Ukrainian officials are seeking approval to use Starlink-equipped drones against ballistic missile launchers, according to a report.
The war-hit nation will need approval from Starlink chief Elon Musk, the FT reported. The world's richest man has offered to help Ukraine but also made comments critical of the country.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky urged Donald Trump and other American officials to facilitate Ukraine's access to Elon Musk's Starlink satellite communications system for guiding strikes within Russian territory.
Kyiv is looking for alternative strategies to reduce its reliance on US Patriot air defence systems, crucial for countering Russia's relentless missile and drone assaults but in short supply amid the US's own war on Iran.
Meanwhile Romania scrambled F-16 fighter jets yesterday to destroy a suspected Russian marine drone spotted a few hundred metres from a Black Sea gas project.
The country’s defence minister said that the drone was destroyed as it travelled near Neptun Deep, a critical facility that is expected to make Romania the European Union's largest gas producer when it comes on-stream in 2027.
Read MoreVladimir Putin has pushed his people to breaking point
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Putin is threatening Britain again – this time he could be cornered enough to do something reckless
Key Points
- Ukraine seeks approval to use Starlink-equipped drones against missile launchers
- Ukraine says it struck more Russian oil facilities
- Drone crashes in Romanian territory during Russian attack on Ukraine
- Ousted Ukrainian defence minister's gamble against Zelensky backfires
Putin arrests Russians for complaining about fuel shortages as fighting breaks out at petrol stations
10:30 , Arpan RaiRussian police have arrested citizens complaining of fuel shortages at the pump, as Ukraine’s drone campaign sparked fighting at petrol stations and rationing.
Moscow and its surrounding regions have been forced to reimpose purchase limits on fuel, capping sales at between 50 and 60 litres per vehicle.
As Ukraine intensifies its “deep strike” campaign, hitting another major oil refinery on Wednesday, the strain on Russia’s domestic energy grid continues to grow. Across at least 12 regions, miles of gridlocked traffic now stall forecourts, with motorists waiting up to 30 hours only to find the pumps empty.
The prolonged waits have pushed the Russian public to breaking point, with footage showing fights erupting between drivers over fuel.
Putin arrests Russians complaining about fuel shortages amid petrol station fights
Ukraine seeks approval to use Starlink-equipped drones against missile launchers
10:00 , Arpan RaiUkrainian officials are seeking approval to use Starlink-equipped drones against ballistic missile launchers, people aware of the discussion told the FT.
The war-hit nation will need approval from Starlink chief Elon Musk, who has offered to help Ukraine but also made critical comments on the country.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky urged Donald Trump and other American officials to facilitate Ukraine's access to Elon Musk's Starlink satellite communications system for guiding strikes within Russian territory.
This push for expanded Starlink capabilities emerges as Kyiv seeks alternative strategies to reduce its reliance on US Patriot air defence systems, crucial for countering Russia's relentless missile and drone assaults.
Ukraine says it struck more Russian oil facilities
09:30 , Arpan RaiUkraine’s General Staff said its forces struck two key Russian oil facilities yesterday, with both attacks starting fires.
The facilities that were hit were an oil refinery in Nizhnekamsk, in Russia’s Tatarstan region, and the Tamanneftegaz oil terminal in Volna, Krasnodar.
Ukraine has previously hit both facilities in recent months as part of its campaign to disrupt Russia’s vital oil industry.
Tatarstan leader Rustam Minnikhanov confirmed there had been a “massive attack” in the region, state news agency Tass reported, citing his press service.
Many of the drones targeted Nizhnekamsk’s Zakamsk economic area, disrupting production at industrial sites and damaging residential buildings, Tass quoted him as saying.
The Russian defence ministry said air defences shot down 726 drones on Thursday overnight over a number of Russian regions, annexed Crimea and the Black and Azov seas, in one of Ukraine's biggest aerial attacks of the war.
Zelensky repeats his appeals for more air defence
09:00 , Arpan RaiPresident Volodymyr Zelensky has pleaded for countries to send more Patriot interceptors for defence, but international stockpiles are low amid the Iran war and Kyiv's more than four-year fight against Russia.
“We need missiles for Patriots, and only our partners can provide them. We ain’t talking about gifts. Ukraine is ready to buy the weapons we need. What matters is that decisions be made, first and foremost in the US. I am grateful to everyone who is helping Ukraine save lives,” he said.
Explosions boomed across Kyiv in the dark, but the air force said hits were recorded at 28 locations across the country.
Emergency services said 15 people were killed in the capital, with another death in the wider Kyiv region. About 40 people were wounded, Zelensky said, as air raid warnings lasted until after dawn.
Russia is able to produce more than 200 cruise and ballistic missiles per month, Ukraine’s intelligence agency told news outlet Ukrainska Pravda.
It has stockpiled more than 1,100 cruise missiles and about 130 Iskander-M ballistic missiles, as well as hundreds of missiles of other types, the agency was quoted as saying.
US Army shuts down unit in Europe focused on drones
08:30 , Arpan RaiThe US Army’s top general has directed a Europe-based unit specialising in drone warfare to revert to traditional infantry roles.
The 173rd Airborne Brigade has spent over a year experimenting with drones, influenced by tactics from the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
Last November, 600 soldiers formed a battalion that specialised in drone warfare and was set up to deploy anywhere drones were required.
General Christopher LaNeve, the Army’s acting chief of staff, has ordered the battalion to refocus on its core mission of being an airborne infantry unit, according to two US officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal Army deliberations.
The move is part of broader Army changes under LaNeve, who took over after defence secretary Pete Hegseth ousted his predecessor, General Randy George, in April.
Ousted Ukrainian defence minister's gamble against Zelensky backfires as protests end
08:00 , Arpan RaiA bid by ousted Ukrainian defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov to broaden a political fight with president Volodymyr Zelensky by calling for wartime elections appears to have backfired, failing to win over protesters who had demanded his return.
Despite the protests, parliament on Wednesday approved a new defence minister chosen by Zelensky and later that day only a few dozen people remained in a central Kyiv square where thousands once joined rare wartime protests.
“When we came out to protest, we did not come with the idea that elections should be held,” 22-year-old Iryna Vasyliaka told Reuters on Wednesday. "That is not what we were here for."
Olena Prokopenko, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund, said Fedorov had been poised to cast himself as "a statesman, a politician of a new generation" after the war, but miscalculated.
“With this statement, he pretty much played on Ukrainians' most sensitive pain points," Prokopenko said.
Ukraine's neighbours are on alert as Russia expands aerial attacks
07:38 , Arpan RaiRussia's relentless onslaught has spooked other European countries, especially those bordering Ukraine, which fear spreading attacks from Moscow.
Amid a major attack on Kyiv yesterday morning, the Polish Armed Forces Operational Command activated its military aviation operations, ground-based air defence systems and radar reconnaissance. Polish and other Nato military aircraft were deployed to monitor its airspace, Polish news agency PAP reported.
Romania's defence ministry later said an unidentified drone crashed and burned in an uninhabited area near the Ukrainian border.
Two Spanish F-18 jets, deployed on a policing mission in Romania, were scrambled overnight to monitor a group of "air targets" near the border, the ministry said.
In addition, two Romanian F-16 fighter jets were deployed to destroy a naval drone seen near a major Black Sea gas project, Romania's acting defence minister Radu Miruta said.
Moldova's defence ministry also said its airspace was breached by at least one drone.
Russia "is increasingly testing the resolve of Nato and its partners, violating the sovereignty of neighboring states and deliberately expanding the risks posed by its war far beyond Ukraine," Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said on social media.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen saw a broad threat to the European Union. "An escalating campaign of threats is underway, unsettling our citizens and seeking to divide our Union," she said on X.
Russia ready for new ideas on Ukraine peace but with conditions, senior diplomat says
07:25 , Arpan RaiRussia is open to listening to new proposals on how to reach a settlement on the Ukraine conflict, a senior Russian diplomat said, but any proposals should reflect the "realities on the ground".
Deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said in an interview with media outlet News.ru published this morning that the US demonstrated a readiness for “constructive dialogue” and an "understanding of Russia's position”.
“At this stage, it is more important to what extent Washington is able to influence the decisions of the Kyiv regime and its European sponsors, who still dream of a 'strategic defeat' of Russia,” he told the outlet.
Ryabkov said Russia was ready to listen to Rubio's new ideas and continue dialogue with Washington.
“The Russian Federation is ready to listen to any reasonable proposals and ideas that are in line with the goals set by the Russian president and meet the 'realities on the ground',” he said.
Watch: Romanian F-16 destroys suspected Russian drone near Black Sea gas project
06:59 , Arpan RaiPutin arrests Russians for complaining about fuel shortages as fighting breaks out at petrol stations
06:49 , Arpan RaiRussian police have arrested citizens complaining of fuel shortages at the pump, as Ukraine’s drone campaign sparked fighting at petrol stations and rationing.
Moscow and its surrounding regions have been forced to reimpose purchase limits on fuel, capping sales at between 50 and 60 litres per vehicle.
As Ukraine intensifies its “deep strike” campaign, hitting another major oil refinery on Wednesday, the strain on Russia’s domestic energy grid continues to grow. Across at least 12 regions, miles of gridlocked traffic now stall forecourts, with motorists waiting up to 30 hours only to find the pumps empty.
Putin arrests Russians complaining about fuel shortages amid petrol station fights
Ukraine seeks approval to use Starlink-equipped drones against missile launchers
06:34 , Arpan RaiUkrainian officials are seeking approval to use Starlink-equipped drones against ballistic missile launchers, people aware of the discussion told the FT.
The war-hit nation will need approval from Starlink chief Elon Musk, who has offered to help Ukraine but also made critical comments on the country.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky urged Donald Trump and other American officials to facilitate Ukraine's access to Elon Musk's Starlink satellite communications system for guiding strikes within Russian territory.
This push for expanded Starlink capabilities emerges as Kyiv seeks alternative strategies to reduce its reliance on US Patriot air defence systems, crucial for countering Russia's relentless missile and drone assaults.
Ukraine says it struck more Russian oil facilities
05:51 , Arpan RaiUkraine’s General Staff said its forces struck two key Russian oil facilities yesterday, with both attacks starting fires.
The facilities that were hit were an oil refinery in Nizhnekamsk, in Russia’s Tatarstan region, and the Tamanneftegaz oil terminal in Volna, Krasnodar.
Ukraine has previously hit both facilities in recent months as part of its campaign to disrupt Russia’s vital oil industry.
Tatarstan leader Rustam Minnikhanov confirmed there had been a “massive attack” in the region, state news agency Tass reported, citing his press service.
Many of the drones targeted Nizhnekamsk’s Zakamsk economic area, disrupting production at industrial sites and damaging residential buildings, Tass quoted him as saying.
The Russian defence ministry said air defences shot down 726 drones on Thursday overnight over a number of Russian regions, annexed Crimea and the Black and Azov seas, in one of Ukraine's biggest aerial attacks of the war.
Watch: Zelensky urges US and allies to supply Patriot missiles after deadly Russian strike
05:27 , Arpan RaiZelensky repeats his appeals for more air defence
04:57 , Arpan RaiPresident Volodymyr Zelensky has pleaded for countries to send more Patriot interceptors for defence, but international stockpiles are low amid the Iran war and Kyiv's more than four-year fight against Russia.
“We need missiles for Patriots, and only our partners can provide them. We ain’t talking about gifts. Ukraine is ready to buy the weapons we need. What matters is that decisions be made, first and foremost in the US. I am grateful to everyone who is helping Ukraine save lives,” he said.
Explosions boomed across Kyiv in the dark, but the air force said hits were recorded at 28 locations across the country.
Emergency services said 15 people were killed in the capital, with another death in the wider Kyiv region. About 40 people were wounded, Zelensky said, as air raid warnings lasted until after dawn.
Russia is able to produce more than 200 cruise and ballistic missiles per month, Ukraine’s intelligence agency told news outlet Ukrainska Pravda.
It has stockpiled more than 1,100 cruise missiles and about 130 Iskander-M ballistic missiles, as well as hundreds of missiles of other types, the agency was quoted as saying.
US Army shuts down unit in Europe focused on drones
04:36 , Arpan RaiThe US Army’s top general has directed a Europe-based unit specialising in drone warfare to revert to traditional infantry roles.
The 173rd Airborne Brigade has spent over a year experimenting with drones, influenced by tactics from the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
Last November, 600 soldiers formed a battalion that specialised in drone warfare and was set up to deploy anywhere drones were required.
General Christopher LaNeve, the Army’s acting chief of staff, has ordered the battalion to refocus on its core mission of being an airborne infantry unit, according to two US officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal Army deliberations.
The move is part of broader Army changes under LaNeve, who took over after defence secretary Pete Hegseth ousted his predecessor, General Randy George, in April.
Ousted Ukrainian defence minister's gamble against Zelensky backfires as protests end
04:09 , Arpan RaiA bid by ousted Ukrainian defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov to broaden a political fight with president Volodymyr Zelensky by calling for wartime elections appears to have backfired, failing to win over protesters who had demanded his return.
Despite the protests, parliament on Wednesday approved a new defence minister chosen by Zelensky and later that day only a few dozen people remained in a central Kyiv square where thousands once joined rare wartime protests.
“When we came out to protest, we did not come with the idea that elections should be held,” 22-year-old Iryna Vasyliaka told Reuters on Wednesday. "That is not what we were here for."
Olena Prokopenko, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund, said Fedorov had been poised to cast himself as "a statesman, a politician of a new generation" after the war, but miscalculated.
“With this statement, he pretty much played on Ukrainians' most sensitive pain points," Prokopenko said.
Russia is losing the war it started, von der Leyen says
03:00 , Dan HaygarthRussia is losing the war it started.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) August 20, 2026
And it is retaliating by targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure.
We are working with Member States and our partners to support Ukraine’s anti-ballistic capabilities.
So that Ukraine has the means to prevent the loss of lives.
The… https://t.co/w6xphtnwMm
Comment - Putin’s empty threats to the UK are the last gasp of a dying Russia
02:00 , Dan HaygarthTime and again, we see that Moscow’s red lines are drawn in disappearing ink – if anything, we should take a warning of ‘serious consequences’ only as a sign to push things further and faster, says Bill Browder. Read below:
Putin’s empty threats to the UK are the last gasp of a dying Russia
‘Putin has repeatedly threatened the UK and Nato over Ukraine – but he is too weak to follow through’
01:00 , Dan HaygarthPutin’s posturing is a poor attempt to scare off broader Western support for Kyiv, say experts. Suha Kidwai reports. Read below.
‘Putin may threaten the UK and Nato over Ukraine – but is too weak to follow through’
Zelensky calls for missiles for Patriot interceptors
Thursday 20 August 2026 23:59 , Daniel HaygarthWe need missiles for Patriots, and only our partners can provide them. We ain’t talking about gifts. Ukraine is ready to buy the weapons we need. What matters is that decisions be made, first and foremost in the U.S. I am grateful to everyone who is helping Ukraine save lives. pic.twitter.com/OImT18CGwM
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 20, 2026
Ukraine's neighbors are on alert
Thursday 20 August 2026 23:00 , Dan HaygarthRussia's relentless onslaught has spooked other European countries, especially those bordering Ukraine, which fear spreading attacks from Moscow.
Amid the attack on Kyiv, the Polish Armed Forces Operational Command activated its military aviation operations, ground-based air defence systems and radar reconnaissance. Polish and other NATO military aircraft were deployed to monitor its airspace, Polish news agency PAP reported.
Romania's Defence Ministry said an unidentified drone crashed and burned in an uninhabited area near the Ukrainian border.
Two Spanish F-18 jets, deployed on a policing mission in Romania, were scrambled overnight to monitor a group of "air targets" near the border, the ministry said.
In addition, two Romanian F-16 fighter jets were deployed to destroy a naval drone seen near a major Black Sea gas project, Romania's acting defence minister Radu Miruta said.
Moldova's Defence Ministry also said its airspace was breached by at least one drone.
Russia "is increasingly testing the resolve of NATO and its partners, violating the sovereignty of neighboring states and deliberately expanding the risks posed by its war far beyond Ukraine," Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said on social media.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen saw a broad threat to the European Union. "An escalating campaign of threats is underway, unsettling our citizens and seeking to divide our Union," she said on X.
Ukraine says it struck more Russian oil facilities
Thursday 20 August 2026 22:12 , Dan HaygarthUkraine's general staff said on Thursday its forces struck an oil refinery in Nizhnekamsk, in Russia's Tatarstan region, starting a fire, and the Tamanneftegaz oil terminal in Volna, in Russia's Krasnodar region, where there was also a blaze.
Ukraine has hit both facilities in recent months as part of its campaign to disrupt Russia's vital oil industry.
Tatarstan leader Rustam Minnikhanov confirmed there had been a "massive attack" in the region, state news agency Tass reported, citing his press service.
Many of the drones targeted Nizhnekamsk's Zakamsk economic area, disrupting production at industrial sites and damaging residential buildings, Tass quoted him as saying.
The Russian Defence Ministry said air defences shot down 726 drones overnight over a number of Russian regions, annexed Crimea and the Black and Azov seas, in one of Ukraine's biggest aerial attacks of the war.
Editorial: Vladimir Putin has pushed his people to breaking point
Thursday 20 August 2026 20:45 , Dan HaygarthRead in full below
Vladimir Putin has pushed his people to breaking point
Norway boosts defence footprint with expansion of Arctic brigade
Thursday 20 August 2026 20:15 , Dan HaygarthNorway on Thursday expanded a recently created military brigade headquartered in the Arctic, the latest move by a NATO nation to boost its defence footprint in the wake of the Ukraine war.
The NATO member established the Finnmark Brigade last year, forming the country's second brigade and the first one set up since the end of the Cold War.
Both brigades have their headquarters in the Arctic. Norway, like the other Nordic countries, has steeply increased its military budget in response to the Ukraine war and Donald Trump's push to get European allies to contribute more to defence.
The Nordic country is now in the top ranks of NATO defence spending when measured as a proportion of a country's GDP, spending an estimated 3.17 per cent this year on defence, up from 1.5 per cent in 2014, according to NATO figures.
One of the Finnmark Brigade's main duties until now was to surveil and patrol the 198-km (123-mile) border Norway shares with Russia.
It is being expanded to include an artillery battalion, air defence battery and communications company that will enable it to carry out certain actions, such as firing at targets on land some 40 km away or coordinating firing with planes and ships from both Norwegian and NATO forces.
"This is a completely different level of firepower than what has been used before," the head of the brigade, Brigadier John Olav Fuglem, told Reuters in a phone interview from Porsangmoen, where the brigade is headquartered.
Porsangmoen lies some 180 km from Norway's border with Russia in a straight line.
The Russian region on the other side is a major military hosting area, including for Russia's Northern Fleet.
"We will answer every threat and attack on Norway and NATO. We will defend every centimetre," defence minister Tore Sandvik said in the same phone interview with Reuters.
The Russian embassy in Oslo did not reply to a request for comment, Reuters said.
Moscow has previously dismissed allegations that it poses a threat to NATO.
Comment: Putin’s empty threats to the UK are the last gasp of a dying Russia
Thursday 20 August 2026 19:45 , Dan HaygarthTime and again, we see that Moscow’s red lines are drawn in disappearing ink – if anything, we should take a warning of ‘serious consequences’ only as a sign to push things further and faster, says Bill Browder. Read below.
Putin’s empty threats to the UK are the last gasp of a dying Russia
Russian strikes kill 16 in Ukraine, Zelenskiy says lack of interceptors costs lives
Thursday 20 August 2026 18:45 , Dan HaygarthA major Russian airstrike killed 16 people and injured more than 40 in Kyiv and the surrounding region on Thursday as president Volodymyr Zelensky said a failure by Ukraine's allies to replenish its stock of air defence missiles was costing lives.
Ukraine's air force said Russia launched dozens of cruise missiles, as well as ballistic and hypersonic ones, and 168 drones, in the massive overnight attack.
The air force said that nearly 90 per cent of the drones and most of the cruise missiles were downed. It did not specify how many ballistic missiles were launched and whether any were intercepted.
Zelensky called Thursday's strike one of the most "cynical, calculated, and large-scale" of the four-and-a-half-year-long war.
The upper floors of a nine-storey residential block were destroyed in Kyiv's Solomianskyi district, mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
He called for Friday to be observed as a day of mourning. Overall, 30 residential buildings, a school, a children's hospital, and a kindergarten were damaged in the capital and the surrounding areas, Zelenskiy said.
Private energy company DTEK said it had restored power to some 90,000 households that lost the supply after the attack.
The Russian defence ministry said Moscow attacked Kyiv and the surrounding region with airstrikes and drones, hitting facilities producing drone components, a military depot and a logistics hub, as well as other targets.
As Russia has escalated its ballistic strikes in recent months, Zelenskiy has pleaded with allies to replenish Ukraine's stock of Patriot interceptors - the only weapon in its arsenal capable of downing a ballistic missile.
