Mass Drone Attack on Moscow as Russian Strikes Kill Three in Ukraine

Ukrainian rescuers use a water hose as they work to extinguish a fire at the site of a Russian strike in Kyiv on August 16, 2026. (AFP)
Ukrainian rescuers use a water hose as they work to extinguish a fire at the site of a Russian strike in Kyiv on August 16, 2026. (AFP)
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Mass Drone Attack on Moscow as Russian Strikes Kill Three in Ukraine

Ukrainian rescuers use a water hose as they work to extinguish a fire at the site of a Russian strike in Kyiv on August 16, 2026. (AFP)
Ukrainian rescuers use a water hose as they work to extinguish a fire at the site of a Russian strike in Kyiv on August 16, 2026. (AFP)

Hundreds of drones targeted Moscow on Sunday as Russia launched missile strikes that killed three people and wounded more than a dozen in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, officials on the two sides said. 

Amid the intense hostilities, three people were also killed in the Russian city of Rostov, while a Spanish NATO fighter jet shot down a drone that crossed into Romanian territory -- the second time in two days that the war has spilled over into eastern Europe. 

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported a sustained overnight drone assault on the capital, issuing a string of updates over several hours. 

Air defenses intercepted more than 600 drones headed towards Moscow, with around 200 which were shot down in the region, according to his statements on the state-backed MAX platform. 

Moscow regional governor Andrey Vorobyov described the assault as "one of the most massive drone attacks in recent memory", adding that six people were wounded in the region. 

"In Podolsk, a UAV hit caused a fire at a Wildberries warehouse in the Koledino Industrial Park," Vorobyov added. 

Ukraine has increasingly targeted warehouses linked to the Wildberries online retailer, arguing its strikes are a response to Moscow's bombardment of Ukrainian towns and infrastructure. 

- Kyiv explosions - 

Since mid-July, Ukraine has struck around 20 Wildberries warehouses and buildings. 

Russia's missile strikes killed two people in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region with another fatality in Kryvyi Rig, President Volodymyr Zelensky's hometown. More than 20 people were wounded across Kyiv, Brovary, Kryvyi Rig, Odesa, and Dnipetrovsk. 

Russian forces hit two industrial sites in Kryvyi Rig, local defense council head Oleksandr Vilkul said on Telegram. 

In Kyiv, authorities issued an air raid alert just before 2:00 am (2300 GMT) and several explosions were heard shortly after. 

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Kyiv was "under ballistic missile attack" and urged residents to remain in shelters. 

The strikes sparked fires in the Obolonsky and Holosiivskyi districts of the capital. 

Kremenchuk in the central Poltava region also came under attack, local officials said, without providing details of damage or casualties. 

Russia has maintained near-daily missile and drone strikes across Ukraine since launching its full-scale invasion in early 2022. Zelensky has said Ukraine's increasing attacks deep inside Russia, on refineries, as well as the warehouses, aim to undermine Russia's war economy. 

Romania's defense ministry said that a Spanish F-18 fighter jet shot down a drone that breached its airspace near the border with Ukraine and Moldova.  

Debris fell in an unpopulated area of the Galati region, near the Ukrainian border, it added, though it was not known where the drone came from. 

Countries bordering the conflict have faced increasing spillovers from the drone war between Ukraine and Russia.  

NATO said Friday its fighter jets shot down a drone that entered Latvian airspace. It was the second time in a week that a drone had been shot down in Latvian airspace, the country's defense ministry said. 

In July, Romania expelled a Russian embassy employee in what it called "a firm response" to drones repeatedly breaching the country's airspace. 

Romania shot down three drones on three consecutive days before the expulsion. 



US Launches ‘Economic Onslaught’ Against Iran’s Financial Connections

WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 24: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announces a new set of sanctions against Iran in the Cash Room at the Treasury Department on August 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP
WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 24: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announces a new set of sanctions against Iran in the Cash Room at the Treasury Department on August 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP
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US Launches ‘Economic Onslaught’ Against Iran’s Financial Connections

WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 24: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announces a new set of sanctions against Iran in the Cash Room at the Treasury Department on August 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP
WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 24: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announces a new set of sanctions against Iran in the Cash Room at the Treasury Department on August 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent unveiled Monday what he described as an "economic D-Day" that aims to give a final warning to countries to sever their business ties with Iran or risk having key companies and entities cut off from the dollar-based financial system.

"We are launching an economic onslaught against Iran’s financial connections around ⁠the globe. Our ⁠objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains this tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone," Bessent said.

He added that it’s “no longer acceptable to operate in the gray spaces” of the conflict.

He did not name what countries could face potential secondary sanctions from the United States.

“Let there be no ambiguity as to the position of the United States,” Bessent told a news conference. “An economic engagement of any kind with this murderous regime will expose those responsible to the full reach of American power.”

The US Treasury Department has mapped the networks, facilitators, and financial channels that Iran uses to smuggle oil and evade sanctions and said that Washington would be working with US partners to target any source of Iran's "illicit revenue."

The department said it has issued determinations against five sectors -- digital assets, technology, gold, ⁠aviation and shipping -- that the Iranian government is using to prop up its economy. The Treasury has also imposed sanctions on nearly 60 entities, individuals and vessels.

US President Donald Trump's war with Iran, which has pushed energy prices higher worldwide, is about to hit its six-month mark. While heavy fighting has ‌subsided, diplomatic efforts to end the war have stalled and oil and raw material shipping through the Strait of Hormuz ⁠remains blocked, ⁠keeping energy prices elevated.


Trump Says Iran 'Collapsing' Ahead of Sanctions Announcement

Motorcyclists pass a billboard depicting US President Donald Trump with hands around his neck beneath the words "Revenge is inevitable" in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Motorcyclists pass a billboard depicting US President Donald Trump with hands around his neck beneath the words "Revenge is inevitable" in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
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Trump Says Iran 'Collapsing' Ahead of Sanctions Announcement

Motorcyclists pass a billboard depicting US President Donald Trump with hands around his neck beneath the words "Revenge is inevitable" in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Motorcyclists pass a billboard depicting US President Donald Trump with hands around his neck beneath the words "Revenge is inevitable" in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

President Donald Trump said Monday that Iran is "collapsing" hours before the US government was set to announce details of what it says will be crushing sanctions against Tehran.

"IRAN IS COMPLETELY COLLAPSING!!!" Trump posted in his trademark all-caps style on his social media platform Truth Social.

“President Trump decimated Iran’s economy to a point where the rial has never been weaker and inflation has rarely been higher,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote Sunday in an opinion piece in the Financial Times.

“The regime’s final refuge now lies in the self-deception of fearful nations that still believe accommodating aggression can secure a durable peace.”


Health of Norway's King Deteriorated but he is Stable Now

(FILES) Norway's King Harald gives a speech at the gala dinner at the Castle in Oslo on April 8, 2025 during the state visit of Iceland's President Halla Tomasdottir and her husband Bjorn Skulason. (Photo by Fredrik Varfjell / NTB / AFP)
(FILES) Norway's King Harald gives a speech at the gala dinner at the Castle in Oslo on April 8, 2025 during the state visit of Iceland's President Halla Tomasdottir and her husband Bjorn Skulason. (Photo by Fredrik Varfjell / NTB / AFP)
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Health of Norway's King Deteriorated but he is Stable Now

(FILES) Norway's King Harald gives a speech at the gala dinner at the Castle in Oslo on April 8, 2025 during the state visit of Iceland's President Halla Tomasdottir and her husband Bjorn Skulason. (Photo by Fredrik Varfjell / NTB / AFP)
(FILES) Norway's King Harald gives a speech at the gala dinner at the Castle in Oslo on April 8, 2025 during the state visit of Iceland's President Halla Tomasdottir and her husband Bjorn Skulason. (Photo by Fredrik Varfjell / NTB / AFP)

Crown Prince Haakon visited his father King Harald of Norway on Monday at the hospital, after the king's health deteriorated over the weekend, public broadcaster NRK reported.

The 89-year-old monarch, who has been on sick leave for several weeks, was admitted to the National Hospital a week ago. He is now receiving antibiotics for a bacterial blood infection and has responded to treatment, the royal palace said late Sunday, adding that his condition is stable.

Haakon, has been serving as regent during that time, The Associated Press quoted the palace as saying.

The king has hemolytic anemia and was being treated with cortisone, leading to fluid accumulation in the body that required hospital treatment, the palace said last week.

Norway's prime minister sent his wishes for the king and said that “all of Norway is following and thinking about the king,” NRK reported.

“My strong wish is that he continues to receive good treatment from the good healthcare system we have,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said.

Harald, who has been monarch since 1991, has been in and out of the hospital several times in recent years.

In February, he was admitted to a hospital in Spain’s Canary Islands during a winter vacation for treatment for a skin infection.

Two years ago, the king fell ill during a private vacation with the queen in Malaysia and received a temporary pacemaker there. Harald returned aboard a medical airplane to Norway, where he was fitted with a permanent pacemaker.