27 August 2026 09:10 , Maira Butt
Russia has launched an overnight barrage of missiles and drones at Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and other cities in an overnight attack on Thursday, Ukrainian authorities said.
Ukraine's air force said the barrage included two Oniks anti-ship cruise missiles, 258 drones, and an unspecified number of ballistic missiles.
The air force said that nearly 90 per cent of the drones were downed, as well as one Oniks and seven ballistic missiles.
