Comment: Putin’s empty threats to the United Kingdom are the last gasp of a dying Russia. Time and time again, we see that Moscow’s red lines are drawn with disappearing ink; If anything, we should take a warning of “serious consequences” only as a signal to push things further and faster, says Bill Browder. Read next:Dan HaygarthAugust 21, 2026 02:00’Putin has repeatedly threatened the UK and NATO over Ukraine, but is too weak to follow through.’Putin’s stance is a poor attempt to scare off broader Western support for kyiv, experts say. Suha Kidwai reports. Read below. Dan HaygarthAugust 21, 2026 01:00Zelensky calls for missiles for Patriot interceptorsDaniel HaygarthAugust 20, 2026 23:59Ukraine’s neighbors are on alert Russia’s relentless attack has frightened other European countries, especially those bordering Ukraine, which fear spreading attacks from Moscow.Amid the attack on kyiv, the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces activated its aviation operations military. ground-based air defense systems and radar reconnaissance. Military aircraft from Poland and other NATO countries were deployed to monitor its airspace, the Polish news agency PAP reported. Romania’s Defense Ministry said an unidentified drone crashed and burned in an uninhabited area near the border with Ukraine. Two Spanish F-18 aircraft, deployed on a police mission in Romania, were deployed overnight to monitor a group of “aerial targets” near the border, the ministry said. Additionally, two Romanian F-16 fighter jets were deployed to destroy a naval drone seen near a major Marine Gas Project, Romania’s acting defense minister Radu Miruta said. Moldova’s Defense Ministry also said its airspace was violated 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. “A growing campaign of threats is underway that unsettles our citizens and seeks to divide our Union,” he said on Russia. Ukraine has attacked both facilities in recent months as part of its campaign to disrupt Russia’s vital oil industry. Tatarstan’s leader Rustam Minnikhanov confirmed that there had been a “massive attack” in the region, state news agency Tass reported, citing its press service. Many of the drones targeted the Zakamsk economic area in Nizhnekamsk, disrupting production at industrial sites and damaging residential buildings, Tass quoted him as saying. The Russian Defense Ministry said air defenses shot down 726 drones overnight over several Russian regions, annexed Crimea and the Black and Azov seas, in one of the largest airstrikes of the war in Ukraine. Dan HaygarthAugust 20, 2026 10:12 PMEditorial: Vladimir Putin has pushed his people to the limitVladimir Putin has pushed his people to the limit Editorial: The Russian president seems determined to continue his bloody gamble in Ukraine, but ordinary citizens, facing deadly retaliation from kyiv and fighting each other over scarce fuel at gas stations, are showing signs of having had enoughDan HaygarthAugust 20, 2026 20:45 Norway increases defensive presence with Arctic brigade expansionNorway on Thursday expanded a newly created military brigade based in the Arctic, the latest move by a NATO nation to increase its defensive presence 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 created since the end of the Cold War. Both brigades are headquartered in the Arctic. Norway, like the other Nordic countries, has dramatically increased its military budget in response to the war in Ukraine and pressure from Donald Trump to get European allies to contribute more to defense. The Nordic country is now at the top of NATO defense spending when measured as a proportion of a country’s GDP, spending about 3.17 percent this year on defense, up from 1.5 percent in 2014, according to NATO figures. One of the main tasks of the Finnmark Brigade until now was to monitor and patrol the 198 kilometers (123 miles) of border that Norway shares with Russia. It is being expanded to include an artillery battalion, an air defense battery and a communications company that will allow it to carry out certain actions, such as firing at ground targets about 40 kilometers away or coordinating fire with Norwegian planes and ships. and NATO forces. “This is a completely different level of firepower than has been used before,” brigade chief Brigadier John Olav Fuglem told Reuters in a telephone interview from Porsangmoen, where the brigade is based. Porsangmoen is located about 180 kilometers from Norway’s border with Russia as the crow flies. The Russian region on the other side is an important military host zone, even for northern Russia. Fleet.”We will respond to every threat and attack against Norway and NATO. We will defend every inch,” Defense Minister Tore Sandvik said in the same telephone interview with Reuters. The Russian embassy in Oslo did not respond to a request for comment, Reuters said. Moscow has previously rejected accusations that it poses a threat to NATO. Dan HaygarthAugust 20, 2026 20:15Comment: Putin’s empty threats to the UK are the last gasp of a dying Russia. Time and time again, we see that Moscow’s red lines are drawn with disappearing ink; If anything, we should take a warning of “serious consequences” only as a signal to push things further and faster, says Bill Browder. Read below. Dan HaygarthAugust 20, 2026 7:45 PMVideo: At least five dead as Putin launches ‘massive attack’ on KievAt least five dead as Putin launches ‘massive attack’ on KievDan HaygarthAugust 20, 2026 7:15 PMRussian strikes kill 16 in Ukraine, Zelenskiy says lack of interceptors costs lives Major Russian airstrike killed 16 in Ukraine wounded more than 40 in kyiv and the surrounding region on Thursday, as President Volodymyr Zelensky said the failure of Ukraine’s allies to replenish their stockpile of air defense missiles was costing lives. Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched dozens of cruise missiles, as well as ballistic and hypersonic missiles, and 168 drones, in the massive overnight attack. The air force said nearly 90 percent of the drones and most cruise missiles were shot down. He did not specify how many ballistic missiles were launched or whether any were intercepted. Zelensky called Thursday’s attack one of the most “cynical, calculated and large-scale” of the four-and-a-half-year war. The upper floors of a nine-story residential block were destroyed in kyiv’s Solomianskyi district, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. He asked that Friday be celebrated as a day of mourning. In total, 30 residential buildings, a school, a children’s hospital and a daycare center were damaged in and around the capital, Zelenskiy said. Private power company DTEK said it had restored power to about 90,000 homes that lost power after the attack. The Russian Defense Ministry said Moscow attacked kyiv and the surrounding region with airstrikes and drones, hitting facilities producing components for drones, a military depot and a logistics center, as well as other targets. As Russia has stepped up its ballistic attacks in recent months, Zelenskiy has pleaded with his allies to replenish Ukraine’s stock of Patriot interceptors, the only weapon in its arsenal capable of shooting down a ballistic missile. Dan HaygarthAugust 20, 2026 18:45
