Wars 2022 02/24 Monitoring Russian and Ukraine War.

[Saif]

https://www.newagebd.net/post/europe/307598/16-killed-in-ukrainian-russian-strikes

16 killed in Ukrainian, Russian strikes
Agence France-Presse . Moscow, Russia 26 July, 2026, 03:43

At least 16 people were killed in Ukrainian and Russian strikes Saturday, in a deadly fifth summer of war as both sides intensify attacks, with diplomacy at a deadlock.

Ukrainian drones also targeted a Siberian oil refinery and the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, escalating strikes deep inside Russia — which it says are aimed to weaken Russia’s war effort and force the Kremlin to negotiate.

The deaths — in Russian-occupied Ukraine, north-eastern Ukraine and Russian border villages — come as the UN has warned of civilians dying in larger numbers recently in the almost 4.5-year war.

US-led talks on ending the fighting are at a deadlock, with Washington focused on the Middle East and Moscow intent on seizing the whole of eastern Ukraine.

Russian occupational authorities in southern Ukraine said a Ukrainian strike on an Azov Sea village killed eight people, including two children.

Yevgeny Balitsky, the Moscow-installed head of the Russian occupied part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, said Kyiv had struck ‘tourist camps’ in the seaside village of Kyrylivka.

Balitsky said the strike also wounded 14 people in Kyrylivka — seized by Russia in the first days of its offensive.

Kyiv has not yet commented on the strike.

Ukraine has intensified attacks in the Azov Sea in recent weeks, targeting Russian ships there.

Kyiv, meanwhile, said a Russian drone strike on its private courier service Nova Poshta in the north-eastern city of Sumy killed three drivers.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said it was a ‘double-tap’ drone strike.

Two more people were killed in southern Ukraine, Kyiv said, as Moscow reported two villagers killed in border areas and one more person in the occupied part of Ukraine’s Kherson region.

Far from the battlefield, Ukrainian drones struck an oil refinery in Siberia’s Tyumen region, more than 1,000 miles east of Moscow, in one of its furthest hits so far.

Ukraine’s strikes deep inside Russia have caused fuel shortages and disrupted ordinary life in Russia more than at any point during the 4.5-year war.

The governor of the Tyumen region, Alexander Moor, said a Ukrainian drone fell ‘on the territory’ of an oil refinery, causing a fire.

Moscow said Ukraine had launched more than 300 drones into Russian territory, including on regions far from the border.

Zelensky announced Kyiv had also struck a factory in Kirov — hundreds of kilometres east of Moscow — for the second day in a row, a day after a deadly strike there.

‘Once again, a plant in Kirov was struck — the one supplying components for the weapons Russia uses to attack our people,’ Zelensky said.

Kirov governor Alexander Sokolov earlier declared three days of mourning in the region, which has so far not been affected by Ukraine’s strikes.

Sokolov said the final death toll from Friday’s strike was five and not six, after a man believed to be dead was found alive.

He called the dead ‘heroes of the labour front’, saying the strike would only ‘unite us against the enemy’ and that Russia was fighting ‘the collective West.’

Further west in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, Russian online retail giant Wildberries — hit by Ukrainian strikes this week — said it had evacuated its staff.

Yekaterinburg is one of Russia’s biggest cities and lies just before Siberia.

Wildberries said it had ‘suspended’ work at its ‘logistics facility’ in the city after a ‘timely evacuation’. It said its facility was not damaged.

Ukrainian drones have hit Wildberries warehouses around Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Crimea and southern Russia this week, causing fires and business losses.

The head of the Sverdlovsk region, of which Yekaterinburg is the capital, Denis Pasler, confirmed the city had been attacked.

Pasler said there were no casualties and that the drones had caused a fire at a parking lot.

Russian president Vladimir Putin did not comment on Saturday’s attacks.

Ukraine says its retaliatory strikes are fair retribution for Russia’s daily barrages on Ukrainian cities for more than four years.

Ukrainian drones struck a Siberian oil refinery Saturday and disrupted a Urals athletics competition, as Kazakhstan’s president told Russia’s Vladimir Putin the Ukraine war should end during a forum in Siberia’s Omsk.​

 

[Saif]

https://www.newagebd.net/post/north-america/308000/zelensky-hails-good-meeting-with-us-president-trump-on-patriot-air-defenses

Zelensky hails ‘good meeting’ with US president Trump on Patriot air defenses
Agence France-Presse . Washington, United States 29 July, 2026, 10:32

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky, left, and US president Donald Trump posing for a photo during their meeting in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, amid the Russian attack of Ukraine. | AFP photo.

Agence France-Presse . Washington

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky sought licenses to produce Patriot air-defence interceptors during a ‘good meeting’ with US counterpart Donald Trump on Tuesday, as he underscored Russian president Vladimir Putin’s loss of initiative on the war front due to heavy losses.

Zelensky spent just over an hour with Trump at the White House, in talks that came with Kyiv and Moscow intensifying long-range strikes as US-led diplomatic efforts to end the war stalled.

‘Today we had good meeting with president Trump,’ Zelensky told Fox News host Sean Hannity in a broadcast interview late Tuesday.

‘He accepted that he will give us (Patriot) licenses, and then I had meeting with representatives of production, very strong military companies of the United States. I hope that we will do co-production,’ he continued.

After the meeting, Trump posted photos to social media with a note that said: ‘Many things were discussed. The meeting went very well!’

Relations between Zelensky and Trump have warmed since the start of the US president’s second term, with Trump suggesting earlier this month that Ukrainian strikes inside Russia could help end the war.

Ahead of the meeting, a senior Ukrainian official said that Kyiv’s priorities were fresh supplies of anti-ballistic missiles and ways to revive diplomacy, more than four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Last month was the deadliest for Ukraine civilians since April 2022, according to the United Nations, as Russia increased its use of difficult-to-intercept ballistic missiles.

On Wednesday, officials in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson said a man was killed and at least two others were wounded in Russian drone attacks.

Russia, meanwhile, said a strike on its southwestern port city of Taganrog killed a woman and injured a man.

‘It is crucial that Washington approve the purchase of a package of Patriot missiles. That is super important,’ the Ukrainian official said.

Zelensky also attended a memorial ceremony for Republican senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch Ukraine supporter who died unexpectedly this month at age 71.

Since returning to power last year, Trump has ended direct deliveries of US arms to Kyiv, instead allowing European countries to buy weapons for Ukraine.

Washington nevertheless remains a major ally, supplying intelligence and access to the Starlink satellite system used for battleground communications.

Relations between the two leaders have recovered since their extraordinary Oval Office confrontation in February 2025, when Trump accused Zelensky of ingratitude and ‘gambling with World War III.’

At their latest meeting in Turkey this month, Trump praised Zelensky for doing ‘an amazing job’ and offered Kyiv licenses to manufacture Patriot missiles.

Zelensky spoke last week with Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner about how to ‘reinvigorate diplomacy’ after the Middle East war pushed Ukraine talks down Washington’s agenda.

Previous US mediation efforts foundered over Ukrainian territory claimed by Russia.

After the White House meeting and Graham memorial, Zelensky addressed senators before an initial procedural vote on a bipartisan Russia sanctions bill.

Graham had spent more than a year championing the measure and reached an agreement with the White House on revisions shortly before his death.

Some Democrats voiced unease about provisions that would expand Trump’s power to impose tariffs on countries buying Russian energy.

But a bipartisan vote advanced the bill towards final passage, increasing pressure on the House of Representatives, where the legislation faces deeper divisions.

‘This is the first step toward implementing Lindsey’s plans and undoubtedly a step toward peace,’ Zelensky, who was present for the vote, said in a post on X.

Relations between Moscow and Washington have meanwhile cooled since Trump met Putin in Alaska last August.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied Monday that talks on an aerial ceasefire were underway.

Ukraine has recently stepped up strikes on Russian oil depots, refineries and shipping, contributing to fuel shortages.

‘So now Putin is losing 30,000 his soldiers per month... it’s many losses, but he doesn’t want to stop this war. So now initiative not in the hands of Putin,’ Zelensky said on Fox News.

Hours before Zelensky’s meeting with Trump, Kyiv launched hundreds of drones at Russia.

Moscow, meanwhile, fired more than 100 drones at Ukraine overnight and has continued attacking the port of Odesa and ships carrying Ukrainian agricultural exports.​

 

[Saif]

https://www.newagebd.net/post/europe/308358/deadly-strikes-rock-kyiv-ukraine-sinks-russian-cargo-ship

Deadly strikes rock Kyiv, Ukraine sinks Russian cargo ship
Agence France-Presse . Kyiv, Ukraine 01 August, 2026, 12:40

Smoke rises above residential buildings following an air attack in Kyiv on Saturday amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. | AFP photo.

Russian attacks on Kyiv and its suburbs killed 10 people early Saturday, officials said, as Ukrainian drones sank a huge Russian container ship in the Black Sea.

The exchange of strikes comes amid a prolonged lull in US-led talks aimed at ending the conflict, Europe’s deadliest since World War II.

Both Moscow and Kyiv have escalated long-range attacks on each other in recent weeks, with Russia more than doubling its use of missiles last month, according to an AFP analysis.

Civilian casualties in Ukraine have meanwhile soared to their highest since Russia invaded in 2022, according to UN human rights monitors, with Kyiv pressing its allies to provide more air defences.

In a statement on social media, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky appealed for supplies of Patriot air defence systems, Kyiv’s only effective counter against Russian ballistic missile attacks.

‘It is this shortage of ballistic missile interceptors that only encourages Russia to launch such attacks that take human lives,’ Zelensky said in a post on X.

More than 30 people were wounded in Saturday’s attacks on Kyiv, which struck five districts of the city, Ukrainian authorities said.

Among the buildings damaged was the embassy of Lithuania, with the Baltic country’s foreign minister publishing images appearing to show a cracked door and damaged light fixture.

AFP journalists reported hearing more than 10 explosions in a row early Saturday, triggering car alarms on the streets.

In Kyiv’s eastern Darnytsky district, the attacks damaged multiple buildings and vehicles, with authorities reporting seven people killed and 14 wounded in the area.

Two people were killed and eight others were wounded in the western Solomiansky district, where strikes damaged a five-storey residential building.

One other person was killed in an attack on the Kyiv suburb of Brovary, authorities said.

‘Everything was smashed, the windows, everything,’ 75-year-old resident Kateryna Kravchenko told AFP of her apartment.

‘I can barely stand. I don’t know how I’m going to get through all this.’

Another resident, 46-year-old Oksana, said her plan was to leave.

‘You can’t stay here after something like this... What guarantee is there that it won’t happen again?’

Russia’s defence ministry said it had struck ‘military-industrial complex enterprises and logistics centres’.

AFP reporters saw dark clouds of smoke rising over Kyiv in the morning hours.

As Kyiv has faced near-nightly attacks, Ukraine has escalated its retaliatory strikes on Russia in recent months, partly to pressure Moscow to the negotiating table after nearly four-and-a-half years of war.

Ukrainian drones sank a Russian-owned container ship in the Black Sea early Saturday, forcing its 17-member crew to abandon the vessel, the ship’s owner said.

The Russian-flagged ‘Yanina’, owned by the shipping arm of Russia’s state-owned nuclear power operator Rosatom, was sailing near the Russian port of Novorossiysk when it was hit.

The ship was carrying civilian goods including frozen food and construction materials, Rosatom said.

There was no immediate indication that the vessel was carrying out activities related to Rosatom’s nuclear arm or carrying nuclear material.

‘All 17 crew members have been rescued and are in good condition,’ Rosatom said on Telegram in a statement.

Zelensky confirmed Ukraine was behind the strike in a post on X, describing it as a ‘sanctioned Russian container ship’.

Kyiv has accused Russia of using the waterway to transport sanctioned goods, including oil.

Both Ukraine and Russia deny targeting civilians.

The attacks come as Ukraine presses its allies for Patriot air defences.

Zelensky had met with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday for talks, partly to lobby Washington for licenses to produce Patriots domestically.

The Ukrainian leader said following the meeting that Trump had agreed to license the production of the missiles to Kyiv.

But the US president appeared to express reservations on Friday, saying that Washington would have to be ‘very careful’ about the decision.

On Saturday, Ukrainian foreign minister Andriy Sybiga said Russia’s attacks showed Ukraine needed the weapon urgently.

‘It is the battle for the skies that will define the trajectory of this war. The stronger the air shield over Ukraine, the closer peace becomes,’ he said.

Russia fired a record number of missiles at Ukraine in July, an AFP analysis of Ukrainian air force data showed Saturday.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Tens of thousands have been killed and millions forced to flee their homes due to the fighting, while Moscow now occupies around a fifth of its neighbour—including Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.​

 

[Saif]

https://www.newagebd.net/post/europe/308627/russian-strike-burns-8m-books-in-ukraine

Russian strike burns 8m books in Ukraine
Agence France-Presse . Kyiv, Ukraine 03 August, 2026, 22:56

AFP photo.

A Russian strike on a warehouse in northeastern Ukraine over the weekend destroyed eight million books, the publishing house said Monday, slamming it as an attack on Ukrainian culture.

It is not the first time Russia has struck a major publishing centre, drawing accusations from Kyiv that Moscow was specifically targeting them.

‘This is the largest loss to Ukraine’s book infrastructure since the beginning of the full-scale war’ in 2022, the publisher, Ranok, said.

An AFP reporter on Saturday saw firefighters battling to contain the blaze at the warehouse in Kharkiv hours after Russia launched a drone and missile attack.

‘More than 8 million books have been destroyed in the fire, among them textbooks for children,’ Ranok said in a statement on social media.

‘The blaze is still raging. The enemy is trying to burn out our education and culture,’ it added.

The publisher’s director Viktor Kruglov called it an ‘attack on Ukrainian education and culture.’

A strike on a warehouse near Kyiv last month burnt 8,00,000 books to ash, the publisher — whose portfolio includes works by George Orwell and Barack Obama — said.

Throughout its invasion, Russia has frequently hit Ukrainian museums, galleries, film studios, churches and other sites of cultural importance.​

 

[Saif]

Ukraine accuses Russia of war crime after video shows drone attacking market vendor

Ukraine on Tuesday accused Russia of committing a war crime after a video was released showing a drone chasing down and wounding a street vendor in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson. Footage released by Ukrainian police shows the drone pursuing an unidentified man around a van being used as a

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Ukraine accuses Russia of war crime after video shows drone attacking market vendor

A drone circles over a man at a market in Kherson, southern Ukraine, before detonating nearby, in an incident that Ukrainian authorities said occurred on Aug 4, 2026, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in this still image obtained from a handout video on Aug 4, 2026.

Source: KHERSON REGIONAL MILITARY ADMINISTRATION/Handout via REUTERS

Ukraine on Tuesday accused Russia of committing a war crime after a video was released showing a drone chasing down and wounding a street vendor in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson.

Footage released by Ukrainian police shows the drone pursuing an unidentified man around a van being used as a street stand before exploding after he dives for cover behind the vehicle. Police said the vendor, a man in his 50s, survived but suffered shock and shrapnel injuries.

“Today, many were shocked by yet another video of the drone ‘safari’ Russians are carrying out against civilians in Kherson,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on X, issuing a fresh call for more pressure on Russia and strong security guarantees for Ukraine.

“We must act and support life in ways that force Russia to think seriously about peace rather than expanding the range of its drones.”

Reuters verified the location using buildings, the road layout and vegetation that matched satellite and archive imagery. The date could not be independently confirmed, but Ukraine’s police and Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the incident happened on Tuesday.

Sybiha said the attack formed part of a deliberate Russian campaign to intimidate civilians. “This barbaric Russian war crime in Kherson demands international condemnation and justice, but thousands of similar crimes never come to the public eye,” he wrote on Telegram.

The minister said the pilot of the Russian drone would have been aware they were targeting a civilian, branding them a “sadist”.

Two children and an elderly woman were also killed in overnight Russian guided bomb strikes on Ukraine’s northern city of Sumy, regional governor Oleh Hryhorov said on Telegram.

In July, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said it had documented 1,396 civilian deaths and 7,978 injuries in the first six months of 2026, marking a 37 percent increase from 2025 and more than double the figures from 2024.

It said that the surge in civilian casualties was primarily driven by intensifying Russian long-range missile and drone strikes targeting urban centres far beyond the front lines.

Ukraine is also attacking Russia with drones and long-range missiles, many of which have ‌also caused civilian casualties, Russian authorities say.

Russia on Monday accused Ukraine of terrorism after seven people, including three children, were killed and 60 injured at its Black Sea holiday resort of Gelendzhik in what it said was a deliberate Ukrainian drone attack on civilians.

A Ukrainian official said that the drone only fell on the beach in Gelendzhik because it was shot down by Russian air defences, adding that “Ukraine uses its weapons exclusively against the Russian military-industrial complex and economic infrastructure facilities”.

Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians in the war triggered by Russia’s ⁠full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.​