Ukraine launched more than 800 drones at Russia in one of its largest aerial assaults of the war that targeted Moscow and killed at least six, Russian authorities have said.
The Russian Defence Ministry said it had destroyed 822 drones overnight, with 600 directed towards the capital. Moscow does not confirm the total number of drones fired by Kyiv in its daily updates.
Moscow region Governor Andrei Vorobyov said an 83-year-old man had been killed, with several more injured in Podolsk, where he said a warehouse belonging to online retailer Wildberries was struck.
In Kyiv, at least three people were injured in missile and drone attacks early on Sunday, mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
The attacks come after Ukraine used flamingo missiles to strike a Russian rocket and space centre in Samara that it says supports Russia’s nascent Starlink-style satellite internet network, president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday.
A “flamingo” missile can carry about a ton of explosives and fly for up to 3,000 km at low heights, reports say. The military also attacked the Savasleyka military airfield, a base for Russian fighter jets, Zelensky added, declaring “new significant results” from deep strikes.
Russia warns of ‘serious damage’ to relations with US and Turkey
Russia conveyed its concern to the US and Turkey over their upcoming transfer of arms to Ukraine, saying the shipment could cause “serious damage” to relations with the two countries.
Delivering the weapons would cause “serious damage to our bilateral relations with Washington and Ankara”, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.
“Attempts to use peace-promoting rhetoric while simultaneously supplying weapons to (Ukraine) inevitably erode mutual trust, especially against the backdrop of repeated assurances by Turkish officials that Turkey is avoiding ‘lethal’ deliveries to Kyiv.”
Vishwam Sankaran16 August 2026 10:30
Kyiv launches more than 800 drones at Russia in massive aerial assault
Ukraine has fired more than 800 drones at Russia, killing at least six, Russian authorities have said.
In what is one of Kyiv’s largest aerial assaults of the war, the Russian Defence Ministry said it had destroyed 822 drones overnight, with 600 directed towards the capital.
Moscow does not confirm the total number of drones fired by Kyiv in its daily updates.
Moscow region Governor Andrei Vorobyov said an 83-year-old man had been killed, with several more injured in Podolsk, where he said a warehouse belonging to online retailer Wildberries was struck.
In Kyiv, at least three people were injured in missile and drone attacks early on Sunday, mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
Alex Croft16 August 2026 09:59
In pictures: Russian airstrikes across Kyiv spark fire
Vishwam Sankaran16 August 2026 09:30
Ukraine says it targeted Russian airbase
Ukraine said yesterday that its forces struck Russia’s Savasleyka airbase, which houses MiG-31K fighter jets that Moscow uses to launch ballistic missiles against Kyiv.
Ukraine also carried out a missile strike against a key Russian space rocket centre in Samara city which it claimed deploys satellite communications systems for the battlefield.
The rocket centre has been instrumental in developing Soyuz-type launch vehicles, including the Soyuz-2.1b three-stage carrier rocket, Kyiv claimed.
Ukrainian defence manufacturer Fire Point confirmed yesterday that Kyiv used FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles to strike the Progress Space Rocket Centre.
The attacks come amid Kyiv’s widely reported anti-ballistic missile interceptor shortage.
Vishwam Sankaran16 August 2026 09:00
In video: Ukraine strikes key Russian rocket centre
Vishwam Sankaran16 August 2026 08:30
Ukraine using British drones for deep strikes within Russia
Kyiv has reportedly been using British drones to carry out deep strikes within Russia over the past six months.
While most of the strikes have been carried out by Ukrainian drones, British drones have also yielded success, The Times reported yesterday, citing a Ukrainian military source.
The British drones have struck oil refineries near Moscow as well as in Yaroslavl and Volgograd.
The Nyan jet-powered drone, tested by the British Royal Navy, has also been used to target the Russian city of Belgorod near Ukraine’s border with Russia, according to the paper.
Vishwam Sankaran16 August 2026 08:00
Russian strikes on Kyiv spark fires
Russian missile strikes on Kyiv sparked fires in at least two districts, mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
The fires were caused by falling debris from the airstrikes in a non-residential part of a northern suburb, he said in a Telegram post.
The strikes injured at least one person, the city’s military administration said.
Vishwam Sankaran16 August 2026 07:00
Kim Jong Un reaffirms deepening ties with Putin
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reaffirmed deepening ties with Russia in a message to Russian president Vladimir Putin on the anniversary of Pyongyang’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule.
Earlier, Putin said the bond between Moscow and Pyongyang was forged as Soviet soldiers “fought against Japan”, and that cooperation would continue “in all the sectors”.
Kim expressed hope for the future of the ties between the two countries that had “carried forward the history of common struggle for justice and precious traditions of friendship”, KNCA reported.
North Korea’s ties with Russia have deepened after Pyongyang began deploying troops and weapons to support Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Vishwam Sankaran16 August 2026 06:30
Romania shoots down drone breaching its airspace
Romania shot down a drone illegally entering its airspace today, marking the fourth time the eastern European country has neutralised an uncrewed aircraft breaching its borders.
Romania’s defence ministry did not share details on the origin of the drone, but said its radars detected it entering the country from neighbouring Moldova,
The drone was shot down by a Spanish F-18 fighter jet pilot on a NATO air policing mission.
The jet “made radar contact with the target and received permission to engage it,” the defence ministry said, adding that the unmanned vehicle was shot down at 5.01am local time.
Vishwam Sankaran16 August 2026 06:09
Russian strike on apartment block in southeastern Ukraine kills baby, local officials say
A Russian strike on an apartment block in southeastern Ukraine on Saturday killed a three-month-old baby and wounded 11 people, local officials said.
Drones hit the building in the town of Marhanets, said Oleksandr Hanzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration.
Meanwhile, hundreds of mourners gathered in Kyiv at a memorial ceremony dedicated to 3-year-old Dmytro Kucher and his grandparents, Halyna and Petro Kucher, who were killed by a Russian drone strike on August 8.
Multiple Russian drones destroyed the family’s home in the Brovary district, northeast of Kyiv. An initial ceremony was held at Kyiv’s Spaskyi Lyceum, where Halyna had served as school principal for more than 20 years, before moving to a churchyard in the suburb of Zazymia, close to the former family home.
The couple’s son, Oleksandr Kucher, said that his parents had been together since the fifth grade. “They died together,” he said. “The Shahed (drone) completely tore my mother apart. We recovered only about two kilograms (about 4.4 pounds) of her remains.”
He described his 3-year-old son, Dmytro, as “our little miracle” and “the soul of our family.”
“He kept my parents, me and our entire family going,” Kucher said. Russia’s Ministry of Defense also said Saturday that it had targeted warehouses and infrastructure at the Ukrainian ports of Odesa, Izmail and Yuzhnyi.Ukraine’s Air Force said that Russia launched 152 drones over the country Saturday, of which 124 were destroyed.
Holly Bancroft16 August 2026 04:01
