Ukraine Conflict

Debris from downed Ukrainian drones struck a private childcare centre in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, killing two children and wounding seven others along with two adults, regional governor Veniamin Kondratiev said on Monday.

The overnight attack also ignited a large fire at a nearby Ozon warehouse, marking the third consecutive day the e-commerce company's logistics sites have been targeted. Kyiv has for months also struck warehouses of Ozon's main rival, Wildberries, with the campaign against commercial infrastructure causing billions of dollars in damage. Moscow condemned the strikes on civilian infrastructure.

The violence came as Ukraine marked the 35th anniversary of its independence and hosted a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing, following a weekend of cross-border attacks that killed at least 13 people on both sides.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham will travel to Kyiv on Monday for Ukraine's independence day, using his first foreign trip in office to announce the declassification of UK-made components for Storm Shadow/Scalp cruise missiles. The move, allowing European defence firm MBDA to share technical data, is intended to help Ukraine develop its own long-range strike capability.

Burnham will co-chair a coalition of the willing meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, joining remotely, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The visit follows a deadly drone strike on a Kryvyi Rih shopping centre on Friday that killed at least 16 people, and comes as Kyiv warns it has exhausted US-made Patriot interceptors.

Russia, which accused Britain of deliberately escalating the conflict, has withdrawn its ambassador from London without naming a replacement. Zelenskyy, whom Burnham hosted at Downing Street shortly after taking office in July, is seeking hundreds of additional air-defence missiles ahead of winter.

Norway will maintain its support for Ukraine at a record $9 billion in 2027, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre announced on Sunday, matching this year's level as Kyiv seeks to shore up allies amid a reported $27 billion military shortfall. The bulk of the new package, delivered through the Nansen Support Programme, will be directed toward military assistance, including purchases from Ukraine's domestic defence industry.

Støre arrived in Kyiv on Saturday alongside Nordic and Baltic leaders ahead of a Monday summit of the so-called coalition of the willing. French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will co-chair the gathering, which brings together representatives from more than 30 nations on Ukraine's Independence Day. President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged the European Union to accelerate disbursement of a €90 billion loan to help close the funding gap.

The diplomatic push comes as the battlefield intensifies. A Russian strike on a shopping centre in Kryvyj Rih killed at least 14 people, while Ukrainian drones hit Ozon warehouses deep inside Russia for a second consecutive night.

International Criminal Court President Tomoko Akane has called on the Japanese government for continued backing after the Trump administration designated her and eight other ICC judges for sanctions. The measures, which also targeted former chief prosecutor Karim Khan, were imposed in retaliation for the court's investigation into alleged war crimes in Gaza and efforts to prosecute officials from countries that have not ratified the Rome Statute.

Akane, the first Japanese national to lead the court, said on August 21 that she was not surprised by the move and that support from Japan would be critical. She met with Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp in The Hague a day earlier.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said she found the sanctions deeply regrettable, while Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Tokyo would respond appropriately after weighing national interests. The sanctions list, administered by OFAC, includes a wind-down licence permitting transactions through September 17.

Lando Norris secured pole position for the Dutch Grand Prix with a lap of 1:11.163 at Zandvoort on Saturday, hours after finishing third in the sprint race and criticizing his McLaren as 'far from good enough' at low speeds.

George Russell, who won the sprint from pole, qualified second for Sunday's race, while championship leader Kimi Antonelli — who holds a 56-point advantage over Russell with 224 points — took third on the grid. Home favorite Max Verstappen could manage only seventh, and Gabriel Bortoleto qualified ninth.

Norris claimed his first win of the season in Hungary before the summer break.

France will deliver new interceptor missiles to Ukraine, President Emmanuel Macron announced Saturday, following a Russian drone strike on a shopping centre in Kryvyi Rih that killed at least 16 people and injured more than 130, including 23 children.

Macron expressed horror and solidarity in a call with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which Zelenskyy said lasted nearly two hours and covered air defence needs, funding, and communications with Washington. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas condemned the Kryvyi Rih attack as "terror by design". Separate Russian strikes killed four people in Kyiv on Friday, while Ukrainian drone offensives caused casualties inside Russia.

A volunteer coalition meeting will convene Monday in Kyiv, coinciding with Ukraine's Independence Day, co-chaired by Macron, Friedrich Merz, and Andy Burnham. Ukraine has also launched retaliatory strikes targeting a Russian oil refinery and Black Sea assets.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul arrived in Kyiv on a solidarity visit just before Ukraine's 35th Independence Day, pledging continued support and accusing Moscow of indiscriminate killing of civilians and the deliberate destruction of energy infrastructure. It is Wadephul's fourth trip to Ukraine since taking office 16 months ago.

The visit coincides with a surge in civilian casualties, with July and August described as the deadliest months for the Ukrainian population in more than four years. A Russian drone strike on a shopping centre in Kryvyi Rih has killed at least 16 people and wounded more than 100. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has appealed to allies for additional Patriot missile systems.

Elsewhere, Ukrainian intelligence says Russia has deployed 8,500 North Korean soldiers in the Kursk region, while Ukrainian forces launched a strike on the Novokuibyshevsk oil refinery in Russia's Samara region. Explosions were heard in Kyiv following an air alert.

A Russian drone attack on a shopping centre in Kryvyi Rih, central Ukraine, killed at least six people and wounded 91 on Friday, with 21 victims in serious condition including a child, after overnight missile barrages devastated Kyiv.

President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the strike as cynical and despicable, saying attack drones struck the city's largest commercial complex in two waves, with a second strike targeting emergency responders half an hour after the first. Municipal military administration chief Oleksandre Vilkoul confirmed drones were used in the assault.

Zelensky described the attacks as acts of terrorism and called on the international community to exert real pressure on the aggressor. Governor Oleksandre Ganja provided the updated casualty toll.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli set the pace in first practice for the Dutch Grand Prix, finishing 0.121 seconds clear of Lando Norris at Zandvoort on Friday. George Russell placed third, with Lewis Hamilton fourth.

The 12th round of the Formula 1 season arrives with Antonelli holding a 50-point championship lead over Hamilton, having won six of the first 11 races. Antonelli is the bookmakers' favourite for Sunday's race at 3.00 odds. Max Verstappen, who has won three times at Zandvoort and seeks Jim Clark's record of four, could only manage 11th in practice despite heading into the weekend with a new four-year Red Bull deal.

Fernando Alonso finished 12th as Aston Martin debuted a new Honda power unit. Liam Lawson stood in for Isack Hadjar, who broke his wrist.

Poland summoned Israel's ambassador to Warsaw and expressed deep disappointment after Israel decided not to pursue criminal proceedings over the April 2024 airstrike that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in central Gaza, including Polish volunteer Damian Sobol.

The Polish foreign ministry said it was "very disappointed" by the notification received on 19 August 2026 that Israeli military authorities had closed the investigation. Deputy Foreign Minister Ignacy Niemczycki called the decision "surprising", while Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski wrote that partnerships require mutual respect and warned that a lack of accountability undermines support even among Israel's allies. Polish prosecutors in Przemysl are conducting a parallel investigation into Sobol's death.

Israel acknowledged that serious failures led soldiers to mistakenly believe a Hamas fighter was travelling with the convoy. Australia also summoned Israel's ambassador after one of its citizens was killed in the same strike.

The eurozone's composite purchasing managers' index edged up to 52.1 in August from 52.0 in July, S&P Global data showed on Thursday, as a surge in German factory output offset softening in France.

Germany's composite PMI dipped marginally to 51.0 from 51.3, but its manufacturing index jumped to 54.1, marking the strongest performance in more than four years and beating economists' forecasts for a decline to 52.0. Phil Smith, an economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said production, new orders, and exports had all risen at their fastest pace since early 2022. In France, the composite gauge slipped to 48.8 from 49.4, remaining in contraction territory.

S&P Global chief economist Chris Williamson said the survey data point to robust third-quarter GDP growth of around 0.3 percent for the bloc.

The European Union has reaffirmed unconditional support for the International Criminal Court after the United States imposed sanctions on ICC President Tomoko Akane and prosecutor Abdoulaye Seye. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas expressed deep regret over the measures, calling them damaging to the court's work.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa issued a joint statement standing firmly behind the tribunal. Commission Vice President Teresa Ribera described the sanctions as deeply unjust, while Germany and the Netherlands also voiced opposition. Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called the move regrettable.

The ICC now has nine of its eighteen judges sanctioned, along with all current prosecutors. UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk said the attacks on judges are deeply corrosive to accountable governance. Hungary has withdrawn from the ICC after hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu despite an arrest warrant.

Former Ukrainian defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov has called for elections to be held despite the ongoing war, challenging the political status quo as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's mandate expired in May 2024 with no vote held since. Fedorov, who was appointed defence minister in January and dismissed by Zelenskyy in July, released a video urging the country to organise a ballot. His dismissal had triggered protests in Kyiv and other cities, though veteran Dmytro Koziatynskyi, a protest organiser, disowned the election call and doubted a frontline vote could be technically organised. Only 15% of Ukrainians support holding elections before the war ends, a Kyiv sociology institute poll found.

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy installed Yevhenii Chmara as the new defence minister, and deputy presidential chief of staff Iryna Mudra was dismissed over an alleged money-laundering scheme involving nearly 3 million euros.

On the battlefield, at least 16 people were killed in a Russian missile and drone attack near Kyiv, while Ukraine struck the Taneco oil refinery in Tatarstan and a Krasnodar oil terminal. A Romanian F-16 destroyed a Russian naval drone near the Neptun Deep gas project. Poland announced the arrest of a Ukrainian suspect accused of plotting an assassination on behalf of Russian intelligence, and a Russian-Australian man was arrested in Brisbane for allegedly passing military intelligence to Moscow.