Russian air strikes injured 13 and damaged buildings in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and in the Black Sea port city of Odesa in the early hours of Thursday, officials said on the Telegram messaging app.
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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed “next steps” towards ending the war in Ukraine during a phone call on Thursday, according to the German government.
Merz also welcomed the U.S. Congress’s passage of the Graham Sanctions Act.
The two leaders discussed the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, agreeing that both waterways “need to be reopened quickly”, government spokesman Stefan Kornelius said.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico warned that Europe was “on the brink” of a broader military conflict, saying tensions surrounding the war in Ukraine had reached unprecedented levels.
Fico said the conflict had “spiraled out of control” and voiced concern over increasingly strong military rhetoric in Europe, while stressing that Slovakia remained committed to NATO.
His remarks came ahead of a visit to Ukraine on Friday, where he is due to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni accused Russia of increasing “provocations” against Europe, saying President Vladimir Putin was seeking an escalation as the war in Ukraine continues.
Speaking in Oslo on Thursday, Meloni urged European countries not to react in ways that could benefit Moscow.
She also renewed her call for a single European envoy on Ukraine to coordinate the continent’s diplomatic position.
Germany’s Consulate-General in St. Petersburg has closed, with German flags and official emblems removed from the building amid an escalating diplomatic dispute with Moscow.
Russia ordered the closure in retaliation for Germany shutting the Russian consulate in Bonn and a Russian cultural centre in Berlin.
Berlin’s measures followed its accusation that Moscow was behind an attempted drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport in August, which Russia denies.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said intelligence assessments indicate Russia could target Poland and other NATO countries supporting Ukraine with drones or missiles while portraying the incidents as accidental.
Tusk said such attacks could be aimed at testing NATO’s collective defence commitment and creating uncertainty among alliance members.
His comments came as Polish fighter jets were deployed during Russian strikes on western Ukraine on Thursday. Poland’s military said its airspace was not breached.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the European Union will on Friday disburse $3.79 billion (€3.3 billion) to Ukraine to procure missiles and drones. Von der Leyen said she had spoken by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before announcing the planned disbursement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin urged Russians to vote in the 18-20 September elections, saying participation was a responsibility and contribution to the country’s strength. In a statement published by the Russian Foreign Ministry on Telegram, Putin said voters would elect State Duma deputies, regional lawmakers, governors and municipal representatives.
U.S. President Donald Trump said progress was being made towards establishing a U.S. Army base in Poland, crediting Polish President Karol Nawrocki’s leadership.
Trump said the location would be announced soon if the plan goes ahead, calling it a historic step for the U.S.-Polish alliance.
Poland has been seeking a larger allied presence on NATO’s eastern flank since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said Europe was closer than ever to a large-scale war stemming from the conflict in Ukraine, warning that a drone incursion could trigger NATO’s common defence clause.
Fico said politicians must strive for peace and that he wanted to prevent Slovakia from becoming involved in an armed conflict, as he planned to visit Ukraine for a meeting of several European leaders.
Ukraine’s central bank has raised its key interest rate by 0.5 percentage points to 16 per cent as inflationary pressures continue to build. Consumer inflation accelerated to 8.1 per cent year-on-year in August, up from 7.7 per cent in July.
Central Bank Governor Andriy Pyshnyi said intensified Russian attacks on industrial and infrastructure facilities were increasing medium-term inflation risks. The bank also pointed to the Middle East conflict and tighter global energy supplies as additional pressure on prices. Continued Russian strikes have disrupted economic activity, logistics and business operations across Ukraine. The central bank may now cut its 2026 GDP growth forecast to 1.1–1.2 per cent, down from its previous projection of 1.8 per cent.
While the rate increase had been widely expected, some officials warned that higher borrowing costs could make financing more difficult for businesses trying to recover and rebuild. The government has meanwhile expanded its war-risk insurance programme and simplified compensation procedures to support Ukrainian companies.
Russia's central bank said on Thursday it had filed a challenge with the EU General Court against an EU regulation adopted in July that it said interfered with its dispute with Euroclear over the freezing of Russian assets in Europe.
Explosions sounded several kilometres from Ukraine's border with NATO member Poland on Thursday during a daytime Russian drone attack, a Ukrainian official told Reuters.
Separately, the country's border guard service said there was no damage to border crossings after the attack.
On Sunday, a Russian drone hit a passenger train just two kilometres from Ukraine-Polish border.
Russia and Ukraine exchanged the bodies of their war dead on Thursday with Moscow handing over 252 corpses and receiving 23 bodies in the swap at the Belarusian-Ukrainian border, Belarusian state news agency BELTA reported.
The war in Ukraine is raising questions among military analysts and defence officials about whether NATO can adapt quickly enough to rapidly changing battlefield technology. Ukrainian and Western officials told Reuters that while Ukraine can modify weapons and tactics within weeks, NATO procurement and development programmes can take years or even decades.
Cheap drones have transformed combat, making tanks, troop concentrations and large vehicle convoys more vulnerable and challenging traditional battlefield tactics. Ukrainian officials say the conflict has also exposed weaknesses in some NATO training and assumptions, including expectations that the alliance would maintain control of the air during major operations.
Air and missile defence is another key concern, with Europe still heavily dependent on U.S.-made Patriot systems to intercept sophisticated threats. Ukraine has faced shortages of Patriot interceptors, highlighting the risks of relying on limited supplies of expensive missiles.
Ukraine and European partners are now developing alternatives, including the Freyja anti-ballistic missile project led by Ukrainian defence company Fire Point. The initiative aims to create a European-controlled system that can be produced faster and at lower cost, as NATO members seek to incorporate lessons from Ukraine into preparations for future conflicts.
Poland has scrambled military aircraft due to Russian drone strikes on Ukraine, the army said on Thursday.
“These measures are preventive in nature and are aimed at securing and protecting airspace, particularly in areas adjacent to the threatened regions,” the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces said on X.
French President Emmanuel Macron will meet leaders of parties represented in parliament on Friday to discuss the crises in the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as their impact on energy markets. Military and intelligence officials are expected to brief participants during the meeting.
A Russian drone attack on Tanzania-flagged vessel en route to a Ukrainian port killed the vessel's captain and injured three crew on Thursday, Ukraine's infrastructure ministry said.
Information regarding the vessel's condition was being clarified, the ministry said in a statement on Telegram.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukrainian forces struck Russia’s Yaroslavl oil refinery overnight.
Details on the reported damage were not immediately available.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appointed Anton Kovalskyi as Ukraine's acting prosecutor general, a presidential decree showed on Thursday.
Russia struck energy infrastructure in Ukraine's Sumy and Odesa regions in an overnight missile and drone attack, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday.
“Once again, civilian infrastructure was targeted, with damage reported in eight regions,” Zelenskyy wrote on X.
A Ukrainian drone attack damaged an oil refinery in the Russian city of Yaroslavl, causing a fire that was later doused, regional Governor Mikhail Yevrayev said on Thursday on the Telegram messaging app.
The acknowledgement by Russian authorities of strikes on oil refineries followed U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of an energy truce between Russia and Ukraine on Monday. However, neither side has confirmed any such agreement.
A Ukrainian drone attack damaged an oil refinery in the Russian city of Yaroslavl, and efforts are ongoing to put out the fire, regional Governor Mikhail Yevrayev said on Telegram on Thursday.
The lower chamber of the U.S. Congress, the House of Representatives, has voted 262-159 in favour of the Lindsey Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026. It will now go to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature.
The bill was passed by the Senate last month in an 86-11 vote with strong bipartisan support.
The act would impose primary and secondary sanctions against Russia and actors supporting the war in Ukraine. The sanctions target Russian officials, oligarchs, their family members, foreign persons and Russian banks and financial institutions
Explosions were heard in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in the early hours of Thursday, a witness told Reuters.
Russian air strikes injured 10 people in Kyiv and three in Odesa, Ukrainian officials said. A 19-storey apartment building in Odesa was hit, while debris damaged buildings and fell near a petrol station in Kyiv.
Follow for the latest updates from the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
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