Ukraine’s president made the stark warning that a new surge of Russia troops could join the war in the coming months
24 August 2026
Dozens killed after Russian drone strike on busy shopping mall in Zelensky’s hometown
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Vladimir Putin intends to draft 300,000 new troops to join the war from next month in a bid to seize territory.
Zelensky said that the Russian leader would start the drive after elections in September, for Moscow’s key goal of capturing the rest of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.
In other comments on Sunday, the Ukrainian leader claimed that holding a wartime election would “destroy” the country by splitting its citizens.
He was responding to calls from his former Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov for the country to go to the polls despite the ongoing conflict with Russia.
Meanwhile, Putin has pulled Russia’s ambassador from London, accusing Britain of taking the “path of confrontation”, as relations between the two countries continue to deteriorate.
Andrey Kelin, who served as the Russian ambassador to the UK for over seven years, vacated his post last month.
UK prime minister Andy Burnham said the country is continuing to “support Ukraine 100 per cent” after Moscow threatened consequences for the reported use of British drones for strikes deep into Russia.
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KEY POINTS
- Wartime election would ‘destroy’ Ukraine, Zelensky says
- Putin will draft 300,000 new troops after September elections, Zelensky says
- Putin pulls ambassador from London amid fears of breakdown in diplomatic relations
- Ukraine retaliates for Russia’s ‘double-tap’ strike on shopping mall
- Zelensky says Ukraine not behind Nord Stream blasts and are cooperating with probe
Russian attack kills three near Ukraine’s Kharkiv
A Russian attack on the outskirts of Kharkiv in Ukraine’s northeast killed three people, the regional governor said late last night.
Emergency services have rescued and evacuated eight people, some of whom were injured, governor Oleh Syniehubov said, adding the search was ongoing to identify any other possible casualties.
Russia’s Ozon says Dagestan logistics hub on fire after drone attack
A logistics centre belonging to Russian online retailer Ozon is on fire in Makhachkala in Dagestan following a drone attack this morning, the company said.
Ozon has also temporarily shut down two warehouses in the nearby regions of Stavropol and Adygeya in the North Caucasus amid a drone attack alert, it said, though they were not damaged.
Zelensky says Ukraine not behind Nord Stream blasts and cooperating with probe
Ukraine played no role in blowing up the Nord Stream gas pipelines and is cooperating with an investigation into the matter, president Volodymyr Zelenksy said on Sunday.
“Ukraine has never officially taken part in any operations regarding the blowing up of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline,” he told reporters in Kyiv.
The Nord Stream 1 and 2 natural gas pipelines between Russia and Germany were damaged in explosions in September 2022, and two Ukrainian suspects are currently in custody on suspicion of involvement.
Norway announces £6.69bn for Ukraine in 2027
Norway plans to give another 85bn Norwegian crowns (£6.69bn) in financial support to Ukraine in the 2027 fiscal year, in line with the amount given in 2026, the Nordic country’s government said in a statement on Sunday.
Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Stoere and leaders from across the Nordic and Baltic region visited Kyiv on Sunday in a show of support for Ukraine in the war with Russia.
Norway’s donation will be for both military and humanitarian spending, Stoere was quoted as saying in the text of a speech released by the government in Oslo.
“Supporting and rebuilding Ukraine is not assistance alone. It is an investment in Europe’s own security,” Stoere said.
Separately, Finland and Ukraine have signed a letter of intent on manufacturing and developing unmanned systems in Finland and memorandum of understanding for a joint venture to produce uncrewed surface vessels, among other documents, Zelensky’s office said on X.
PM Burnham to visit Ukraine with plan to support long-range missile production
Prime minister Andy Burnham will visit Ukraine today on his first overseas trip since taking office, and will announce British support to help Kyiv improve its domestic production of long-range missiles.
Burnham will be in Ukraine to co-chair a meeting of the so-called Coalition of the Willing, a group of countries backing Ukraine.
He is also due to meet Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. He is set to announce that Britain has agreed to allow European missile manufacturer MBDA to release classified information on British-made components used in the SCALP long-range cruise missile, according to his office.
That will help enable France and Ukraine to establish local assembly lines for the missile, which shares British and French technology, according to Downing Street.
“Ukraine’s security is our security,” Burnham said in a statement, adding that Britain would stand by Ukraine “for as long as it takes”.
Andy Burnham to double down on support for Ukraine in first foreign trip to Kyiv
The prime minister is to chair his first meeting of the coalition of the willing as he arrives in Kyiv on Monday
Two children killed as drone attack hits logistics hub in Krasnodar
At least two children were killed and another nine people, including seven children, were injured after drone debris hit a private childcare centre in southern Russia’s Krasnodar overnight, governor Veniamin Kondratyev said.
Debris fell on apartment buildings and warehouses caught fire in Krasnodar, Kondratyev said.
The attack caused a fire at a logistics hub of Russian online retailer Ozon, the company said on Telegram.
In Russia’s Nevinnomysk, a chemical production area in the Stavropol region next to Krasnodar, a drone attack on an industrial area was repelled, governor Vladimir Vladimirov said on Telegram in the early hours this morning.
North Korea preparing further troop deployments in Ukraine war but no sign move imminent, says South Korea
North Korea is continuing preparations for an additional troop deployment to Russia, but had detected no signs that such a deployment was imminent, the South Korean defence ministry has said.
The ministry told lawmaker Yu Yong-weon that North Korea had continued to supply Russia with weapons systems, including short-range ballistic missiles, according to Yu’s office.
The lawmaker’s office, citing a South Korean Defence Intelligence Agency assessment, said North Korean missiles used in the war may have improved in accuracy through battlefield data, alongside Russian technical advice and component support.
The ministry also said the development of some North Korean ballistic missiles and multiple rocket launchers assessed as being intended for use in a conflict with South Korea was nearing completion.
North Korea is also estimated to have supplied Russia with more than 15 million rounds of artillery ammunition, measured in 152-millimetre shell equivalents.
Just last week, North Korea’s Kim Yo Jong, sister of leader Kim Jong Un, rejected Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s claim that Pyongyang planned to send up to 50,000 more troops to Russia to fight for its ally.
Recap: Zelensky vows revenge after Russian double-tap strike on shopping mall in his hometown kills 16
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to retaliate after a double-tap drone strike on his hometown killed 16 people.
Rescuers are still searching for survivors in the wreckage of a shopping mall in Kryvyi Rih, which was hit twice by Russia on Friday.
More than 130 people were wounded in the daytime attack carried out in two waves, with the second strike targeting emergency workers at the scene of the first.
Zelensky called the attacks an “act of barbarism”, claiming the “absolutely cynical and despicable” second strike was a deliberate attempt to target emergency services.
You can read more below:
Zelensky vows revenge after Russian attack on shopping mall in his hometown kills 16
Search for survivors continues with nine people still missing following two strikes on a shopping centre in Kryvyi Rih
Andy already handed the Storm Shadow blueprints to Zel, so for his coming visit he may have something else lined up.
The second biggest army in Europe, behind Ukraine, is that of Poland, which has 220,000.
Yet the tiny cocksucker is able to produce 300,000 to add to his already 1.2m strong army of vermin.
The U.K. man for man is as good as any, but numerically not even big enough to defend our 8000 miles of coastline, let alone provide an expeditionary force.
We ended WW2 with 3 million men under arms. Instead of maintaining that, we slashed it. We now spend £300 billion on fucking benefits; more than three times what we spend on the military.
This is simply stupid and wrong.
Blogger Brendochka has an interesting vignette about Medvedev. The pic she uses really looks like a couple of sick fucking nazi queers :
They certainly look like Nazi fags and they ARE Nazi fags.