Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky mocks Putin’s reliance on North Korea after deadly strike deep inside Russia
Volodymyr Zelensky has mocked Vladimir Putin for his reliance on ally North Korea, saying Russia is no longer capable of waging its war on Ukraine alone. In his nightly video address, Zelensky said Russia was preparing to deploy an additional North Korean contingent on its territory and has also received additional ballistic missiles from North Korea. “For the first time in its history, Russia cannot wage war without reinforcements from North Korea,” he said. He also issued a warning to countries in Asia, saying North Korea will present a “greater danger” to Japan, South Korea and the Philippines as it gains military experience, correcting any shortcomings in the process. On Monday, a Ukrainian drone attack hit targets over 600 miles deep inside Russia. The strikes hit both industrial and civilian infrastructure in the city of Nizhnekamsk and the Taneco oil refinery in the Tatarstan region. At least 13 people, including seven Uzbek citizens and one child, were killed in the attacks. A period of mourning has been declared in the region, according to the mayor of Nizhnekamsk, Radmir Belayev, in a post on Telegram. More than 300 places of detention identified in Russia and occupied Ukrainian territory, official says Oleg Gushin of the Ukrainian government's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said Ukrainian prisoners were “killed and tortured” in detention during the UN Security Council meeting. He said Kyiv had identified “more than 300 places of detention” in Russia and occupied Ukrainian territory and that while more than 9,000 Ukrainians had been returned through exchanges, “thousands” remained in Russian captivity. First-hand testimonies were heard from former prisoners of war held by Russia. A Ukrainian with a Cuban father, he said guards targeted him particularly because of his Latino name, accusing him of being "a mercenary and an American spy.” Crimean Tatar activist Leniie Umerova, released in a prisoner exchange in 2024, said she was detained while trying to visit her seriously ill father in Crimea. She described being moved through “seven detention facilities” in what she called “a carousel of repression” and accused Russia of using torture against Ukrainians in captivity. Shweta Sharma11 August 2026 09:00Former Ukrainian detainees speak of systematic torture and sexual abuse in Russian prisons Former Ukrainian detainees and Ukrainian officials accused Russia on Monday of systematically torturing prisoners of war and civilian detainees, holding captives incommunicado and subjecting them to beatings, electric shocks and sexual abuse, with thousands still in captivity. Russia rejected the allegations made at an informal UN Security Council meeting, with its deputy UN representative Maria Zabolotskaya calling it “a disinformation campaign” and alleging that Russian prisoners in Ukraine were subjected to “torture and degradation and moral and physical abuse.” Khuan Alberto Levya Garsiya, still an active member of the Ukrainian military, said his Russian captors subjected him to every imaginable form of torture during 1,183 days in captivity. "Yes ... I was tortured," he told reporters after the UN meeting. "Anything you can think of that can be done hurtful, humiliating to a man, unwillingly. Anything that comes to your mind, not only verbal, physical abuse, daily beatings, electrocution, excessive, excessive exercises in freezing cold when it's minus degrees ... sexual abuse. Everything that can be applied to a person into making a person break mentally. It was all applied to me and most of my comrades." Ukraine's deputy UN Ambassador Volodymyr Pavlichenko (AFP/Getty) Garsiya said he was lucky to survive but two of his friends were beaten to death in detention centres in the Donetsk region. Prisoners were held in “overcrowded barracks without adequate conditions,” where “almost all POWs were ill with dysentery” and many were starving, he told the UN meeting. Ukraine's chargé d'affaires Volodymyr Pavlichenko called for greater international pressure and accountability for Russia's treatment of prisoners. Shweta Sharma11 August 2026 08:30Ukrainian central bank issues biggest currency liberalisation since 2022 invasion Ukraine's central bank has announced the country’s biggest currency liberalisation measures since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 in an effort to boost business and investor confidence. The regulations, issued late in the evening on Monday, provide significant increases in allowances in purchases of foreign currency and withdrawals from Ukrainian bank accounts. The monthly amount permitted for purchasing non-cash currency and investments, bank metals and foreign securities was increased fourfold from 50,000 to 200,000 Ukrainian hryvnias ($4,450). The daily limit for cash withdrawals from accounts in Ukraine and abroad was doubled to 200,000 hryvnias. And the monthly limit for transactions from cards denominated in hryvnias was raised to 200,000 hryvnias. "The package for easing currency restrictions includes a strong component that makes life easier for Ukrainians abroad and expands opportunities for citizens living in Ukraine," the central bank said in a statement. The bank said the measures "will not create risks for the stability of the currency market, given the established conditions and careful analysis of each individual measure". The measures, it said, had "already been taken into account in the NBU's updated macroeconomic forecast, which predicts that international reserves will grow to nearly $70bn by 2026". Shweta Sharma11 August 2026 08:10Russia says it struck military factories and warehouses in Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia Russia's defence ministry said on Tuesday that its forces had carried out overnight strikes on defence industry facilities and transport and logistics centres in the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia. Ukrainian officials said the attacks had killed five people and injured 20 in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia and had triggered fires in Kyiv, the capital. Both sides deny deliberately targeting civilians. The Russian defence ministry said it had also intercepted or destroyed 396 Ukrainian drones over 15 regions overnight. Shweta Sharma11 August 2026 07:45Australia uncovers network supplying missile and fighter jet parts to Russia Austria's intelligence agency has uncovered an international network circumventing EU sanctions against Russia's cruise missile and fighter jet programmes, the country's interior ministry said. “It is unacceptable that highly precise European technology is being channelled into the production of cruise missiles and air defence systems. We will continue to take decisive action, with full international cooperation, against those actors who attempt to circumvent legal prohibitions to support the Russian arms industry,” Austrian state secretary Jorg Leichtfried said. The ministry said an Australian shell company had been established to export sanctioned defence equipment to Russia for use in cruise missiles and fighter jets. The products were exported through intermediary countries, including Belarus, Hong Kong, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Poland, South Korea, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. “Using forged end-user certificates, European manufacturers were misled into believing the goods would remain in third countries. In reality, they were destined for companies affiliated with the Russian state-owned conglomerate Rostec,” Austria's interior ministry said. Shweta Sharma11 August 2026 07:33Seven Uzbek citizens killed in drone attack on Russia's Tatarstan region, consulate says Seven Uzbek citizens were killed in a drone attack in Russia's Tatarstan region on Monday, the Uzbek consulate in Kazan said. The consulate did not immediately provide further details about the victims. They were among 13 people, including a child, killed in a Ukrainian drone attack on industrial and civilian targets in the city of Nizhnekamsk in Tatarstan region, some 680 miles from the border with Ukraine. It was one of Ukraine's deadliest and deepest strikes inside Russia. Between two and three million citizens of Uzbekistan, Central Asia's most populous country, work in Russia, with the Uzbek economy partly based on remittances from migrants. Uzbekistan has struck a diplomatic balance on the war in Ukraine, maintaining close ties with Russia while also stressing support for Ukraine's territorial integrity. Shweta Sharma11 August 2026 07:01Drone attack kills one in Russia's Voronezh region A drone attack killed one person and injured two others in Russia's Voronezh region overnight, while falling debris triggered fires at warehouse facilities, Alexander Gusev, the regional governor, said on Tuesday. Russia's air defence units destroyed 15 drones over the city of Voronezh and five districts of the region, Gusev said on Telegram. "A drone crash caused fires at two warehouses of a large company. At one facility, the fire has been contained to an area of 16,000 square meters, while at the other, a blaze covering 20,000 square meters is being extinguished. Emergency services are on scene," the governor said. He did not identify the company whose warehouses were affected. Earlier on Tuesday, Russian online retailer Wildberries said its logistics facilities in the Voronezh region had been evacuated in accordance with safety requirements. Shweta Sharma11 August 2026 06:31Pictures show massive fire and damaged buildings in Zaporizhzhia Five people were killed and 20 were injured after a Russian attack in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia early on Tuesday. Zaporizhzhia regional governor Ivan Fedorov said Russian troops deployed missiles and aerial bombs on the city. Pictures showed buildings and vehicles ablaze. Air raid alerts were sounded in both Zaporizhzhia and in Kyiv. Shweta Sharma11 August 2026 06:30Zelensky says Russia cannot wage war without North Korea's help Volodymyr Zelensky has mocked Vladimir Putin for his reliance on ally North Korea, saying that: "For the first time in its history, Russia cannot wage war without reinforcements from North Korea." He said Russia was preparing to deploy an additional North Korean contingent on its territory and has also received additional ballistic missiles from North Korea. “Everyone around the world must understand what this means. This is not only about the lives of people in Ukraine, and not only about the threats we face,” he said in his nightly address. “North Korea’s ballistic missiles and other weapons are being improved through its collaboration with Russia.” He also issued a warning to countries in Asia, saying North Korea will present a “greater danger” to Japan, South Korea and Philippines as it gains military experience, correcting any shortcomings in the process. “That is why, when we speak about the need for joint action, for coordination and mutual support, when we speak about the need to help us strengthen our air defence, we are also, in fact, speaking about taking away North Korea’s appetite and any interest in coming here – to our land and into our skies – with its weapons in order to learn how to wage war,” he said. Shweta Sharma11 August 2026 05:42Ukrainian MiG-29 aircraft lost after catching fire A Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jet caught fire and was lost during a combat mission, with the pilot ejecting safely, the Ukrainian Air Force said on Monday. A statement on the Telegram messaging app said the pilot was targeting Russian positions while in the southern region of Odesa. "According to preliminary data, during the launch of a missile, an emergency situation occurred, causing the plane to catch fire and the pilot to lose control, even though he tried to save the aircraft," the statement said. The Air Force said the pilot ejected safely and was transported to a hospital. The cause of the crash was under investigation. Shweta Sharma11 August 2026 05:30
