Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky claims Putin is drafting 300,000 troops and gives warning on wartime elections

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Vladimir Putin intends to draft 300,000 new troops to join the war from next month in a bid to seize territory. Zelensky said that the Russian leader would start the drive after elections in September, for Moscow’s key goal of capturing the rest of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. In other comments on Sunday, the Ukrainian leader claimed that holding a wartime election would “destroy” the country by splitting its citizens. He was responding to calls from his former Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov for the country to go to the polls despite the ongoing conflict with Russia. Meanwhile, Putin has pulled Russia’s ambassador from London, accusing Britain of taking the “path of confrontation”, as relations between the two countries continue to deteriorate. Andrey Kelin, who served as the Russian ambassador to the UK for over seven years, vacated his post last month. UK prime minister Andy Burnham said the country is continuing to “support Ukraine 100 per cent” after Moscow threatened consequences for the reported use of British drones for strikes deep into Russia.Two children killed as drone attack hits logistics hub in Krasnodar At least two children were killed and another nine people, including seven children, were injured after drone debris hit a private childcare centre in ⁠southern Russia’s Krasnodar overnight, governor Veniamin Kondratyev said. Debris fell on ‌apartment buildings and warehouses caught fire in Krasnodar, Kondratyev said. The attack ‌caused a fire at a ‌logistics hub of Russian online retailer Ozon, the company said on Telegram. In Russia's Nevinnomysk, a chemical production area in ⁠the Stavropol region next to Krasnodar, a drone attack on an industrial area was repelled, governor Vladimir Vladimirov said on Telegram in the early hours this morning. Arpan Rai24 August 2026 03:59North Korea preparing further troop deployments in Ukraine war but no sign move imminent, says South Korea North Korea is continuing preparations for an additional troop deployment to Russia, but had detected no signs that such a deployment was imminent, the South Korean defence ministry has said. The ministry told lawmaker Yu Yong-weon that North Korea had continued to supply Russia with weapons systems, including short-range ballistic missiles, according to Yu's office. The lawmaker's office, citing a South Korean Defence Intelligence Agency assessment, said North Korean missiles used in the war may have improved in accuracy through battlefield data, alongside Russian technical advice and component support. The ministry also said the development of some North Korean ballistic missiles and multiple rocket launchers assessed as being intended for use in a conflict with South Korea was nearing completion. North Korea is also estimated to ‌have supplied Russia with more than 15 million ‌rounds of artillery ammunition, measured in 152-millimetre shell equivalents. Just last week, North Korea's ​Kim ⁠Yo Jong, sister of leader Kim Jong Un, rejected Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky's claim that Pyongyang planned to send up ⁠to 50,000 more troops to Russia to fight for its ally. Arpan Rai24 August 2026 03:55Recap: Zelensky vows revenge after Russian double-tap strike on shopping mall in his hometown kills 16 Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to retaliate after a double-tap drone strike on his hometown killed 16 people. Rescuers are still searching for survivors in the wreckage of a shopping mall in Kryvyi Rih, which was hit twice by Russia on Friday. More than 130 people were wounded in the daytime attack carried out in two waves, with the second strike targeting emergency workers at the scene of the first. Zelensky called the attacks an “act of barbarism”, claiming the “absolutely cynical and despicable” second strike was a deliberate attempt to target emergency services. You can