Former Ukraine Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov
Sunday’s Coverage: Kyiv Strikes More Wildberries Warehouses in Russia
UPDATE 1554 GMT:
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has formally nominated Yevhen Khmara, a former senior officer in the SBU State security service, as Defense Minister.
Khmara has been Acting Defense Minister since Zelensky dismissed Mykhailo Fedorov on July 15.
The President has defied widespread protests calling for Fedorov’s reinstatement.
Khmara commanded the SBU’s Alpha Special Operations Center, overseeing Ukraine’s campaign of long-range drone strikes against Russia. He also led the operation to liberate Snake Island in 2022.
UPDATE 1550 GMT:
Ghana has appealed to Russia to end “illegal recruitment” of its citizens for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said 62 Ghanaians have been killed and 15 are missing.
At a press conference after talks with Ablakwa, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov insisted Ghanaian citizens signed contracts with Russia’s Defense Ministry out of “solidarity with a country that helped them fight racism”, as well as for “material and financial reasons”.
UPDATE 1544 GMT:
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky commented on this morning’s murder of 10 civilians and injuring of eight by a Russian missile strike on a village in the Kharkiv region:
We will definitely respond to this Russian strike. And it is equally important that our partners also complement our just kinetic responses with their own actions to put pressure on Russia and support Ukraine.
This morning, the Russians launched a brutal attack on a busy intersection in Pechenihy, Kharkiv region – a location with a post office and stores, surrounded only by residential buildings.
As of now, 10 people have been reported killed. My condolences to their families and… pic.twitter.com/AnFmXsSzAS
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 18, 2026
UPDATE 0757 GMT:
Ten civilians have been murdered and eight injured by a Russian missile strike on the village of Pechenyhy in the Kharkiv region in northeast Ukraine.
The strike damaged 10 private homes, a cafe, a post office, a shop, and at least seven cars.
This morning, Russia killed 10 people in Pechenihy, Kharkiv region.
17 more injured.The Russian strike hit a crossroads where there is only civilian infrastructure.
Deepest condolences. Such a tragedy…
— Anton Gerashchenko (@antongerashchenko.bsky.social) August 18, 2026 at 9:09 AM
Nine other civilians were murdered and 53 injured by Russia attacks across Ukraine over the past day.
In the Zaporizhzhia region in the southeast, two men and woman were killed and six people injured. In the neighboring Kherson region, two civilians were murdered and 10 wounded.
In the Donetsk region in the east, one person was slain and four wounded.
In the Sumy region in the northeast, three people were killed and three injured.
Casualties were also recorded in the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions.
UPDATE 0747 GMT:
Following a demand by Vladimir Putin, Russian businessmen have transferred almost 384 billion rubles (more than $4.52 billion) to the Government budget.
Putin met the entrepreneurs in March. That month, donations totaled 15.6 billion rubles. They rose tenfold to 159.7 billion rubles in April. In May, they increased by 45.5%, in June by 27%, and in July and the first half of August by another 30%.
Russia’s federal budget deficit for the January-July period reached 6.455 trillion rubles ($76.1 billion). The debt is already almost double the planned figure for 2026 of 3.786 trillion rubles.
The Governmet has spent nearly 50 trillion rubles ($589.3 billion) on the invasion of Ukraine. It has spent 3/4ths of the National Welfare Fund’s available funds, imposed export and exchange rate duties, increased the mineral extraction tax, and confiscated private assets worth 4 trillion rubles.
In 2025, corporate income tax and personal income tax for wealthy individuals were increased, and in 2026 VAT and taxes for small businesses were raised.
UPDATE 0738 GMT:
A Russian court has sentenced opposition figure Lev Shlosberg to 11 years and 1 month in prison for statements opposing the invasion of Ukraine.
Shlosberg is a senior member of the Yabloko Party, which has been banned from participation in next month’s Parliamentary elections. Yabloko was the last party in the campaign questioning the invasion.
He was accused of repeatedly discrediting Russia’s army and disseminating “fake news” about the military.
UPDATE 0627 GMT:
Ukraine’s air defenses downed 111 of 147 drones launched by Russia overnight. Hits were recorded at 19 locations.
UPDATE 0541 GMT:
Ukraine’s Naftogaz energy company says Russia attacked its facilities 13 times over the past week and almost 300 times since the start of the year with missiles and drones.
The latest attacks caused serious damage to equipment and production capacity but no injuries.
DTEK said a Russian attack started a fire at one of its mines, killing a 52-year-old man.
UPDATE, AUG 18:
Ukrainian forces struck another warehouse of Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer, near Moscow overnight.
Russian officials claimed Ukraine launched more than 600 drones at the region. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin asserted that at least 197 were downed.
UPDATE 1642 GMT:
Russia’s Supreme Court has upheld the Kremlin’s ban on Yabloko, the last party in September’s elections questioning the invasion of Ukraine.
The party was banned on August 10. Prosecutors alleged that Yabloko violated copyright in its campaign materials and received foreign funding.
More than 85 people were detained outside the Supreme Court building during Monday’s hearing.
UPDATE 1633 GMT:
At least nine civilians have been murdered and at least 43 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.
In the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, two people were murdred and 11 injured in Kramatorsk. Six others were wounded by Russian strikes elsewhere in the region.
In the Kherson region in the south, two men aged 58 and 66 were killed by a Russian FPV drone attack. Six people were wounded elsewhere in region.
In the neighboring Zaporizhzhia region, two civilians were slain and three injured by guided aerial bombs.
In the Sumy region in the northeast, a 75-year-old man and a 72-year-old woman were slain and three others wounded.
In the Dnipropetrovsk region in the southeast, one person was killed and six injured.
A drone attack near Odesa city on a post office in a shopping center wounded seven people, including a couple and their 8-year-old son. Strikes on port infrastructure damaged a Togolese-flagged vessel, injuring four people.
Casualties were also recorded from the Kharkiv region.
UPDATE 0942 GMT:
Russia’s Spasskaya Tower International Military Music Festival has been cancelled, four days before it was due to begin.
The Festival posted that the event has been postponed to 2027 “for reasons beyond the organizers’ control”.
The event features performances by military orchestras and honor guard units representing Russia and other countries. First held in 2006 on Moscow’s Poklonnaya Hill, it has taken place on Red Square since 2007.
The festival has been cancelled only once before, in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It had been scheduled to run from August 21 to August 30.
UPDATE 0852 GMT:
Ukraine’s air defenses downed 106 of 128 drones fired by Russia overnight. Hits were recorded at 14 locations.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Former Ukraine Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov says Kyiv could be capable of striking Russia with domestically-made ballistic missiles by the end of 2026.
Federov became Defense Minister in January, and was widely hailed for technological innovation and implementation. However, he was dismissed by President Volodymyr Zelensky in July amid Fedorov’s disputes with commander-in-chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi. The removal has sparked mass protests calling for his reinstatement.
Fedorov told the US-based CBS News, “We need to defeat Russia in every technological cycle.” The comments echo those of Zelensky and of Fire Point, the Ukrainian manufacturer of long-range missiles, who have given a similar timeline.
The former Defense Minister cautioned that although Ukraine is innovating quickly, Russia is also advancing rapidly.
On Sunday, around 2,000 protesters gathered in Kyiv’s Arch of Freedom of the Ukrainian People, calling for Fedorov’s reinstatement.
Dmytro Koziatynskyi, a war veteran and one of the organizers said the rally aimed to “remind the President of the importance of dialogue between the authorities and society, as well as the fact that the President himself must bear responsibility for the consequences of all questionable personnel decisions”.
