Russian president Vladimir Putin is not looking to end the war in Ukraine, and is instead ramping up the production of ballistic missiles to break Kyiv’s resolve this winter, a Washington-based think tank has warned.
“The Kremlin will not enter serious negotiations or make meaningful compromises on its demands as long as Putin believes that he has a viable military path to achieving his full objectives,” the Institute for the Study of War said.
The ISW warned: “Russia’s reprioritisation of production efforts toward ballistic missiles will support Russian efforts to use the upcoming winter to break Ukraine’s will to fight.”
Its remarks came as Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine had handed proposals to US negotiators for a plan to end the war with Russia.
"We have conveyed our proposals to the American side," Zelensky said in his nightly video address.
"And the United States can help strengthen our defence, first and foremost with air defence, and put pressure on Russia so that its plans are different – to prepare for an end to the war rather than prolonging it."
Read MoreMoment Ukraine’s Black Forest Brigade destroys Russian air defence command centre
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Key Points
- Putin will use winter 2026 to break Kyiv’s resolve, says think tank
- Zelensky says Moscow using more North Korean missiles on Kyiv
- Russians ‘snatched off streets’ to feed Ukraine war for Putin's mobilisation plan
- Zelensky sends proposals for ending the war with Russia to Trump’s negotiators
- Trump says Russia agreed to release American ex-Marine after discussions with Putin
Watch: Kyiv sends new proposals to Trump’s negotiators for plan to end conflict, says Zelensky
06:15 , Arpan RaiTrump says Russia agreed to release American ex-Marine after discussions with Putin
05:53 , Arpan RaiRussia released an American military veteran on Tuesday, allowing his return to the US after four years of what his family and US officials allege was wrongful incarceration and abusive treatment that left him near death.
Robert Gilman, a 32-year-old Massachusetts teacher and former Marine, was freed after president Donald Trump said he spoke with Russian president Vladimir Putin about his release, which Trump said was “very much on a Humanitarian Basis.”
“We appreciate this decision, and the fact that Russia asked for no one in return – No exchange took place,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted a photo on social media of a gaunt-looking Gilman draped in an American flag and surrounded by his family aboard an airplane.
Today, after more than four years of detention in Russia, Robert Gilman is on his way home to be reunited with his family. Mr. Gilman joins over 100 Americans whom President Trump has freed during his second term in office.
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) August 11, 2026
We thank Russia for working with Special Envoy Steve… pic.twitter.com/tw9zDX6IMu
Over 16,000 civilians detained by Russia during the war in Ukraine are still held, UN estimates
05:47 , Arpan RaiThe United Nations estimates that more than 16,000 civilians detained by Russia during its war in Ukraine are still being “deprived of their liberty,” many held incommunicado and on grounds that don't comply with international law.
“Widespread and systematic torture and ill-treatment" of both Ukrainian civilian detainees and prisoners of war by Russia are continuing, including sexual violence, said Claudia Fuentes Julio, the UN assistant secretary-general for human rights.
Since the full-scale invasion in 2022, Julio said, UN human rights staff have interviewed 910 Ukrainian prisoners of war and 403 civilian detainees following their release.
The UN has not been able to visit detention facilities in Russia, and its estimated figure of those held does not break down how many are adults or children.
Russia hits the grounds of a Kyiv children's hospital
05:23 , Arpan RaiRussian forces struck parts of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv overnight yesterday, according to officials.
One strike hit the grounds of a children’s hospital, leaving two craters and shattering windows, the State Emergency Service said. Children and medical workers were in bomb shelters and nobody was hurt, it added.
Emergency workers said two craters were formed at the site, and the building's windows and a gas pipe were damaged.
Gas service workers were able to eliminate the leak.
Russia attacked Ukrainian cities with missiles, drones and glide bombs yesterday, killing at least 10 civilians, officials said.
Zelensky sends proposals for ending the war with Russia to Trump’s negotiators
05:05 , Arpan RaiUkraine has handed proposals to US negotiators for a plan to end the war with Moscow, Volodymyr Zelensky announced, as he suggested that Russia would use its parliamentary election next month as a pretext to declare a new round of mobilisation.
"We have conveyed our proposals to the American side," Zelensky said in his nightly video address.
"And the United States can help strengthen our defence, first and foremost with air defence, and put pressure on Russia so that its plans are different – to prepare for an end to the war rather than prolonging it."
Zelensky offered no details on the proposals.
Russians ‘snatched off streets’ to feed Ukraine war for Putin's mobilisation plan
04:56 , Arpan RaiMoscow appears to be adopting increasingly aggressive strategies to recruit fresh troops for its war of attrition in Ukraine, as Vladimir Putin looks to make up for heavy battlefield losses.
Men are reportedly being snatched off Russian streets and students offered significant financial incentives to join drone units as Moscow looks to avoid another forced mobilisation.
Local officials have been issued recruitment quotas by the Kremlin and Moscow’s defence ministry as it looks to meet this year’s 409,000 target, sources familiar with the matter told the Financial Times.
Russians are given referral bonuses for encouraging others to sign up while officials exploit knowledge of potential recruits’ debts and legal problems to pressure them into signing up, the FT adds.
Alex Croft reports:
Inside Putin’s aggressive army recruitment drive as Russians ‘snatched off streets’
Romania destroys drones drifting near major offshore gas project in the Black Sea
04:35 , Arpan RaiRomanian army divers destroyed two Gerbera-type drones drifting in the country's Black Sea exclusive economic zone near the offshore gas project Neptun Deep, defence minister Radu Miruta said on Tuesday.
The Nato state shares a 614km (382 mile) land border with Ukraine and has seen Russian drones repeatedly breach its airspace over the last four years, as well as mines floating in the Black Sea across key trade and energy routes.
A civilian vessel working near the Neptun Deep offshore gas project spotted the drones yesterday, Miruta said. The minister did not specify the origin of the drones, but said Ukraine had confirmed they did not belong to its forces.
“For the safety of the shipping lane and the works being carried out around the platform, the decision was made to carry out a controlled destruction by detonation,” Miruta said.
“The defence ministry contacted Ukrainian partners, who confirmed that the systems do not belong to them.”
Nato states Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey, which share the Black Sea with Georgia, Russia and Ukraine, have neutralised more than 150 mines drifting across crucial trade lanes.
Putin will use winter 2026 to break Kyiv’s resolve, says think tank
04:16 , Arpan RaiThere are indications from Russia that it will not end the war and will use production of ballistic missiles to deploy them in the upcoming winter to break Ukraine’s resolve to fight, a Washington-based think tank has said.
“The Kremlin will not enter serious negotiations or make meaningful compromises on its demands as long as Putin believes that he has a viable military path to achieving his full objectives,” the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said in an analysis Monday.
“Ukraine’s Patriot shortages offer Russia an opportunity to cause very serious damage to Ukraine over the coming winter and will therefore contribute to delaying meaningful negotiations and protracting the war,” it said.
The ISW said: “Russia’s reprioritisation of production efforts toward ballistic missiles will support Russian efforts to use the upcoming winter to break Ukraine’s will to fight.”
Zelensky says Moscow using more North Korean missiles on Kyiv
03:56 , Arpan RaiVolodymyr Zelensky said Russian forces used ballistic missiles supplied by North Korea in an overnight attack which targeted the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia.
A company said seven workers at its steel plant were killed and 21 injured.
In addition to the ballistic missiles, North Korea is preparing to deploy more of its troops to Russia, Zelensky said late Monday.
“Every step Russia takes – increasing ballistic missile production, bringing in North Korean equipment, preparing for mobilisation – all of this shows that Moscow is preparing not for peace, but for escalation,” Zelensky said on social media.
Drones hit residential buildings in Russia's Black Sea port of Novorossiysk
03:51 , Arpan RaiDebris from likely intercepted Ukrainian drones has damaged six residential buildings in the Russian Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk, according to the mayor of the major commodities export hub.
Mayor Andrei Kravchenko said on Telegram that those injured were receiving medical assistance and a commercial building was also hit.
There were a number of unverified social media posts on Telegram purporting to show photos of a huge tower of flames arising from somewhere in Novorossiysk.
In Sevastopol in Russia-occupied Crimea, more than three dozen drones were downed, the city's governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said on Telegram.
A few houses were damaged in the attack, but there were no injuries, he added.
Watch: Ukrainian forces in France help extinguish forest fire
03:00 , Daniel KeaneInside Putin’s aggressive army recruitment drive as Russians ‘snatched off streets’ to feed Ukraine war
02:00 , Daniel KeaneInside Putin’s aggressive army recruitment drive as Russians ‘snatched off streets’
Latvia finds tunnel under Belarus border
01:00 , Daniel KeaneLatvia said on Tuesday a tunnel had been discovered under the border with Belarus and announced plans to combat networks that it says are helping a growing number of migrants cross the frontier illegally.
Latvian soldiers last month used teargas and fired a warning shot to stop migrants trying to enter from Belarus, which shares a 173km border with European Union member state Latvia.
"The protection of Latvia's eastern border will be strengthened, with closer cooperation between the Border Guard, State Police, National Armed Forces and security services, and more intensive use of drones for early detection and detention of illegal migrants," Interior Minister Janis Dombrava told a joint press conference with Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs.
Romania destroys drones drifting near major offshore gas project
Wednesday 12 August 2026 00:01 , Daniel KeaneRomanian army divers destroyed two Gerbera-type drones drifting in the country's Black Sea exclusive economic zone near the offshore gas project Neptun Deep, Defence Minister Radu Miruta said on Tuesday.
The NATO state shares a 614-km land border with Ukraine and has seen Russian drones repeatedly breach its airspace over the last four years, as well as mines floating in the Black Sea across key trade and energy routes.
In July, Romanian F-16 fighter jet pilots shot down three Russian drones breaching national airspace over three consecutive days after dozens of such incursions in the more than four years of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Analysis | Ukraine are hitting deep inside Russia – but don’t expect Putin to capitulate yet
Tuesday 11 August 2026 23:00 , Alex CroftRussia’s war on Ukraine has entered its latest phase, with each side making use of increasing numbers of long-range munitions to strike deep into the other’s territory.
In the early summer of this year, there was a surge of optimism across the media when it became clear that Ukraine was stepping up its strikes at enormous ranges into Russia, and there was little that Moscow could do about it. But that optimism needs to be balanced against the new reality that with anti-missile interceptor systems exhausted, there is not much Ukraine itself can do to blunt Russian missile attacks. For now, those attacks sow misery and death by blasting residential areas with little warning: but next winter, they could once again target heating and power infrastructure and have an even more devastating effect on Ukraine’s ability to keep its people alive than last year.
Russia’s campaign against Ukrainian civilian infrastructure is not new: it began almost as soon as it became clear that Russia had failed in its initial objective of swiftly overrunning the country in February 2022. But its new character today results both from massive increases in the numbers of missiles and drones available to Russia, and the way they have outstripped Ukraine’s air defences.
Read more from Russian military expert Keir Giles.
Ukraine says it struck oil refinery in Orsk
Tuesday 11 August 2026 22:01 , Alex CroftKyiv’s military has said it attacked an oil refinery in the Russian city of Orsk, the second-largest city in the Orenburg region and an important industrial hub.
In a statement on Telegram, the Ukrainian military said it had targeted the Orsknefteorgsintez oil refinery, which has an annual crude oil capacity of 6 million tons.
“Fire was recorded. Damages are being ascertained,” it said.
The Orsk refinery produces gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel, fuel oil, bitumen, and other petroleum products.
Russia claims it has seized two more villages in Ukraine
Tuesday 11 August 2026 21:00 , Alex CroftRussian troops have taken control of two settlements in Ukraine, Moscow’s Defence Ministry is claiming.
Shcherbakivka in the Kharkiv region, and Nove Pole in the Zaporizhzhia region were seized by Russian forces, it said on Tuesday - although we have not been able to independently verify the claims.
Death toll rises to six in Zaporizhzhia after Russian strikes
Tuesday 11 August 2026 20:00 , Alex CroftRussian attacks killed six people and wounded 20 in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia early on Tuesday and also struck Kyiv, triggering fires in the capital, officials said, taking the death toll to 12 across Ukraine in the last 24 hours.
Zaporizhzhia regional governor Ivan Fedorov said Russian troops launched missiles and aerial bombs at the city.
Air raid alerts were sounded in both Zaporizhzhia and in Kyiv, where the capital's military administration said warehouses in a central district were ablaze. One person was reported injured.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said medical personnel had been dispatched to a central district.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, local authorities reported another six people were killed and 16 wounded overnight in the regions of Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk.
Trump says Putin agreed to release Robert Gilman on humanitarian basis
Tuesday 11 August 2026 19:23 , James ReynoldsDonald Trump says in a post that former US marine Robert Gilman will be returning home as a result of a deal with Russia.
Robert Gilman, 32, an English teacher who briefly served in the US Marines was arrested in early 2022, allegedly for kicking a police officer while drunk, according to Russian state media.
“After my discussions with President Vladimir Putin, Russia has agreed to release him, very much on a Humanitarian Basis,” Trump said.
“We appreciate this decision, and the fact that Russia asked for no one in return — No exchange took place.”
He went on: “I just spoke to him, and he had one request — A GREAT cheeseburger when he lands. I will take care of that!”
Trump thanks his “incredible team”, including special envoys Steve Witkoff and Adam Boehler, senior director for Counterterrorism, Sebastian Gorka, and his son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Ukraine hands US plan to end war with Russia
Tuesday 11 August 2026 19:19 , James ReynoldsUkraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky says that Kyiv has turned over proposals to American negotiators on a plan to end the war with Russia.
Ukrainian steel giant halts operations after Russian strike
Tuesday 11 August 2026 19:00 , Alex CroftWe’ve just heard from the parent company of Ukrainian steel giant Zaporizhstal, which says it has completely halted its operations following a Russian strike on its facilities.
"The enemy attack damaged energy facilities and infrastructure at Metinvest's enterprises in Zaporizhzhia, as well as the main and auxiliary facilities used in coke and blast furnace production," Metinvest said in a statement.
What are Patriot missiles – and why are supplies dwindling worldwide?
Tuesday 11 August 2026 18:01 , Alex CroftDemand for the US Patriot air defence system has increased this year as Ukraine’s war against the Russian invasion and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East has depleted supplies of interceptor missiles.
Ukraine is seeking further Patriot interceptors to defend itself against Russian ballistic missile attacks, while the Iran war has drained stores in the US and the Gulf.
Meanwhile, some European countries are hanging onto missiles that they may require for their own defence.
Here, The Independent takes a look at what Patriot missiles are, and why they are important to Ukraine.
What are Patriot missiles – and why are supplies dwindling worldwide?
UN expert says 95% of Ukrainian POWs faced torture or ill-treatment
Tuesday 11 August 2026 17:01 , Alex CroftMore than 95 per cent of Ukrainian prisoners of war interviewed by the UN reported experiencing torture or ill-treatment, while more than half reported sexual violence.
The UN assistant secretary-general for human rights, Claudia Fuentes Julio, said her office had documented widespread and systematic torture and ill-treatment of both Ukrainian POWs and civilian detainees by the Russian authorities, including sexual violence.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the UN human rights office has documented the execution of 129 Ukrainian prisoners of war at the beginning of their captivity and the deaths of 48 in custody, linked to torture, denial of medical care and other inhumane detention conditions.
The UN also documented severe beatings, electric shocks, dog attacks and mock executions.
Fuentes Julio said the UN had documented torture and ill-treatment of Russian and third-country prisoners of war held by Ukraine, but on a “fundamentally different scale”, with about half of those interviewed reporting abuse during the initial stages of captivity.
