Russia Launches Massive Strikes 9 Ukrainian Cities Overnight

No respite for Ukrainians as Russia bombarded cities across Ukraine with missiles and drones in an overnight onslaught that continued into dawn on Thursday, August 27, when explosions echoed around Kyiv through the morning.

Ukrainian officials say Russia builds up missile stocks and launches major attacks every few days, hoping to exhaust Ukrainian defenses through the sheer weight of numbers. In response, Ukraine has hit high-profile targets on Russian soil as the countries inflict mutual destruction.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy regularly notifies the country about impending waves of Russian aerial assaults mostly against civilian targets such as apartment buildings, infrastructure, stores and public transportation.

Ukraine is desperately short of US-made Patriot air defense missiles that can counter Russia’s ballistic missiles, and Moscow’s fast-flying jet-powered drones have brought another challenge since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022.

The Russian Defense Ministry admitted its forces carried out a “massive” strike on targets in nine Ukrainian cities that began after nightfall on Wednesday. Civilian areas, including apartment buildings, suffered damage. The barrage killed a 78-year-old woman in the southern Zaporizhzhia region and another person in the northern Kharkiv region, with at least 14 people reported wounded elsewhere, Ukrainian officials said.

“Russia continues to invest in missiles and in expanding its war, and that means more countermeasures are needed,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media, noting promises earlier this week by European countries to provide more air defense assistance.

“It is important that these (measures) are also supplemented by additional ballistic missile defense packages” through European purchases of weapons from the United States, he said.

Russia is determined to hurt Ukrainian businesses and damage the country’s economy through attacks on private enterprise after Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes caused financial difficulties for Moscow.

Russian drones hit three major distribution centers, destroying depots belonging to a toy store chain and a confectionery company, and damaging another run by an electronics retailer, the companies said.

In addition, Moscow continued its efforts to wreck the Ukrainian power grid before the freezing winter weather, which could begin as early as November 1.

Four powerful glide bombs destroyed generating equipment at the southern Kherson region’s combined heat and power plant, forcing it to shut down, its operator Naftogaz said.

Russia’s War against Ukraine Sounds like Science Fiction: Death Takes no Vacation

Death and mayhem do not take a vacation during the Russian war against Ukraine.

AI killing machines, drone strikes against a passenger train, and other attacks on Ukraine spread terror and fear among the people. But resilience and belief in victory don’t diminish.

A Russian jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicle – a drone – struck the locomotive of passenger train No. 147 Zhytomyr-Odesa in Odesa Oblast. Passengers and railway staff were evacuated in time.

This is not the first time that the Russians have hit a commuter train.

Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, Chairman of the Board of Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukrainian Railways), said Ukrzaliznytsia’s monitoring team announced the evacuation in advance, and the train was urgently stopped between stations. No passengers or members of the train and locomotive crews were injured in the attack, he said. There were 593 passengers on the train, including 15 children.

That was no small consolation for the passengers – especially the parents of the children – who had to contend with the sound of unexpected explosions. Imagine boarding a train or bus in the morning for your trip to work or school and a drone strikes your mode of transportation.

A Russian drone guided completely by AI killed three Ukrainian civilians.

On July 6, Tetiana Bubynets, a 19-year-old accounting student, was sheltering near a gasoline station in Zaporizhzhia when a Russian drone crashed into a wall and detonated. No human operator reportedly issued the final strike command. The drone chose its target autonomously. According to Kateryna Bondar of the Wadhwani AI Center at CSIS, this is the first documented case in the Russia-Ukraine war where civilians were killed by a fully autonomous AI targeting system.

The hardware at the center of it: an Nvidia Jetson Orin minicomputer that was repurposed for war. A widely available AI chip — sold legally around the world — was recovered from the wreckage of a Russian strike drone.

The Jetson Orin is an off-the-shelf AI computer chip, the kind of board used in university robotics labs and computer vision projects. Ukrainian investigators recovered one from drone wreckage. Because it was not encrypted, they read everything stored on it directly: terrain imagery for visual navigation and object-detection code trained on categories like propane tanks and fuel storage.

The drone was one of roughly six launched in a wave against the city. No radio antennas connected it to a human operator. No data link existed. Every decision, from navigation to detonation, ran entirely on the onboard chip. Sounds like a movie.

That distinction matters. Earlier AI drone deployments in this war used AI only for last-mile navigation — a human still selected the target. Here, the final decision about what to hit and when was delegated entirely to the onboard model. The machine made the call.

Investigators’ findings, confirmed by Nvidia and reported by The New York Times, paint a clear picture:

Humans pre-routed the drone to the gas station; the AI autonomously chose the exact strike point.

Object-detection code targeting categories including “propane tanks” was recovered from the unencrypted module

Nvidia confirmed the module is a genuine Jetson Orin; the company says it does not sell into Russia directly, though resellers distribute it widely.

As technology advances, the aerial and ground devices will become stronger and deadlier.

Russian attacks killed at least four people and injured at least 95 across Ukraine over the past day, as Russian forces attacked rescue workers in Kramatorsk, eastern Donetsk Oblast, local authorities said on August 25-26.

Russian forces launched a double-tap attack on rescue workers who were dealing with the aftermath of a Russian strike on a nine-story residential block in Kramatorsk, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said on Telegram on August 25.

A Russian first-person view (FPV) drone struck an armored ambulance belonging to the State Emergency Service. The vehicle was damaged, but no personnel were injured, the rescuers said.

This attack marks the second incident this week in which Russian troops attacked rescue workers on duty, according to the State Emergency Service

“Despite the danger, emergency services continue to help people and deal with the aftermath of Russian strikes,” the Telegram statement read.

The attacks on Kramatorsk injured 26 people over the past day, regional governor Vadym Filashkin said on August 26. He added that 37 high-rise buildings, three educational, and one infrastructure facility were damaged – none of them sound like military installations.

Across Donetsk Oblast, one person was killed, and eight were injured.

Russian forces launched 163 drones across Ukraine overnight on August 26, the Air Force said. Ukrainian air defense downed 132 drones over the north, south, and east of the country. Some drones made it through and struck 18 locations, while the debris of downed drones was found at three locations, the report read.

In northern Chernihiv Oblast, Russian troops carried out 28 attacks over the day, killing a 39-year-old woman and her four-year-old daughter with a drone and injuring 14 others in the region, governor Viacheslav Chaus said on Aug. 26.

In southern Kherson Oblast, Russian attacks in the region killed one person and injured 12 others, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.

In northeastern Kharkiv Oblast, over the past day, 23 people were injured, including two children, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said.

In southeastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast, nine people were injured by Russian attacks, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said. Russian forces carried out 935 attacks on 47 settlements in Zaporizhzhia Oblast over the past day, Fedorov said.

Russian attacks on Dnipropetrovsk Oblast injured six people over the past day, Governor Oleksandr Hanzha reported, according to the reports published on August 25 and 26.

July of 2026 saw the most civilians killed or injured in Ukraine since March 2022, according to the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU). At least 437 civilians in Ukraine were killed and 2,610 injured in July alone, the monitoring group said on Aug. 13. This represents a 30% increase from June, which previously held the record for the deadliest month since April 2022.

Ukrainian civilian casualties in July 2026 were 70% higher than in July the previous year, while casualties among children also rose to their highest level since April 2022, with 17 children killed and 166 injured. 

Committed to Developing Strong Ties Between Kyiv and Warsaw

After a few tense weeks between Kyiv and Warsaw regarding common historical events from World War II, an exchange of letters on Ukrainian Independence Day put aside the differences for the benefit of both countries’ future.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked his Polish counterpart Karol Nawrocki on August 26 for his letter marking Ukraine's Independence Day. Zelenskyy expressed particular gratitude for Nawrocki's wish for Ukraine to prevail in the war. He added that Ukrainians will always remember Poland's support and its open hearts and doors since the first days of Russia’s full-scale invasion, according to Ukrainian Pravda (Truth).

“We are committed to developing ties between our two strong nations – with respect and truthfulness toward the past, a clear-eyed approach toward present threats, and optimism for our shared future in the EU and NATO,” the Ukrainian president wrote.

Zelenskyy also publicized Nawrocki’s letter, in which the Polish president wished Ukraine success in restoring its territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.

In the letter, Nawrocki noted that Poland had been the first country in the world to recognize Ukraine’s independence, describing this as an expression of respect for the Ukrainian people's aspirations for freedom. He added that the decision had been an invitation to build good-neighborly relations in the region based on mutual respect.

“Although many bilateral issues have been resolved since then and others require more time and goodwill, the fact remains unchanged that we are and will remain neighbors,” Nawrocki said.

Nawrocki also said he hopes that Ukraine’s military personnel and civilians who demonstrate their love for their homeland every day of the war would find their deserved place in Ukrainian history, inspiring future generations and demonstrating the true meaning of patriotism and heroism.

Russian plan to instill dissonance between Ukraine and Poland goes down the drain.

Young Ukrainian Female Athlete Shows ‘True Grit’

Kate Koval, a student and basketball player at Louisiana State University, has left the LSU women’s basketball program for “personal reasons,” coach Kim Mulkey announced on Monday night. She was expected to be the starting center for the Tigers this upcoming season, but the Ukrainian-born player is leaving shortly after the program signed Russian freshman Anna Minaeva.

Koval’s father, Oleksandr, is a drone operator for the Ukrainian military.

“Kate came to see me on Sunday and told me that after much consideration, she will be leaving the program for personal reasons,” Mulkey said, according to nola.com. “We will respect her privacy on her decision, but we had a long talk about it, and it was a hard decision for her. I know it is hard because she loves LSU. Kate is a great person. She has to do what she feels is right for her, and we fully support her in that. We all wish her the best.”

Mulkey has been aware of how personal the situation is for Koval. Last year, the coach said the team had changed the name of their “Russian Rebounding Drill” to the “Ukraine Rebounding Drill” after a request from Koval.

While Mulkey did not confirm whether or not adding the Russian-born Minaeva was the reason for Koval’s departure, the coach knew this could be an uncomfortable situation. Before LSU started recruiting Minaeva, Mulkey said she had a conversation with Koval about it.

“I want you to understand I'm not here to ask you to change how you feel about Russia,” Mulkey recalls telling Koval, per Nola.com. “I'm just here out of respect for your family and out of respect for you to let you know. Because I know how personal it is for you. Know that what I have to do in this business, I cannot make a decision to not recruit somebody that can help our program because of a conflict between two countries.”

Nola.com said LSU associate head coach Bob Starkey also sat down with Koval before recruiting Minaeva.

Reportedly, Mulkey hoped Koval and Minaeva could be "ambassadors" for kindship and suggested that “you never know” perhaps the two players as teammates could help end the war.

“And she just kind of smiled and said, ‘I doubt that,’” Mulkey recounted.

Three Cheers, Kate! Тричі слава, Катя! 

European Coalition of the Willing to Meet in Kyiv on Independence Day

A meeting of more than  30 countries that are among Ukraine’s strongest supporters via the Coalition of the Willing is set to take place in Kyiv on August 24 — Ukrainian Independence Day.

It is highly significant that these European national leaders chose the date that signals the re-establishment of Ukraine’s independence for such a multilateral meeting at a time when Moscow is threatening its existence.

Several leaders are attending in person, one person familiar with the matter, and one EU official confirmed to the Kyiv Independent.

The meeting will take place on Ukraine's Independence Day and will be the third time the grouping has met in Kyiv since it was established by France and the U.K. in March 2025, with the aim of agreeing on security guarantees for a post-ceasefire Ukraine.

Alongside President Volodymyr Zelensky, leaders expected to join in person include European Council President Antonio Costa, alongside the President of Finland Alexander Stubb, and Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden, the person familiar with the meeting told the Kyiv Independent.

Costa's plan to attend in person was confirmed separately by an EU official on the condition of anonymity.

The meetings of the Coalition of the Willing always take place in a hybrid format, and it is expected that the majority will participate online.

It will also be the first meeting of the group since its British co-chair, Prime Minister Andy Burnham, took office on July 20. Were he to attend in person, it would also be his first trip to Ukraine since becoming Prime Minister.

At the group's last meeting, on July 13 in France, Poland announced it would hold Coalition of the Willing military drills sometime in the autumn.

The aim of those drills is for the group to be ready to deliver on its pledge to deploy a so-called reassurance force in Ukraine once a ceasefire is achieved, reinforcing the country's security on land, in the air, and at sea.

EU Official Condemns Russian Strike on Kryvyi Rih; Calls it ‘Terror by Design’

Kaja Kallas, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has strongly condemned the Russian strike on Kryvyi Rih on August 20, which killed at least 16 people.

Kallas, a strong advocate for Ukraine, on X (Twitter), as reported by European Pravda, said the attack had demonstrated the “absolute and utter depravity of Moscow's war.”

“This is terror by design. Russia wants to make Ukrainian cities unliveable,” she declared.

Kallas recalled that she had proposed the "most far-reaching Russia sanctions listings" since the beginning of the full-scale war.

She said pressure must continue to increase until Moscow ends the war.

“EU Foreign and Defence Ministers will discuss how to expand our support for Ukraine, including air and missile defence, when they meet in less than two weeks in Dublin,” she said.

Russian forces hit a shopping centre in Kryvyi Rih with an attack drone on August 20-21, sparking a large fire.

The Russians later launched a second strike with a jet-powered drone while emergency services and rescue workers were already working at the site.

Russian Daytime Strike against Ukraine Kills 15

Russians launched today a rare but nonetheless deadly airborne strike against several Ukrainian cities.

Ukrainian officials and military command have cited a critical shortage of Western-supplied air defense interceptors as a primary factor allowing high-velocity missile and drone waves to slip through to civilian infrastructure.

The primary daytime attack targeted Kryvyi Rih, as well as daytime strikes in Kyiv and southern regions like Mykolaiv.

Kryvyi Rih Daytime Attack: Russian jet-powered strike drones targeted the city's largest shopping complex during busy daytime hours.

Double-Tap Strategy: About half an hour after the initial hit set the mall ablaze, a second drone strike targeted the exact location, directly striking emergency crews and first responders who had arrived at the scene.

At least 15 people were killed and over 130 wounded, including 22 children. Dozens remain in serious condition.

Kyiv & Regional Daytime Strikes Capital Disruptions:

The attack follows a massive combined overnight and daytime barrage on Kyiv using ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones. Sporadic daytime drone waves triggered prolonged air alerts throughout the day.

Infrastructure Targeted:

A critical infrastructure facility in Kyiv was damaged during daytime strikes, threatening hot water supplies in parts of the Desnianskyi and Dniprovskyi districts. Major food distribution warehouses were also hit in what appears to be a sustained tactic targeting logistical food supply chains.

Mykolaiv: A separate daytime drone strike in the southern region killed four civilians, including three children.

American elected officials must heed pleas of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and provide Ukraine with all of the missiles, drones and weapons it needs to subdue Russia.