… Zelensky said Ukraine had struck an oil depot, as well as a tanker and four cargo ships of the Russian shadow fleet in the waters of the Sea of Azov and Black Sea. …
… Russian attacks on cargo ships in the Black Sea have also increased. Sunday’s attack on the Guinea-Bissau-flagged Golden Leo ship was the deadliest of its kind. …
… Ukraine’s drone force commander Robert Brovdi, also known as Magyar, says at least 25 ships have been hit and set on fire over the past four days in the Sea of Azov, the inland sea linked to the Black Sea by the Kerch Strait. …
… After four-and-a-half years of war the fighting on the front line has mostly stalled, the Black Sea is at a standstill, and Ukraine has by and large learned to counter the hundreds of drones Russia fires at it on a nightly basis. …
… The drone attacks added to the woes on the Black Sea peninsula, where Russian authorities have had to suspend gasoline sales to civilians as Ukraine has intensified its recent campaign to disrupt supply lines and the electrical grid at the height of the summer tourist season. …
Overnight missile attacks across central and eastern Ukraine have killed at least 15 people, including in strikes on residential buildings in Pryluky, Kyiv, Dnipro, Kremenchuk, Zaporizhzhia and Oleksandriya. President Zelensky described the bombardment, involving 70 missiles, as one of Russia's "most vile" attacks and said Ukraine had responded with strikes on targets in Russia's Perm, Samara and Astrakhan regions.
Overnight missile attacks across central and eastern Ukraine have killed at least 15 people, including in strikes on residential buildings in Pryluky, Kyiv, Dnipro, Kremenchuk, Zaporizhzhia and Oleksandriya. President Zelensky described the bombardment, involving 70 missiles, as one of Russia's "most vile" attacks and said Ukraine had responded with strikes on targets in Russia's Perm, Samara and Astrakhan regions.
A civilian cargo ship, the Alfa Watan, has sunk and its crew is missing after being attacked by air and sea drones in the Black Sea off Bulgaria's coast. A second vessel, the Able, carrying grain was also hit; its 18 crew members were rescued by Bulgarian sailors.
Vladimir Putin said Russia will use all weapons at its disposal if Kaliningrad comes under direct attack, insisting Moscow is responding to Western statements about preparing for war in 2029 or 2030. Russia has accused NATO of preparing to blockade the Baltic exclave, warning it would use nuclear weapons if the West cut off Kaliningrad from the rest of Russia.
Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul called on Russia to abandon its "dangerous path of escalation" during talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the UN General Assembly in New York on Saturday — the first such meeting since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Tensions have worsened following a disputed drone incident at a German airport last month, which Berlin blamed on Russia.
AGRA's Food Security Monitor report says food prices in Ghana remained largely stable in August 2026 compared to July, with rice and sorghum prices unchanged while white maize prices increased 8.9% month-on-month. Year-on-year, rice and white maize prices are significantly lower than a year earlier, reflecting improved supply conditions.
Fitch Solutions warns that El Niño conditions coinciding with Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire's October-December cocoa crop development period could reduce yields through lower rainfall and higher temperatures, weighing on export earnings, government revenues and rural incomes. The firm also flags food security risks as rice imports account for substantial consumption in both countries (Côte d'Ivoire 49%, Ghana 47%), exposing them to El Niño-driven tightening in global rice supplies.
Ukraine celebrates its 35th independence anniversary on 24 August, marking a generation that has never known foreign rule. The article reflects on Ukraine's long historical struggle for statehood against absorption into foreign empires, including centuries of attempted cultural erasure and forced incorporation into the Russian/Soviet empire.
Ukrainian missile strikes on Russia's Belgorod region killed six people and injured four overnight, according to the acting governor, including a 14-year-old child. Ukraine also reported two people killed in Russian drone strikes on the Sumy region.
Ukraine launched a drone and missile attack on Russia's Novorossiysk port, damaging grain export terminals and striking the Black Sea fleet's main base; three people, including an eight-year-old child, were killed and 24 injured. The Russian agriculture ministry said it was redirecting cargo to ports in the Baltic and Caspian Seas and land routes.
At least three people, including a child, were killed in overnight Russian missile attacks east of Kyiv on Saturday, with falling debris damaging buildings and cars and fires breaking out at multiple locations. Three others were wounded, and President Zelensky arrived in Belgrade for his first visit to build wider support for Ukraine amid concerns about depleting interceptor stockpiles.
Russia attacked Ukraine overnight with ballistic missiles and drones, killing at least 17 people and injuring at least 45 in strikes on Kyiv and the capital region. President Zelensky said interceptor delays from allies led to "horrific casualties and destruction," noting that supply of anti-ballistic systems had been "significantly reduced" this year and no missiles were intercepted in the attack.
A drone struck a busy beach in Russia's Krasnodar region, killing seven people including three children and injuring 40 others, according to regional authorities. The governor blamed Ukraine for a deliberate strike on civilians; Ukraine has not commented, and eyewitnesses report conflicting details about whether air defences fired on the drone before impact.
Ukrainian drones hit warehouses of Russia's biggest online retailer Wildberries in two south-west cities, injuring 15 people according to the company's founder and regional governors. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the logistics hubs targeted were involved in supplying the Russian army with drone components and navigation equipment.
Russian cruise missiles struck a Guinea-Bissau-flagged cargo ship off Odesa on Sunday, killing nine crew members and one pilot in what was the deadliest such attack to date. The attack reflects intensified Russian strikes on merchant vessels that sustain Ukraine's maritime export corridor, which accounts for over two-thirds of Ukrainian agricultural exports.
Three people were killed in a Russian attack on the Black Sea port of Odesa, the fifth consecutive day of strikes on the region. Russia said it targeted port infrastructure for petroleum and oil unloading; Ukraine's Odesa governor accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians and residential buildings.
Ukraine's military has intensified attacks on maritime supply routes near Russian-annexed Crimea, with its drone force commander reporting at least 25 ships hit and set on fire over four days in the Sea of Azov. The strikes are part of Ukraine's "logistics lockdown" campaign aimed at choking off supplies to occupied Crimea and disrupting Russia's fuel supplies.
US President Donald Trump offered Ukraine the right to produce Patriot interceptor missiles during a NATO summit in Ankara, saying they could be produced quickly once explained. Ukraine has requested licensed production as it faces increased Russian ballistic missile strikes, though the US has acknowledged limited supplies of the expensive systems.
Russian forces launched what Kyiv's mayor described as the "most massive attack" on the Ukrainian capital, deploying the largest number of weapons and hitting a wide area, killing at least 18 people and injuring around 90. Moscow said it hit military plants in retaliation for attacks on Russian civilian infrastructure, while Ukraine accused Russia of deliberately targeting residential areas and civilians.
Ukraine said its forces struck a railway bridge, power plant, and other infrastructure in Crimea as part of a campaign to isolate the Russian-held peninsula, disrupting supply lines and the electrical grid; Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhalo Fedorov said the forces are "isolating Crimea with drones" and predicted it could "become an island."
Russia says Ukraine launched an "unprecedented attack" on St Petersburg and surrounding areas during an economic forum, with over 140 drones shot down; Ukraine's President Zelensky said his forces targeted Russian arsenals and a naval base in Kronstadt as a response to Russian attacks.
Russia's Victory Day parade in Moscow on 9 May will be scaled back this year because of what the Kremlin calls a "terrorist threat" from Ukraine. The annual commemorations of Soviet victory in World War Two will not feature military vehicles or cadets due to the "current operational situation," though the parade will still be held on Red Square.
Ukraine's drone commander tells the BBC that deep strikes on Russian territory, targeting oil export facilities and troops, will escalate. President Zelensky describes such attacks as "very painful" to Moscow, causing "critical" losses running to tens of billions of dollars in its energy sector.