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Issued on: 13/08/2026 - 08:14 Modified: 13/08/2026 - 17:16
By: FRANCE 24 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with CNN on Thursday that his country needs at least 5 percent of the United States' Patriot interceptor missiles to get through the winter. Earlier, the UN reported that the number of civilians killed in Ukraine in July jumped to its highest level since the first months of the Russian invasion. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.
President Vladimir Putin visited Russia's far-eastern Kuril Islands for the first time on Thursday, prompting protests by Japan, which also claims the territory.
A Russian citizen who was allegedly recruited by the Russian secret services sought to kill a Ukrainian American citizen in Warsaw but was thwarted by Polish authorities, Poland’s prime minister said Thursday.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk did not give further details about the incident during a news conference.
A government spokesman said the Russian citizen was taken into custody by Polish authorities on August 7. The American-Ukrainian citizen “was uncomfortable for the Putin regime”, Tusk said.
President Vladimir Putin visited Russia's far-eastern Kuril Islands for the first time on Thursday, prompting protests by Japan which also claims the territory.
Russian-Japanese relations have long been dogged by the contested islands, known in Japan as the Northern Territories and seized by the Soviet Union in 1945.
The Kremlin posted a video of Putin on one of the Kurils' four main islands, with Russian media saying he visited a fish-processing plant and was given caviar.
It was the first visit by a Russian president since Dmitry Medvedev in 2010.
"The Northern Territories are an inherent part of Japan's territory, both historically and under international law," Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told reporters.
Putin's visit "offends the sentiments of the Japanese people and is absolutely unacceptable", she said, adding that it "made it more difficult to restore relations in the medium to long term".
A Russian military officer was killed on Thursday in what authorities described as an assassination in Sevastopol, the largest city in Russian-annexed Crimea, regional governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said.
He said a woman had been arrested on suspicion of carrying out the attack on behalf of Ukrainian special services. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
Razvozhayev did not identify the victim or the suspect. State news agency TASS quoted the FSB security service as saying the woman was a Russian national.
Russia has previously blamed Ukraine for a string of previous assassinations of senior military officials and people linked to Moscow's war effort.
Separately, Razvozhayev said five people were killed in Sevastopol overnight during an operation to dispose of an explosive device.
Ukrainian officials have confirmed the exchange of bodies reported earlier by Russian media.
"The bodies of 261 deceased persons have been returned to Ukraine, which, according to the Russian side, belong to Ukrainian servicemen," Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said in a statement.
Kyiv has previously accused Russia of including the remains of civilians and Russian soldiers in the exchanges.
Citing a Russian lawmaker, Moscow's RBC media outlet earlier said Ukraine had transferred the bodies of 24 Russian war dead.
A Russian military official was killed in an explosion in annexed Crimea, Russian news agencies have reported, citing the Federal Security Service (FSB).
A Ukrainian long-range attack on a major Russian oil refinery earlier this week has put the plant out of action for around six months.
Ukraine hit the refinery in Orsk – around 1,300 kilometres from the front line – triggering a massive fire at the site.
The governor of the Orenburg region, where the refinery is located, said Thursday it had been shut down and repairs would take months. "The equipment is imported, and given sanctions, repairs will take up to six months," governor Yevgeny Solntsev said on social media.
"The plant has been completely shut down," he added, warning: "We are preparing for the worst-case scenario."
Five people were killed while trying to defuse an explosive device in Sevastopol, the largest city in Russian-controlled Crimea, regional governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said.
"Four pyrotechnicians and one security guard died in the line of duty," Razvozhayev said on social media. "Our guys were inspecting the area after a Ukrainian attack. An enemy munition detonated," he added.
Russia has handed over the bodies of 261 Ukrainian soldiers and received 24 of its own war dead in return, reports Russian outlet RBC, citing a senior Russian lawmaker.
The two sides have carried out such exchanges at intervals throughout the 4-1/2-year war.
Ukraine's military struck an oil refinery and petrochemical complex in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan, causing a fire, said the Ukrainian General Staff, confirming Russian news reports of an attack on the facility.
The complex is located about 1,300 km (808 miles) from the Ukrainian border and was involved in supplying fuel to Russian troops, said the Ukrainian General Staff.
A Russian drone attack on a train carrying hundreds of passengers in southern Ukraine killed two people, according to officials.
"Today in the Odesa region, the Russians once again destroyed an ordinary passenger train locomotive with a jet-powered drone. There were 340 people on the train," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
"Whoever was operating that drone certainly could not have been unaware that the target was entirely civilian," he added.
Two crew members were killed. None of the passengers were harmed, the CEO of the state railway operator said.
The number of civilians killed in Ukraine in July jumped to its highest level since the first months...
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