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- 📰 NATO holds air exercise
📰 NATO holds air exercise
and Zelenskyy sacks senior aide
Ross Crabtree & Billy Robinson
August 20, 2026
Hello,
Russia launched one of the war's largest overnight barrages on Kyiv, killing at least 12 people and knocking out the last power line to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
This comes as a Ukrainian diver was arrested in Croatia over the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline bombings, and as President Trump announced what he called the most crushing economic operation ever taken against Iran.
Read more below ⤵️
Top 5 Stories
1️⃣ 🇭🇷🇩🇪 Ukrainian diver arrested in Croatia over Nord Stream bombings: A Ukrainian scuba diver accused of taking part in the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline bombings was arrested in the Croatian town of Pula, German prosecutors said. Berlin will seek his extradition to stand trial in Karlsruhe, after a Polish court previously refused to extradite him over the same allegations last year.
2️⃣ 🇺🇦 Protesters reject Fedorov's call for wartime elections: Organizers of the month-long Ukrainian protests demanding Mykhailo Fedorov's reinstatement as defence minister rejected his surprise call for wartime elections, effectively ending the movement. Protest leader Dmytro Koziatynskyi said the demonstrations had been about defence policy reforms, not personalities, and wished Fedorov's permanent successor, Yevhen Khmara, success in the role.
3️⃣ 🇺🇦 Zelenskyy sacks senior aide amid corruption crisis: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired presidential deputy chief of staff Iryna Mudra by decree, a day after former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov accused the government of a "systemic crisis of governance." Ukrainian media reported Mudra's house was searched as part of a separate money-laundering investigation, though President Zelenskyy gave no official reason for her dismissal.
4️⃣ 🇵🇱🇷🇺 NATO holds air exercise near Russia's Kaliningrad region: NATO conducted a large air exercise involving 25 to 50 aircraft over northeastern Poland near Russia's Kaliningrad exclave, Polish broadcaster TVP World reported. Poland's Operational Command said the drill, which included US and Norwegian fighter jets and NATO surveillance aircraft, was unrelated to recent Russian air force activity.
5️⃣ 🇺🇸🇮🇷 Trump announces 'crushing' economic operation against Iran: US President Donald Trump announced what he called "the most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country" against Iran, threatening severe consequences for any nation that does business with Tehran. The announcement gave no details on specific measures, but analysts said it could set up a confrontation with China, described as Iran's largest trading partner.
Major Story
🇺🇦🇷🇺 Russia Launches Massive Overnight Attack on Kyiv
Russia launched one of the war's largest overnight barrages on Kyiv, killing at least 12 people and injuring 40 others as ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones struck the Ukrainian capital.
A children's hospital in Kyiv's Solomianskyi district was hit, with windows blown out and nearby residential buildings damaged.
The Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant lost its last external power line, forcing emergency diesel generators to take over its cooling systems.
Poland scrambled military aircraft and sent emergency alerts to residents in two border regions as the attack unfolded.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia had been preparing the assault for a long time and renewed his call for more Patriot air-defense interceptors.
Other News
1️⃣ 🇧🇬🇮🇷 NATO 'prepared' to defend allies amid Iran strike report: NATO said it was prepared to address any threat to its allies after a Financial Times report that Iran had considered attacks on US military targets in Europe. Bulgaria tightened security at its Bezmer Air Base, which hosts about 250 US personnel, after Iran's foreign minister warned any country involved in an attack on Iran would face consequences.
2️⃣ 🇺🇸🇰🇵 Trump says he will meet Kim Jong-un later this year: President Trump said he will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un later this year, days after ordering US forces to scale back joint military drills with South Korea. President Trump claimed North Korea now has 57 nuclear weapons, a far higher figure than the "few dozen warheads" the International Atomic Energy Agency cited in April.
3️⃣ 🇺🇸🇨🇦 US and Canada reach 'very fair' trade deal, Trump says: President Trump said the United States and Canada had reached "a very fair" trade deal that eliminates tariffs on exports from US farmers and businesses to Canada. The agreement follows a three-day pause on a threatened 50% tariff, though Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said "important work" remained to finalize the deal.
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