
Ukraine's military says it downed 50 Russian drones, attacked big oil refinery
Military and civilian authorities did not immediately report casualties or damages.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia had used 1,250 aerial bombs, over 750 attack drones and more than 20 missiles to attack Ukraine over the past week.
Advertisement · Scroll to continue
Report this ad
"Only determination can stop such terrorists. We are constantly working with our partners to strengthen our defense capabilities and to reduce Russia's ability to terrorize Ukraine," Zelenskiy said on Telegram messenger.
"Long-range capabilities are crucial. Sanctions are essential. Lowering the price of oil is important. The key is to act in unity and protect lives with resolve," he added.
Kyiv's general staff said on Sunday its forces attacked Russia's Ryazan oil refinery again last night and explosions and fire were reported in the target area.
"The Ryazan Oil Refinery is one of the four largest refineries in the Russian Federation," it said on Telegram.
Russia's Defence Ministry said on Sunday that its air defence systems destroyed 15 Ukrainian drones over Russia and two sea drones in the Black Sea.
It said eight drones were downed over the Ryazan region, six drones were destroyed in the Kursk region and one drone was hit over the Belgorod region overnight.
Ryazan governor Pavel Malkov said on Sunday there were no casualties in the latest drone attacks but authorities were still estimating the damage.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Reuters
3 minutes ago
- Reuters
US soybean farmers urge Trump to make purchase deal with China
WASHINGTON, Aug 19 (Reuters) - U.S. soybean farmers urged President Donald Trump in a Tuesday letter to reach a trade deal with China that secures significant soybean purchase agreements, warning of dire long-term economic outcomes if the country continues to shun the U.S. crop. China, the world's largest soybean buyer, is turning to Brazilian cargoes amid trade tensions with the U.S. and ongoing negotiations. The country has not pre-purchased soybeans from the upcoming U.S. harvest, an unusual delay that has worried traders and farmers. "Soybean farmers are under extreme financial stress. Prices continue to drop and at the same time our farmers are paying significantly more for inputs and equipment. U.S. soybean farmers cannot survive a prolonged trade dispute with our largest customer," said the letter sent from the American Soybean Association to Trump on Tuesday. China's turn to Brazilian soybeans could cost U.S. farmers billions. China bought 54% of U.S. soybean exports in the 2023-2024 marketing year, worth $13.2 billion, according to the ASA. The country's soybean imports hit a record July high this year. Soybean prices jumped after an August 11 post from Trump on Truth Social urging China to quadruple its soybean purchases. However, farmers said they doubted such a large increase was possible. "The further into the autumn we get without reaching an agreement with China on soybeans, the worse the impacts will be on U.S. soybean farmers," said the letter. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


Metro
32 minutes ago
- Metro
Trump may think he's the ultimate salesman
Yesterday, Volodymyr Zelensky turned up to the White House in a black suit and a spine of steel. In a meeting with European leaders and President Trump, he showed more poise and patience than most leaders manage in peacetime, let alone in his position. The valiant leader had already been publicly humiliated in the Oval Office earlier this year, but still kept his cool while Trump did what Trump does in Washington. But let's be clear about what it was. For all of the Ukrainian leader's flattery (with non-stop 'thank yous' and a letter from his wife to the First Lady) and Europe's strongly worded statements, the day amounted to a full-court press to push Ukraine into a meeting with Putin and a deal that, while not explicitly spelled out yesterday, would almost certainly see land handed to Russia. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Craig Munro breaks down Westminster chaos into easy to follow insight, walking you through what the latest policies mean to you. Sent every Wednesday. Sign up here. It is not good enough – and it's time for the UK and our allies to say so. Trump floated another call with Putin and teased a three-way sit-down. European leaders were marched in like human guardrails – having initially been kept outside by the petulant President. The optics were polite; the ask was not. The pressure is still coming from Trump for Ukraine to engage with Putin, who should be required to give up any hopes of 'land swaps' before talks begin. Otherwise, that is not peace. That is defeat with nicer lighting. Hours before the handshakes yesterday, Russian strikes killed families in Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia. You do not reward that with a pen stroke that amputates a sovereign country. Do you think Ukraine should give up land to Russia? You make the next strike less likely by raising the cost of aggression until Moscow cannot pay it. That is the job. Everything else is theatre. There is no world in which Putin settles for parcels of land. Give him paper and he will eat it. Give him land and he will ask for more. We already knew Trump was delusional – he underlined it by claiming Putin wants to make a deal to make the US President happy. That level of misconception inspires no confidence in any future summitry. Trump says he has since begun the arrangements for a meeting between Putin and Zelensky, then a trilateral with himself. Fine – wars end when enemies meet. But the self-styled salesman is still flogging a shortcut to peace that does not exist. Meanwhile, Europe turned up in force – Starmer, Macron, Merz, Meloni, Stubb, von der Leyen, Rutte – and that matters, for now. Keir Starmer, who has led our country's support for Ukraine with clarity and confidence, said there was 'real progress' and a 'real sense of unity' yesterday. Great. But that has been the case since Day One. The presence of Starmer, Macron and co is useful only if they say the quiet part out loud, in front of the cameras and behind closed doors: there will be no deal that gives Russia an inch of Ukraine. They need to say cleanly, publicly, repeatedly: If the price of Trump's 'reasonable chance' of peace is Ukrainian territory, the answer is no. Forget flattering Trump. Box him in. Give Ukraine what they need to shut down the sky – layered air defence, ammunition without drama, long-range strikes to put Russian logistics at risk every night. Seize frozen Russian sovereign assets and wire them to Ukrainian air defence and reconstruction. That is what 'security guarantees' actually mean. Anything less is a press release. And finally, cut the coyness about how this ends. It ends when Russia leaves. All of it. That is the baseline, not the maximalist position. The only negotiation is about sequencing and verification, not whether Ukraine keeps its territory like a contestant keeps a prize. If Moscow wants a photo-op to claim victory at home, fine – give them a nothingburger with an embossed seal. But give Ukraine the protection. That is the bargain – optics for them, outcomes for us. As practically every leader has said, yesterday was a 'good step forward.' But now go and read the casualty sheets. Watch the footage from Kharkiv. Count the children abducted, the cities utterly cratered and the power grids attacked as winter approaches. Ukraine is holding. Their resistance has been heroic and their people have more courage than the rest of us combined. Our job now is to make sure they can hold until Russia understands there is no profit in continuing. Then, we – as in Ukraine, Europe and the US – must take back Ukrainian land and rebuild it. Yesterday's test was not whether Zelensky smiled in a suit. It is whether Europe and the United States can say, in public, that territorial concessions are off the table. There is only one way wars like this ever end: when the aggressor is forced to accept what he cannot change. If yesterday's Washington show delivers that, good. But the signs are bleak. More Trending Trump values theatre above all else, and Ukrainians have buried too many of their people to be cast in another play. This has gone on long enough – and the message from yesterday should have been that this is Putin's last chance to back down. If not, it's up to all us together – Britain, Europe and America – to secure Ukraine's victory. And it'll take more than suits and smiles to make that happen. Do you have a story you'd like to share? Get in touch by emailing Share your views in the comments below. MORE: Lisa Nandy's 'protect the dolls' T-shirt left a sour taste in my mouth MORE: Fact check: Donald Trump boasts he's ended 'six wars in six months' but has he? MORE: Russian troops troll Zelensky by flying US flag on mission into Ukraine


Metro
an hour ago
- Metro
What could happen if Zelensky and Putin actually meet?
Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine have stalled, but there are hopes the two countries could soon sit down and discuss matters face to face. Yesterday's meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump at the White House was hailed as making 'real progress'. But the elephant in the room is a potential faceoff between Vladimir Putin and Zelensky. The pair last met in person in 2019, speaking about how to stop fighting in eastern Ukraine, where Russian troops had been trying to take land since 2014. Putin and Zelensky met in Paris, but the meeting didn't lead to any long-term peace in the regions. The stakes have never been higher after Russia illegally invaded Ukraine in February 2022, sparking a war which has killed more than 70,000 Ukrainian civilians. If the meeting comes to fruition, body language expert Judi James said the interaction could play out like a long-awaited boxing match. Zelensky and Putin's last face-to-face meeting in 2019 showed two very different leaders from the ones we know today. Judi James told Metro: 'Zelensky was a fresh-faced, slim, youthful-looking man back then, in his suit and tie, and there was a series of body language rituals that made him look like the nervous and amenable junior at the table. 'Zelensky is now a changed man. He looks like a sturdy wartime leader now with his more muscular build and his warrior stance. His terrible spat with Vance and Trump showed he is no longer in a 'compliant youth' role. He was not intimidated by Trump, although this week showed he is able to play the game in terms of diplomacy.' Ian Garner, Assistant Professor at the Pilecki Institute in Warsaw, specialises in Russian war studies. He told Metro that anything is possible, but a potential meeting between Zelensky and Putin would face hurdles before ever coming to fruition. He said: 'The Europeans, in particular, would want to be present so that they can keep pushing forward the idea that Russia is the aggressor in the war and that Russia has to make concessions, as well as Ukraine.' James said if Putin and Zelensky do meet in the coming months, they would have 'invisible armies of war dead behind them'. She explained: 'From the 'ring walk' to the face-to-face poses and the handshake that will be a symbolic 'touching of the gloves', this meeting is therefore likely to have a similar body language format as a boxing match, although hopefully with no prolonged stare-off.' But the man who has the most influence in the negotiations – Donald Trump – will also likely want to be at the centre of attention in the discussions, Garner adds. Keir Giles, a Russia expert at Chatham House, told Metro: 'Speculation about the possibility of the two meeting is just another example of how media reporting and the statements of European leaders are very different from expert assessments of what is actually realistic. 'Nobody who has been listening to Putin and watching the course of the war anticipates that a meeting between him and Zelensky is realistic unless pressure is brought by Trump on Putin in a manner that has not been seen to date.' If the meeting happens, Giles thinks it will take place at the White House, according to Trump's claims. 'But Putin has been reluctant to meet Zelensky and legitimise his presidency. However, if it were to happen, then Putin would find Zelensky a much tougher customer than Trump. 'Putin would find that he is unable to intimidate Zelensky in the same way that he has other leaders. And he has limited negotiating space to try to get his way with Zelensky because his armed forces have already spent years trying to destroy Ukraine and failing.' The conversation between Putin and Zelensky would be interesting to watch, Garner said, mainly because Putin is not a confrontational leader. 'He will stick to his script. Even if the script bears no relationship with reality, he's very level-headed, and he's very cold. When he speaks in Russian, he speaks with this incredibly even pace. That's how he engages with world leaders; that's how he's always done his negotiations,' he said. Zelensky, however, is a bit more of a 'chameleon'. Garner explained: 'He's a performer in the sense that he usually tries to shift the way he behaves based on what his audience wants most. I do think he made a mistake in the Oval Office back in February with that big blow-up confrontation, and he knows that he made that mistake. 'Look at the way that he behaved with Trump yesterday. During a future meeting with Putin, Zelensky would be very well prepared. He will have his script. But I wouldn't be surprised to see him throw a couple of jabs at Putin.' Judi James said: 'One of the most important factors of this meeting will be the staging and the choreography. Putin needs to not look like a superior senior as he did in Paris. 'Someone, possibly Trump, needs to be an immaculate and inclusive host. Every gesture from the host needs to be impartial. Last time they had a round table, but seemed to play it by ear from there, but this meeting will need a top-level psychologist to apply some forensic analysis of layout, seating, positioning of furniture and the photographers. 'Last time Zelensky sat with his back to the press and had to turn for an unserious-looking photo. Given the history of Putin and Zelensky, though, plus Putin's skills at subtle body language power-play, someone needs to be able to spot the subtlest of signals and cope with tensions and tricks before they destroy any hair-fine balance.' Besides the obvious – a ceasefire – land is the main focus of chats between Russia and Ukraine. Garner explains: 'We know what Putin wants, and we know what Putin won't give up, and that's the land. And I'd be astonished if he makes any really meaningful security guarantees to Ukraine or permits America to make meaningful security guarantees to Ukraine, but Zelensky might be a little bit more flexible. More Trending 'The reason is that Zelensky, unlike Putin, is not a dictator. He's a democratic leader, and what he brings to the negotiating table will be closer to what at least a broad section of the Ukrainian population wants.' A potential ceasefire, which could involve security guarantees from Western powers, such as NATO, will be unlikely, Garner says. 'It's hard to see Putin agreeing to anything that would involve any foreign troops in Ukraine. The more weapons, the less likely that Putin will agree to it.' Giles agrees: 'We've already seen that even though the objectives of the two sides are completely incompatible and there's no room for agreement, there are other aspects of the war where it is valuable to have face-to-face talks, such as, for example, prisoner exchanges.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Five key takeaways from Zelensky's crunch talks with Donald Trump at the White House MORE: Fact check: Donald Trump boasts he's ended 'six wars in six months' but has he? MORE: Russian troops troll Zelensky by flying US flag on mission into Ukraine