Russia’s top commander says his troops are 4 kilometres from Ukrainian fortress city of Sloviansk
Russia’s top military officer Valery Gerasimov has said that his forces are just four kilometres (2.49 miles) from the eastern outskirts of the Ukrainian fortress city of Sloviansk.
The chief of Russia’s General Staff, made the comments in a video released by the Defence Ministry on Thursday.
President Vladimir Putin has made clear Moscow wants to control the fortress.
The Independent could not immediately verify the claim.
Maira Butt27 August 2026 09:30
Russia launches missiles and drones at Ukraine, authorities say
Russia has launched an overnight barrage of missiles and drones at Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and other cities in an overnight attack on Thursday, Ukrainian authorities said.
Ukraine’s air force said the barrage included two Oniks anti-ship cruise missiles, 258 drones, and an unspecified number of ballistic missiles.
The air force said that nearly 90 per cent of the drones were downed, as well as one Oniks and seven ballistic missiles.
Maira Butt27 August 2026 09:10
CIA director warned Russia against Nato attack, say sources
CIA director John Ratcliffe warned Russia against an attack on a Nato member, sources familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal and Politico.
Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that US intelligence assessments had indicated that Putin could test Nato’s resolve with a limited assault on an allied country over the coming years.
Several possible scenarios had been posited from cyber-attacks to a small-scale land incursion, according to the report.
Maira Butt27 August 2026 08:45
Kremlin promises ‘harsh’ retaliation against Ukraine for energy attacks
The Kremlin said on Thursday that Russia has no need to escalate in Ukraine as its troops are already advancing there.
It added that Russia’s response to Ukrainian strikes on Russia’s economic and trade infrastructure will be “harsh”, according to TASS.
Maira Butt27 August 2026 08:16
Trump says ‘something may come out of’ CIA director’s Russia visit
Donald Trump has said “something may come out of” the CIA director John Ratcliffe’s visit to Moscow on Tuesday.
The US is “working very hard” to end the war in Ukraine, he said.
“We would like to see the Ukraine war end.”
Answering a question on Ratcliffe’s visit to Russia, Trump said that the CIA director made a visit to Russia on a “very semi-routine” basis.
“Something may come out of it,” Trump said, calling Ratcliffe a “fantastic guy”.
Arpan Rai27 August 2026 07:45
Russia’s Ozon says two logistics hubs were attacked by drones
Russian online retailer Ozon said two of its logistics facilities in Ufa and Orenburg had been attacked by drones.
No fires broke out at either site as a result of the attacks, and the facility in Orenburg has already resumed operations.
Arpan Rai27 August 2026 07:15
Ukraine deploys prominent commanders to lead defence of Donetsk
Volodymyr Zelensky has appointed two of Ukraine’s most prominent commanders to oversee the defence of the country’s eastern strongholds, as Kyiv struggles to beat back a Russian onslaught on a region at the centre of stalled peace talks.
Visiting the frontline with his new top general, Zelensky said Third Army Corps leader Andrii Biletskyi and Denys Prokopenko, commander of the First Corps Azov, will head new groupings aimed at strengthening defences around Donetsk.
Both men represent a new generation of experienced field commanders and currently lead what are seen as some of Kyiv’s most capable and best-trained forces.
Both their corps are already involved in defending that part of the front, and the commanders have been praised for their combat efficiency and planning.
Arpan Rai27 August 2026 06:48
EU states revive plan to use frozen Russian assets for Ukraine, FT reports
EU countries, including Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland, are urging Brussels to revive efforts to use immobilised Russian sovereign assets to fund Ukraine, the Financial Times reported today.
A letter from a coalition of states to the European Commission will call on the EU’s executive to restart work on plans to fund Ukraine using Russian central bank assets, the FT reported, citing four people briefed on the document.
Arpan Rai27 August 2026 06:10
Watch: US military transport plane lands in Moscow with no explanation from Kremlin or TrumpUS military transport plane lands in Moscow with no explanation from Kremlin or Trump
Arpan Rai27 August 2026 05:48
Putin weighs stepping up strikes on Kyiv with talks at dead end
Russia is considering stepping up its ballistic missile strikes on Kyiv, including targets in the city centre, and on critical infrastructure elsewhere in Ukraine after concluding that efforts to negotiate a peace deal have reached a dead end, said three people close to the Kremlin.
Speaking to Bloomberg, they said negotiation frameworks had effectively collapsed, while president Vladimir Putin remained unlikely to end the war in response to sanctions or Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries and logistics networks.
Arpan Rai27 August 2026 05:18