A woman has been accused of assassinating a former Ukrainian submarine commander who defected to Russia.
Robert Mansurovich Shageev, who was wanted for high treason by Kyiv, is believed to have been the target of the attack.
A woman identified as 32-year-old Margarita Reut was arrested in Sevastopol in Crimea on suspicion of carrying out the bombing on behalf of Ukrainian special services.
Volodymyr Zelensky has asked the US to sell him 10 per cent of its Patriot missiles to help Ukraine intercept Russian strikes.
Kyiv is suffering critical shortages of the defensive weapons, which are the only systems in its arsenal capable of intercepting incoming ballistic missiles.
“This year we have two and a half less interceptors than we had in 2025,” the Ukrainian president said in an interview with CNN. “Russia has two times more ballistic missiles per month than they had before.”
North Korea is preparing a massive troop surge to help its ally Moscow in its war on Ukraine, with up to 50,000 North Koreans to be deployed in Russia, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In late July, the Ukrainian leader said Russia wanted to bring in another 30,000 North Korean troops, before adding this weekend that Pyongyang decided to have between 30,000 and 50,000 North Koreans deployed on Russian territory. He did not specify if this number included the North Korean troops already taking part in the conflict.
Russia is increasingly relying on ballistic missiles for its attacks on Ukraine — precisely the weapons that Ukraine’s armed forces depend heavily on Western support to ward off.
However, the crucial US-produced Patriot interceptor missiles are often in short supply.
In other Ukraine news …
Ukrainian economic migrant on receiving $3K CAD per month
“My Airbnb costs $2,000CAD a month!” pic.twitter.com/FcOGBvbLjt
— Jungle Journey (@JnglJourney) August 26, 2025
h/t Hermes
American intelligence experts believe Russia was behind an attack on a German airport last week with a drone laden with explosives, US media have reported, as Berlin remained silent on the likely culprit.
Last week’s security emergency prompted the interior minister, Alexander Dobrindt, to break off his summer holiday in Italy and rush to the scene in the eastern city of Leipzig, as he spoke of a “new level of danger” for Germany.
Dobrindt called the incident, in which a quadcopter with semtex plastic explosives attached was found next to a Ukrainian cargo plane at the major shipping and military hub, part of a “professional hybrid threat scenario” by a well-equipped foreign actor.
In a sparsely furnished four-room apartment on the 18th floor of 9a Hrushevskoho Street, Kyiv, several well-connected businessmen are discussing deals involving some of Ukraine’s most powerful politicians and officials. Meanwhile, anti-corruption investigators are listening in via a concealed bug. The contents of the 1,000 hours of conversation that they record are shocking. They reveal large-scale war profiteering among President Zelensky’s inner circle. In one case concerning the state nuclear company, Energoatom, contractors were forced to pay an extra 10-15 percent in kickbacks in order to avoid contracts being blocked or canceled.
Nearly 16,000 foreign volunteers from at least 72 countries are currently serving in Ukraine’s Defence Forces, Ukraine’s Military Ombudsman Olha Reshetilova has said, Euractiv reports.
Speaking at a meeting with the heads of Ukraine’s foreign diplomatic missions, Reshetilova said that almost 40% of those volunteers come from Latin American countries.
She said the government is working to establish mechanisms to safeguard the rights and legitimate interests of foreign servicemen throughout their military service.
The armed drone found at Leipzig airport on Wednesday may not have exploded, but the fact that it got inside the perimeter, close to Ukrainian cargo planes, raises obvious concerns for the security of international aviation.
Though the identity of the culprits is unknown, the initial evidence points firmly towards a Russian-orchestrated plot. It is the first time that a drone with explosives has been found in Europe far from the Ukrainian border.
More … Germany news: Search for second drone after Leipzig incident
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has shared a video on social media of a drone hunting down a man in southern Ukraine, saying it showed an instance of a Russian “safari” attack against civilians.
The video shows the drone pursuing a street vendor on a city street in the Kherson region. The man moves away from the drone hovering above, before it chases him as he runs around a white van. Eventually, the drone swoops down on him and explodes on impact.
The man escaped with multiple shrapnel wounds, concussion and trauma, a doctor said.
Human Safari in Kherson
Russian troops practice controlling FPV drones on Ukrainian civilians.
Footage filmed today shows a Russian drone deliberately hunting a vegetable seller who clasps his hands in a pleading gesture.
Fortunately, the man survived but sustained injuries. pic.twitter.com/uPIhZCHdp0
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) August 4, 2026
Ukrainian soldiers fighting on the front lines of Russia’s war are now testing curved body armour designed specifically for women so they’re better protected against bullets, shrapnel and drone strikes.
Ukrainian MP Iryna Nykorak said the majority of the more than 10,000 women serving in combat in her country are wearing ballistic plates for men that are too bulky, heavy and don’t fit their chests. Some decide not to wear the plate at all, which makes it useless, she said.
Female Friendly Body Armour was approved for use in the Ukraine army in 2023, why are we reinventing the wheel?
Someone’s gettin paid?
A recent Ukrainian strike on an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea has drawn concerns that Russia’s war in Ukraine and the war in Iran are becoming entangled.
Ukraine has said the ship was carrying military equipment from Iran to Russia. Iranian state media, citing Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, reported that the cargo vessel “Anna” was anchored approximately 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the entrance of the Volga River when it was attacked by drones causing an explosion. One sailor was reported killed.
Iran summoned Ukraine’s charge d’affaires and described the incident as an act of aggression.
A U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon approaches a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker for refueling while patrolling the Middle East. The P-8 is a specialized reconnaissance aircraft that is among the many assets monitoring regional waters during America's blockade against Iran. As of July… pic.twitter.com/5LJGLApwWR
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 30, 2026
Donald Trump has backed off a promise to let Ukraine manufacture its own Patriot air defense interceptors, telling reporters that handing over the underlying technology was “a hard thing to give away” during a cabinet meeting at Camp David.
The retreat, billed by the White House as “something different” for the cabinet to experience together, was the first such meeting at the presidential compound of Trump’s second term.
Donald Trump hosted back-to-back White House meetings with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, as Ukraine seeks more firepower for its air defenses and the Israeli prime minister tries to repair his strained relationship with the US president.
It was Netanyahu’s first visit to the Oval Office since he and Trump launched their joint military campaign against Iran on 28 February.
Netanyahu’s relationship with Trump has been complicated in recent weeks by his push to keep fighting Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon, even as Trump pursued a diplomatic opening with Tehran.
Laura Loomer, the online Maga provocateur, has never worked in the White House or anywhere else in the government, but her sudden conversion to the Ukrainian cause this week is significant because her social media posts often have real policy implications in the second Trump administration.
The rightwing commentator has spent the last few days in Kyiv, where she announced a newfound sympathy for Ukraine in its long war with Russia, and admitted that she had previously fallen for Russian propaganda.
Mykhailo Drapatyi became widely known in Ukraine when his armoured vehicle was the first to crash through pro-Russian barricades in the city of Mariupol in 2014. Yesterday, he was made commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, replacing the unpopular Oleksandr Syrskyi after a week of protests calling for his removal.
Ukraine’s allies have hailed the move as good news, putting a talented military professional in charge of the war effort and proving the continued vibrancy of Ukraine’s democracy. Look more closely, however, and this narrative is nothing but a spin job. Instead, Kyiv’s latest saga points to a country that is increasingly consumed by political dysfunction as it tries to distract audiences at home and abroad from its military struggles.
