Ukraine strikes Russia's Novorossiysk naval base in massive overnight drone and missile attack

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said on Telegram that his forces struck Russia's Novorossiysk naval base overnight with drones, missiles and unmanned boats.

Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of the Krasnodar region where the port city is located, said a "massive" wave of Ukrainian attacks had targeted the area and killed at least two people, including an eight-year-old child.

Earlier, two of Russia's biggest grain terminals at the southern Black Sea port city suspended operations as a result of the overnight Ukrainian drone strikes, industry sources told Reuters.

It comes despite Ukraine agreeing to pause drone strikes on oil tankers using the Novorossiysk port after a request from US vice president JD Vance, according to a report in the Financial Times citing Ukrainian officials.

The paper said last month's request followed US alarm that Ukraine was destabilising oil markets and harming US firms by targeting tankers carrying crude piped from Kazakhstan to a Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal at the port.

Ukraine agreed not to target CPC infrastructure or non-Russian vessels as long as the latter were not under Ukrainian sanctions and were not carrying Russian oil or cargo, the report added.

Ukraine’s air force says Russia fired 138 long-range strike drones as well as an unspecified number of missiles at Ukraine overnight into Wednesday morning.

Damage was recorded at 16 locations across the country, the air force said.

In the southern Kherson region of Ukraine, a large-scale Russian drone attack overnight killed two people and wounded two others, regional head Oleksandr Prokudin said Wednesday.

The attacks also destroyed a shopping mall in the southern Ukraine city of Zaporizhzhia, according to authorities.

Zelensky hails strike on Russian fleet's 'last major stronghold in Black Sea'

Ukrainian anti-ship missiles, jet-powered aerial drones and sea drones blitzed a major Russian naval base on the Black Sea coast in a “unique” nighttime operation, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Telegram today.

Zelensky called the Novorossiysk naval base "the last major stronghold of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea".

The attack struck air defences, piers and other port infrastructure in the city, which sits in the region of Krasnodar.

Krasnodar's governor Veniamin Kondratyev said that hundreds of Ukrainian drones attacked Novorossiysk, Anapa and Gelendzhik and the Temryuk district of the region overnight.

In Novorossiysk, an eight-year old child was killed in the attack, and a person wounded when his house in the Temryuk region was hit later died in hospital, Kondratyev said. He added that 12 other people in the region were wounded.

Debris from downed drones fell on the territory of four industrial plants and 21 residential buildings, according to Kondratyev, but officials gave no details of any damage.

Zelensky says Moscow using more North Korean missiles on Kyiv

Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian forces used ballistic missiles supplied by North Korea in an overnight attack which targeted the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia.

A company said seven workers at its steel plant were killed and 21 injured.

In addition to the ballistic missiles, North Korea is preparing to deploy more of its troops to Russia, Zelensky said late Monday.

“Every step Russia takes – increasing ballistic missile production, bringing in North Korean equipment, preparing for mobilisation – all of this shows that Moscow is preparing not for peace, but for escalation,” Zelensky said on social media.

Over 16,000 civilians detained by Russia during the war in Ukraine are still held, UN estimates

The United Nations estimates that more than 16,000 civilians detained by Russia during its war in Ukraine are still being “deprived of their liberty,” many held incommunicado and on grounds that don't comply with international law.

“Widespread and systematic torture and ill-treatment" of both Ukrainian civilian detainees and prisoners of war by Russia are continuing, including sexual violence, said Claudia Fuentes Julio, the UN assistant secretary-general for human rights.

Since the full-scale invasion in 2022, Julio said, UN human rights staff have interviewed 910 Ukrainian prisoners of war and 403 civilian detainees following their release.

The UN has not been able to visit detention facilities in Russia, and its estimated figure of those held does not break down how many are adults or children.

Trump says Russia agreed to release American ex-Marine after discussions with Putin

Russia released an American military veteran on Tuesday, allowing his return to the US after four years of what his family and US officials allege was wrongful incarceration and abusive treatment that left him near death.

Robert Gilman, a 32-year-old Massachusetts teacher and former Marine, was freed after president Donald Trump said he spoke with Russian president Vladimir Putin about his release, which Trump said was “very much on a Humanitarian Basis.”

“We appreciate this decision, and the fact that Russia asked for no one in return – No exchange took place,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted a photo on social media of a gaunt-looking Gilman draped in an American flag and surrounded by his family aboard an airplane.

Russia says it downs 502 Ukrainian drones overnight

Russian forces have intercepted and destroyed at least 502 Ukrainian drones overnight over various regions, its defence ministry said this morning.

Ukrainian strikes on Putin’s refineries force Russia to turn to India for gasoline

Russian officials have resorted to importing gasoline from the likes of India amid a rise in Ukrainian drone strikes on its major refineries, a new report has revealed.

Kpler, a data and market intelligence provider, said new data showed Russia received its first shipment on 5 August and more was likely on the way.

India’s oil processor Nayara Energy Ltd, which is backed by Russia’s top oil producer Rosneft PJSC, has been identified as the source of the fuel.

The transfers were made to Russia-linked tankers via shipments off Egypt, Bloomberg reported.

“The emergence of Indian barrels is particularly notable,” said Sumit Ritolia, lead analyst at Kpler.

The cargoes, which complement continued imports from Belarus and other neighbouring markets, highlight “the severity of the current domestic gasoline imbalance, and the extent to which lower refinery runs are reshaping Russia’s traditional product trade flows,” he said.

Ukraine bombs Russia's Black Sea naval base with drones and missiles, Zelensky says

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said on Telegram that his forces struck Russia's Novorossiysk naval base overnight with drones, missiles and unmanned boats.

Earlier, two of Russia's biggest grain terminals at the southern Black Sea port city suspended operations as a result of the overnight Ukrainian drone strikes, industry sources told Reuters.

Russia is the world's largest wheat exporter and most of those exports are shipped via its Black Sea ports like Novorossiysk. Russia's main grain lobby group warned last month that Ukrainian drone attacks could shut down grain exports via the Black Sea in the near future, pushing up prices and causing hunger in Africa and the Middle East.

Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of the Krasnodar region where the port city is located, said a "massive" wave of Ukrainian attacks had targeted the area and killed at least two people, including an eight-year-old child.

Kyiv stops attacks on tankers using Russian port at US request – report

Ukraine has paused drone strikes on oil tankers using Russia's Black Sea port of Novorossiysk after a request from the US vice president JD Vance, the Financial Times reports today, citing Ukrainian officials.

The paper said last month's request followed US alarm that Ukraine was destabilising oil markets and harming US firms by targeting tankers carrying crude piped from Kazakhstan to a Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal at the port.

A US official confirmed to the FT that the administration had warned Ukraine to stop attacking non-Russian vessels in the Black Sea.

Ukraine agreed not to target CPC infrastructure or non-Russian vessels as long as the latter were not under Ukrainian sanctions and were not carrying Russian oil or cargo, the report added.

Ukrainian forces recently stepped up strikes on Russian energy infrastructure and other sites in an effort Kyiv says aims at depriving Russia of resources to fund its military.

Black Sea drone attacks took out as much as a fifth of CPC oil loadings in July, four sources familiar with the data said, as the Russia-Ukraine war spilled over to hit sales by Kazakhstan and western oil majors.

Kazakhstan, which relies on the CPC route for crude exports, suffered a drop of 14 per cent in oil production in July versus June, the sources said.

Chevron and Exxon Mobil are among the major Western oil companies operating there.

Child killed as drones hit enterprises in Russia's Black Sea port

An overnight drone attack killed a child, damaged four enterprises and over two dozen residential buildings in the Russian Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk, mayor Andrei Kravchenko said on Telegram this morning.

At least eight people, including a child, were injured in the attacks which also saw another person killed and others wounded in the wider region, Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of Russia's southern region of Krasnodar where Novorossiysk is located, said on Telegram separately.

There were a number of unverified social media posts on Telegram purporting to show photos of a tower of flames and smoke rising from somewhere in Novorossiysk, a major oil and grains export hub.

In Sevastopol in Russia-occupied Crimea, more than three dozen drones were downed, the city's governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said on Telegram.

A few houses were damaged in the attack, but there were no injuries, he added.