Aug 5, 2026, 05:30 AM UTC

Overnight Russian air strikes killed at least 15 people in and around Kyiv, local authorities reported on Wednesday morning, marking one of the heaviest bombardments on the Ukrainian capital in recent months. The strikes caused multiple explosions around midnight and set fire to commercial warehouses.

The attack follows ongoing Russian bombardments across southern and eastern Ukraine, including guided bomb strikes in Sumy that killed three civilians, among them two children, and drone attacks in Mykolaiv that damaged two civilian vessels.

Amid increasing Black Sea drone activity, Turkey urged Moscow and Kyiv to guarantee maritime navigation safety after two commercial ships were damaged near Novorossiysk. On the front line, Ukrainian Special Operations Forces reported capturing two Russian soldiers without firing a shot.

Sources: Adevărul, Digi24, HotNews, Moldova1, Ziarul de Gardă

Iran briefly prepared military strikes against three targets in Ukraine following an alleged maritime attack on an Iranian merchant vessel in the Caspian Sea, according to Mohsen Rezaei, a senior adviser to Iran's supreme leader. Rezaei stated during a television broadcast that the planned retaliatory action was canceled after Ukrainian officials reached out to provide explanations regarding the incident.

In a separate development, Ukraine's ambassador to the United Kingdom, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, cautioned that NATO is significantly behind Russia in modern drone capabilities. Zaluzhnyi stated the alliance relies on outdated strategies and estimated it would take NATO roughly 12 years to reach half of Russia's drone potential. Meanwhile, security analysts continue to highlight the growing cooperation between Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea as a major security challenge for Western nations.

Sources: Liga net, NEXTA, NV, Radio Svoboda, Ukrainska Pravda

Ukraine's General Staff reported targeted strikes on key Russian infrastructure and military assets, including a Federal Security Service (FSB) deployment site in Kherson Oblast, a road bridge in Kursk Oblast, and a railway bridge in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Concurrently, Ukrainian Special Operations Forces captured two Russian soldiers during a covert action.

In Kherson Oblast, local police released footage showing a 52-year-old civilian vendor surviving what authorities described as a targeted Russian drone attack. Meanwhile, Ukrainian soldiers captured during the Kursk offensive are reportedly being charged with terrorism by Russian authorities, bypassing standard prisoner-of-war protections under international law.

Sources: Liga net, NV, Радіо Свобода, Українська правда