Russia Attacks Ukraine’s Danube Port, Ukraine Launches Drones Towards Moscow

A firefighter works at a compound of a port which was hit during overnight Russian drone strikes in the town of Izmail, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa region, Ukraine, May 19, 2026. (Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via Reuters)
A firefighter works at a compound of a port which was hit during overnight Russian drone strikes in the town of Izmail, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa region, Ukraine, May 19, 2026. (Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via Reuters)
TT

Russia Attacks Ukraine’s Danube Port, Ukraine Launches Drones Towards Moscow

A firefighter works at a compound of a port which was hit during overnight Russian drone strikes in the town of Izmail, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa region, Ukraine, May 19, 2026. (Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via Reuters)
A firefighter works at a compound of a port which was hit during overnight Russian drone strikes in the town of Izmail, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa region, Ukraine, May 19, 2026. (Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via Reuters)

A Russian air attack damaged port infrastructure in Ukraine's Izmail city in the early hours of Tuesday, while Russian authorities said they had downed four drones launched by Ukraine that were headed towards Moscow.

Izmail, in the southern Odesa region and home to the largest Ukrainian port on the Danube River, is a frequently hit strategic location.

"Port infrastructure facilities in the city of Izmail were damaged," local officials said on Telegram, adding that nearly all aerial attack ‌weapons were destroyed. "Fortunately, ‌there were no casualties or significant destruction."

The Telegram post ‌showed ⁠firemen battling a ⁠fire at a building that had its windows blown out.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, two people were rescued and one person may still be trapped under rubble after a Russian drone attack on the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram.

There also were drone attacks in the regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia, local authorities said on Telegram.

Peace efforts to end the war that began with Russia's 2022 invasion ⁠of Ukraine have stalled. Each side has accused the other ‌of regular attacks on military, civilian and ‌energy targets. Both sides deny deliberately targeting civilians.

DRONE ATTACKS IN RUSSIA

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin ‌said on Telegram that four drones heading for the capital had been downed ‌and that emergency services had been deployed, but provided no further details.

The attack comes on the heels of a heavy Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow at the weekend, after which Russia struck the Ukrainian cities of Odesa and Dnipro with missile and drone attacks that ‌damaged residential buildings and injured dozens of people.

In the Russian Kursk region bordering Ukraine, a woman has died and two ⁠people were injured ⁠as a result of a Ukrainian attack on Monday evening, the Kursk operational headquarters said on Telegram.

Russia's southern Rostov region and Yaroslavl, northeast of Moscow, have also come under drone attacks along with a number of other areas in central Russia, regional authorities said on Telegram.

In Yaroslavl, where Russia has oil refining infrastructure, 'an industrial object' was damaged following the drone attack and emergency services were working to extinguish the fire, Governor Mikhail Yevrayev said. He did not name the asset.

Ukraine has sought to deprive Russia of energy revenues. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on X overnight that over the past few months Russian refining capacity has dropped by 10% and oil wells have been shut.

"(Russian President Vladimir) Putin has, of course, built a war chest - but certainly not enough to fight indefinitely," Zelenskiy said.



Russian Attack on Bus in Ukraine's Kherson Kills Four

Firefighters work at a site of a Russian drone attack, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the Kyiv region, Ukraine, in this handout picture released August 18, 2026. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Kyiv region/Handout via REUTERS
Firefighters work at a site of a Russian drone attack, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the Kyiv region, Ukraine, in this handout picture released August 18, 2026. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Kyiv region/Handout via REUTERS
TT

Russian Attack on Bus in Ukraine's Kherson Kills Four

Firefighters work at a site of a Russian drone attack, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the Kyiv region, Ukraine, in this handout picture released August 18, 2026. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Kyiv region/Handout via REUTERS
Firefighters work at a site of a Russian drone attack, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the Kyiv region, Ukraine, in this handout picture released August 18, 2026. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Kyiv region/Handout via REUTERS

A Russian drone attack on a bus in the frontline city of Kherson in southern Ukraine killed four people on Wednesday and left another four wounded, the regional prosecutor's office said.

"Russian military forces attacked a bus travelling down a street in Kherson with a drone. As a result of the attack, according to preliminary information, four civilian passengers were killed.

Four more people sustained injuries of varying severity," the prosecutor's office said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s ousted Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov called Tuesday for elections to be held even as the war against Russia continues, saying the country was gripped by a crisis of governance.

The move by one of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's most loyal and longstanding team members until recently could become the most significant internal challenge Zelenskyy has faced since Russia’s full-scale invasion.

The appeal came in a video address posted to YouTube by Fedorov, who lost his post in July.
“We must find a legal, safe, and realistic mechanism that will allow Ukraine to restore a full democratic process even amid a prolonged war,” Fedorov said.

Zelenskyy’s office did not immediately comment on Fedorov’s address.

Ukrainian law prohibits elections while the country is under martial law, which was imposed on Feb. 24, 2022, the day that the Russian invasion began.

Fedorov said the country was facing a systemic crisis in how it is governed, arguing the current system is oriented toward protecting itself and resisting change. He also condemned corruption among officials without naming anyone, saying it had weakened Ukraine’s ability to fight the war.

Fedorov has said he believes a factor in his removal was an overhaul he led of the Defense Ministry’s procurement system, which oversees billions of dollars in equipment purchases.

“Corruption in wartime is not merely a financial issue. It is a matter of our capability to survive and win,” said Fedorov. “Every single hryvnia intended for defense must work for defense. Not for a private pocket.”

Fedorov released the address hours after Ukraine’s Parliament received a submission from Zelenskyy nominating Yevhenii Khmara to be the new defense minister, Parliament speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said on Facebook Tuesday.


China’s Torrential Rains Kill 10 in Southwest as Thousands Evacuated

A person rides an electric bike through a flooded street after Typhoon Dolphin brought heavy rain to Shanghai, China, August 10, 2026. (Reuters)
A person rides an electric bike through a flooded street after Typhoon Dolphin brought heavy rain to Shanghai, China, August 10, 2026. (Reuters)
TT

China’s Torrential Rains Kill 10 in Southwest as Thousands Evacuated

A person rides an electric bike through a flooded street after Typhoon Dolphin brought heavy rain to Shanghai, China, August 10, 2026. (Reuters)
A person rides an electric bike through a flooded street after Typhoon Dolphin brought heavy rain to Shanghai, China, August 10, 2026. (Reuters)

Torrential rains lashed China's southwest to kill 10 in a house collapse and a landslide, state broadcaster CCTV said on Wednesday, with tens of thousands also evacuated as a precaution.

Disaster prevention authorities evacuated 21,784 people following heavy downpours in several areas in China's southwest, including the areas of ‌Chengdu and Zigong.

Five died in Sichuan ‌province ⁠after accumulated rainwater caused ⁠the collapse of a roof and wall during a dinner party to celebrate children's college entrance results on Tuesday, CCTV said.

Three died at the home in Sichuan's county of Changning, while two ⁠died in hospital where 17 ‌injured were ‌being treated, but it was unclear if the tallies ‌included children or young people.

Sichuan authorities ‌declared a heavy rain alert this week and warned about disaster risks. Torrential rain since Tuesday unleashed two disasters that cut off ‌roads in the mountainous Garze and Aba areas, CCTV said.

Authorities ⁠are ⁠investigating the cause of Monday's landslide at a construction site in Guangxi region that buried five people, later pulled out lifeless by rescue workers, CCTV said.

Loose sand and gravel in the high mountain canyon area could unleash landslides, authorities said earlier.

Since the start of summer, Guangxi, like many parts of China's southwest, has received heavy rain.


Hormuz Traffic Slows as Uncertainty Over Waterway Persists

FILE - Cargo ships are seen at sea in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz, from a rocky shoreline near Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair, File)
FILE - Cargo ships are seen at sea in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz, from a rocky shoreline near Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair, File)
TT

Hormuz Traffic Slows as Uncertainty Over Waterway Persists

FILE - Cargo ships are seen at sea in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz, from a rocky shoreline near Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair, File)
FILE - Cargo ships are seen at sea in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz, from a rocky shoreline near Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair, File)

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz slowed, data showed on Wednesday, as most shipowners avoided the key waterway because of a lack of clear signaling on its reopening from a blockade during the Iran war.

Six commodity vessels crossed the strait on Tuesday, Kpler data showed by 0258 GMT, down from nine a day earlier and below the 10-day daily average of 11.

Inbound traffic included an empty very large crude ⁠carrier that followed the ⁠Omani side of the strait, as well as two tankers, one of medium-range and the other intermediate, the data showed, according to Reuters.

Two medium-range fuel tankers and a post-Panamax vessel exited the strait.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said no talks ⁠were taking place with Iran and insisted the Strait of Hormuz was open, contradicting Iran's assertion that it remained shut to shipping.

The waterway handled a fifth of the world's shipments of crude oil and liquefied natural gas before the war.

As security concerns curb oil shipments to the world's largest importer, two Chinese shipping giants that used to carry half its imports of Middle Eastern oil ⁠before ⁠the war have kept their tankers out of the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb since late July, say tanker tracker Vortexa and a ship broker.

At the Bab el-Mandeb strait on the Red Sea, Kpler data showed 30 weekend transits by commodity vessels, up from 19 in the prior week.