
Ukraine says Russian drone attack kills boy, two adults in Sumy
"The strike took the lives of people from different families," the administration said on the Telegram messaging app. "They all lived on the same street. They went to sleep in their homes. But Russian drones interrupted their sleep - forever."
The full scale of the overnight attack on the region was not immediately clear.
Reuters could not independently verify the report. There was no immediate comment from Russia. Both sides deny targeting civilians in their attacks, but thousands of civilians have died in the war that Russia started with the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Hashtags

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


Reuters
13 minutes ago
- Reuters
Lukoil's Volgograd refinery halts oil processing after drone attacks, sources say
MOSCOW, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Russian oil giant Lukoil's ( opens new tab Volgograd refinery has been shut down after being hit by drone attacks, two sources familiar with the matter said on Monday. Ukraine intensified drone attacks on Russian oil facilities last week, targeting major refineries and oil depots mainly in southern and central Russia daily ahead of a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to the market sources, the Volgograd refinery was attacked by drones on August 13 and suspended oil processing at crude distillation unit CDU-5, which has a capacity of 9,110 metric tons per day. The next drone attack on August 14 damaged two other crude distillation units - CDU-1, with a capacity of 18,590 tons per day, and CDU-6, with a capacity of 14,570 tons per day, the sources added. Lukoil did not reply to a Reuters request for a comment. A fire at the oil refinery was extinguished on August 14, local authorities said on Thursday evening. Oil processing at the Volgograd refinery has been halted at least until the middle of September, the sources said. In 2024 the Volgograd refinery processed 13.7 million metric tons of oil, or 5.1% of the total volume at Russian refineries.


Telegraph
27 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Ukraine's new Flamingo heavy missile could finally bring the war to Putin
As the premiers gather in Washington and the exhausted armies struggle on the front line, Ukraine has brought out another new weapon – a cruise missile reportedly dubbed the 'Flamingo', which might finally give Kyiv the reach and striking power to carry the war deep into Russia's heartland. Pictures of the Flamingo were released yesterday by Associated Press photojournalist Efrem Lukatsky, who is Ukrainian, along with the assertion that the missile is in series production by the company Fire Point. The Flamingo appears to be closely modelled on the FP-5 design exhibited by Milanion, a UAE-headquartered defence contractor which has supplied the Ukrainian forces before and which often sets up local manufacturing of its products in customer nations. If the Flamingo is indeed FP-5 based it is a cruise missile: essentially an unmanned jet aeroplane which flies to its target at high subsonic speeds. The Flamingo is a big beast, with a six-metre wingspan and weighing in at six tonnes including a one tonne warhead. With a reported range of 3,000km it could strike anywhere in central Russia – easily reaching Moscow or St Petersburg, or even some distance into Siberia. Vladimir Putin's continued hold on power has been enabled in significant part by the fact that he has been able to shield the more privileged Russians – often residents of Moscow and St Petersburg – from the worst impacts of the war. The soldiers being killed and injured in such huge numbers on the Ukrainian lines have often been Tatars, Chechens or other non-Russian ethnic groups from poor rural areas – or outright foreigners from North Korea and other places. The use of conscripts in combat has mostly been avoided, and only small numbers of relatively low-powered Ukrainian drones have struck Moscow, with the main effect being disrupted flights. The Flamingo could potentially change that, and visit the same sort of destruction on Putin's core cities as Russian weapons have on those of Ukraine. Blowing up civilians on purpose is a war crime, but there would doubtless be plenty of genuine military targets to be found. The trouble is that the Flamingo, as a cruise missile, is essentially just a faster drone. Like all drones it will be relatively easy to shoot down, and Russian air defences – particularly those of Moscow – are formidable. To defeat them, the Ukrainians will need to send in large numbers of Flamingos, accompanied by as many decoys as possible. To be realistic and convince the Russians, the decoys will need to be fast and jet-powered as much as possible. The main known example of a fast, jet-powered decoy is the American-made Miniature Air-Launched Decoy (MALD), which Ukraine can launch from its Mig-29 Soviet-era fighters or its Western supplied F-16s. The MALD has 900km plus range, and so could reach Moscow. If the Ukrainians can muster enough Flamingos, MALDs, other drones and electronic warfare assets – and perhaps ease their path with other ploys such as special-ops raids against Russian air-defence radars – they may be able to strike deep and carry the war to Putin's privileged elite. The history of the war so far is a testament to Ukrainian aggression and ingenuity. And if the pampered Muscovites start to suffer, Putin's support base may weaken. Many commentators remember how the end of the Soviet regime's war in Afghanistan was hastened by the organised, grieving mothers of the fallen, and have been puzzled that no such movement has emerged in response to Putin's hugely bloodier war in Ukraine. But that's a lot of 'ifs', and it would be bold to say the Flamingo alone could change the course of the war. It's really more significant as an example of Ukraine building its own high-technology weapons, not needing them to be donated by other nations, and not needing to use low-tech workarounds like the petrol-engined propellor drones which have managed to hit Moscow in small numbers in the past. When Ukraine can send out hundreds of Flamingos and locally-made MALDs, backed by modern electronic warfare assets in numbers – and decent numbers of hard-to-stop ballistic weapons – then things will look very different. The war is changing for the better. The question is, is it changing fast enough?


The Guardian
30 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Zelenskyy's European ‘bodyguards': which leaders will join Trump talks in Washington?
European leaders arrive in Washington on Monday before Volodymyr Zelenskyy's meeting with Donald Trump in the Oval Office, in a show of support for the Ukrainian president. It comes amid expectations that Trump will try to bully Zelenskyy into accepting a pro-Russia 'peace plan' that would include Kyiv handing territory to Moscow. The Europeans have been described as Zelenskyy's 'bodyguards', with memories fresh of the mauling he received in February during his last Oval Office visit. So, who are they? Secretary general of Nato Rutte has a proven record of flattering Trump for strategic purposes, using language that some allies find cringe-making. In June he referred to the capricious US president as 'Daddy' in an attempt to avoid disastrous outbursts at the Nato summit. Rutte has repeatedly praised Trump in public, including in a recent interview on Fox News, and credits him for pushing Nato members to spend 3.5% of their GDP on defence. The US had carried the burden of European security for too long, Rutte has said – music to Trump's ears. President of the European Commission Von der Leyen is a staunch supporter of Ukraine who backs Kyiv's EU membership. For Trump, she is a reminder of Europe's combined importance as an economic bloc. The US struck a trade deal with the EU three weeks ago, and Trump hailed the relationship as 'the biggest trading partnership in the world'. On Sunday she hosted Zelenskyy in Brussels. She said a post-peace-deal Ukraine had to become 'a steel porcupine, indigestible for potential invaders', with no limits on its armed forces. UK prime minister Starmer has performed a balancing act when it comes to Trump, keeping him on side while advocating for Ukraine. So far, this tactic has worked. The US president has gone out of his way to emphasise their good relations, despite Starmer's 'liberal' outlook. Both men have an incentive to preserve this rapport ahead of Trump's state visit next month to the UK. Meanwhile, Starmer and Zelenskyy have developed a warm personal relationship, hugging in February outside Downing Street after Zelenskyy's previous, disastrous Oval Office meeting, and again last week. The prime minister stresses territorial integrity, which contradicts Trump's 'peace deal' that involves Russia taking more Ukrainian land. President of Finland Stubb represents a small European state but he will be in Washington because he has managed to establish an unexpectedly warm relationship with Trump. The Finnish leader cultivated his access to the US president by hastily polishing his rusty golfing skills before an impromptu trip to Florida in March for a round with Trump, on the recommendation of the Republican senator Lindsey Graham. Stubb's message on the putting green: you can't trust Vladimir Putin. Finland sees parallels between Ukraine's plight and its own history, the Soviet Union having invaded in 1939, saying it needed Finnish territory. French president Macron combines French economic and military clout with a proven ability to get on with Trump, symbolised by their intense handshakes. In the lead-up to Russia's 2022 invasion, Macron flew to Paris to reason with Putin. He has since become a key diplomatic ally for Ukraine. Asked on Sunday whether Putin wanted a genuine peace deal, Macron replied: 'No.' He said Ukraine needed a strong army and security guarantees if a lasting settlement was to be achieved. The French president will want to persuade Trump that his post-Alaska-summit plan to stop the fighting is a non-starter, and against Ukraine and Europe's long-term security interests. German president Merz has cut a sure-footed figure on the world stage since taking office in May, including largely holding his own in an Oval Office face-off with Trump over the summer. He has emerged as a crucial partner for Zelenskyy, who was often frustrated with Merz's slow-moving predecessor, Olaf Scholz. Berlin has clout as one pillar of the French-German axis at the heart of the EU. It is also a major financial donor to Kyiv. Merz's task in the Oval Office is to persuade Trump not to act hastily and 'over the heads of Ukrainians and Europeans', as he put it last week. Prime minister of Italy Meloni has broken off from her holiday to fly to Washington, a sign that Trump's Russia-friendly 'peace plan' marks a moment of danger for Europe. She will be a useful bridge in the Oval Office meeting, as a European far-right leader whom Trump counts as a friend. Meloni has spent time at Mar-a-Lago, the US president's Florida home, and was the only European leader invited to his inauguration in January. At the same time, she strongly supports Kyiv's sovereignty. In July she hosted a Ukraine recovery conference in Rome, designed to help the country rebuild when Russia's war finally ends.