Eastern Europe / News
Zelenskyy says Ukraine has secured monthly Patriot missile deliveries from US
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Kyiv has reached an agreement with the United States to receive monthly deliveries of Patriot interceptor missiles, just as Kyiv runs out of air defence ammo.
Russia launches major strike on Naftogaz production assets, knocking out seven Ukrnafta facilities
Russia has carried out one of its largest attacks on Ukraine's state-owned energy sector in recent months, striking seven oil and gas production facilities operated by Ukrnafta, part of the Naftogaz Group.
North Korea's sanctions-busting economy books a $22bn windfall since the Ukraine war began
North Korea has earned up to $22bn in foreign currency since 2022, new estimates show, driven by cyber theft, arms sales to Russia and easing isolation.
Ukraine loses more than half its Kyiv-region warehouse space to Russian strikes
Russia has destroyed more than half of the Kyiv region's pre-war warehouse capacity since its full-scale invasion began, after strikes overnight on August 5 hit 10 warehouse facilities totalling about 100,000 square metres, according to Ukrainian...
Azerbaijan's foreign minister backs Ukraine energy security, floats gas supply option
Baku is positioning itself as a supplier of gas to Europe and, potentially, to Ukraine.
Russia moves North Korean missile unit into Voronezh region, Ukraine says
Russia is preparing to station a missile unit made up of North Korean troops in the Voronezh region, Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate said on August 5, according to Reuters. The roughly 90-strong unit is to be folded into Russia's 112th...
Ukraine's ex-ambassador to Washington charged with illicit enrichment in widening corruption purge
Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau and its Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office have charged former Washington ambassador Olha Stefanishyna with illicit enrichment tied to a cut-price Kyiv apartment purchase, two days after she...
Ukraine turns to hunting Russia's missile launchers as its interceptors run dry
Russia fired 24 ballistic missiles, four Zircon or Onyx cruise missiles and 115 drones at Kyiv and the surrounding region overnight on August 5, killing 17 people and injuring 44, part of a pattern of attacks that has pushed Ukraine, now out of...
Ukraine faces $3bn grain export loss as Russia's blockade empties Odesa of ships
Ukraine's alternative grain export routes will not reach the capacity needed to compensate for Russia's blockade of Black Sea ports until the end of August at the earliest, and even then will cover only half the volume normally handled through...
Cameroon discusses ship-registry reform with US amid Russian shadow-fleet concerns
Russia-linked oil tankers turned to African registries as established flag states tightened sanctions compliance, while some vessels have also used fraudulent African registration documents.
Russian human safari of a Kherson market trader reignites war crimes accusations
A video showing a Russian explosive drone stalking and detonating beside an unarmed market trader in the frontline city of Kherson has drawn fresh accusations of war crimes from Kyiv, days after the UN reported on record civilian casualties.
Russia hits over 200 Ukrainian petrol stations in June-July campaign
Russia has struck more than 200 Ukrainian petrol stations since June - roughly three a day - as its drone and missile campaign systematically targets civilian fuel infrastructure rather than military sites.
Russia's first MC-21 commercial jet completes maiden flight
The first mass-production model of Russia's MC-21-310 airliner completed its maiden flight on August 3, days after President Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to the aircraft's Siberian assembly plant.
Ukraine’s attacks on Wildberries will hit foreign traders for tens of millions, says company CEO
Businesses across Central Asia and countries including Belarus, Armenia and China will feel the pain, ecommerce boss adds.
Russia and Ukraine trade record missile and drone barrages in another weekend of destruction
Russia and Ukraine's tit-for-tat missile and drone war escalated further over the weekend of August 1-2, with another brutal Russian attack on Kyiv that is driving tens of thousands residents into the metro stations every weekend.
Armenia and Russia clash over railway concession
Dispute centres on a 30-year concession agreement signed in 2008 under which South Caucasus Railway, a subsidiary of Russian Railways, took over operation of Armenia’s rail network.
Turkey takes Russian firefighting jets while sanctions leave Spain's grounded
Russia has sent two Be-200 amphibious firefighting aircraft to Turkey following a request from Turkish authorities, as wildfires burn across the country. Spain has Russian firefighting helicopters it can't use thanks to sanctions.
Likely Russian Kh-101 missile crashes in eastern Poland
A missile believed to be a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile crossed into Nato member Poland and appears to have exploded in a field near Lublin leaving a large crater but causing no casualties or reported damage.
Chasiv Yar's fall in Donbas fighting opens the road to Sloviansk and Kramatorsk
Chasiv Yar, one of the longest and most fought-over battles in the Donbas of the Ukraine war, has fallen to Russian forces, with the last Ukrainian holdouts withdrawing from the southwestern part of the city in the past week.