Nato jets were scrambled on Friday after a drone entered Latvia’s airspace during Ukrainian attacks on Russian ports, according to authorities.
Two Italian Eurofighter jets took off from Lithuania and two Turkish F-16s were scrambled from a base in Estonia in response, Nato spokesperson Allison Hart said.
It came after Russia shot down dozens of drones in the northern part of the country located west of St Petersburg, according to the governor of the Leningrad region.
Civilian casualties from the war in Ukraine rose by nearly a third month-on-month in July, to the highest level since May 2022, as Russia struck towns and cities far from the battlefield with missiles and drones, the UN said on Friday.
The UN’s human rights monitoring mission to Ukraine said it had confirmed at least 437 civilians killed and 2,610 injured in July, a 30 per cent rise from June and a 70 per cent jump from the same month last year.
Long-range weapons, such as missiles and drones, remained the leading cause of civilian deaths last month, accounting for 38 per cent of the total.
“Most casualties from these weapons occurred far from the frontline in urban centres,” the report said.
Russia rejects any peace talks that freeze current frontline
Kremlin officials have reiterated Russia's unwillingness to engage in any peace talks that aim to freeze the current frontline, emphasising Moscow's commitment towards a “long-term, reliable, and sustainable” settlement on its own terms.
Russian security council deputy chairperson Dmitry Medvedev said earlier this week that Russia will suspend or end the war in Ukraine “exclusively” on its own terms.
This is in line with Moscow's routine rejection of all Ukrainian peace proposals to end the war in Ukraine on any terms that do not fulfil Russia’s demands for Ukraine’s complete capitulation.
Russia and North Korea are coordinating on national security: KNCA
Moscow and Pyongyang are coordinating on matters concerning the security and stability of the two countries, North Korean state media KCNA said today.
The legacy of blood ties and combat friendship between Russia and North Korea has become a cornerstone of their relations, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said, according to KCNA.
The two countries would continue "constructive joint work" on bilateral and international issues, Putin said, according to North Korean state media.
Drone advancements are expanding kill zone in Ukraine, expert warns
Ukrainian forces recently destroyed a Russian first-person view drone that was radio-controlled using frequency-hopping and spread-spectrum (FHSS) technology, signalling a new adaptation in the war.
The FHSS technology enables Russian drones to evade Ukrainian electronic warfare jamming by rapidly switching frequency bands.
This could lead to an expansion of the kill zone area, currently within 15 to 25 km from the frontline, Ukrainian drone warfare expert Dmytro Putiata said.
July was worst month for Ukrainian civilians since conflict began
At least 437 Ukrainian civilians were killed and more than 2,600 injured in July 2026 alone, making it the month when most people were killed or injured in Ukraine since Russia's invasion of the country began in early 2022, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) has reported.
This is a 30 per cent increase from June, which was previously the deadliest month on record.
Among the 437 killed were 17 children, making July the month with the highest child casualties since April 2022.
"Every month this year the number of killed and injured civilians has increased. That trend accelerated sharply in July," HRMMU Head Danielle Bell said.
Ukraine warns Egypt of food supply threat due to Russian strikes
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said today that he has warned his Egyptian counterpart of a food supply threat from Kyiv caused by Russian strikes in the Black Sea.
"Ukraine is one of the largest food suppliers to Egypt and to a significant number of other countries in Africa and the Middle East. These supplies are now under serious threat because of Russia’s war," Zelensky said in a post on X.
"There has already been a significant reduction in supplies, and this could have very serious consequences due to rising prices and shortages," he said, urging the Egyptian president to pay attention to the situation in our Black Sea region.
Inside Putin’s aggressive army recruitment drive as Russians ‘snatched off streets’ to feed Ukraine war
Moscow appears to be adopting increasingly aggressive strategies to recruit fresh troops for its war of attrition in Ukraine, as Vladimir Putin looks to make up for heavy battlefield losses.
Men are reportedly being snatched off Russian streets and students offered significant financial incentives to join drone units as Moscow looks to avoid another forced mobilisation.
Local officials have been issued recruitment quotas by the Kremlin and Moscow’s defence ministry as it looks to meet this year’s 409,000 target, sources familiar with the matter told the Financial Times.
Russians are given referral bonuses for encouraging others to sign up while officials exploit knowledge of potential recruits’ debts and legal problems to pressure them into signing up, the FT adds.
US backs Japan over Putin’s visit to disputed islands
The US has backed Japan in its territorial dispute with Russia after Vladimir Putin visited a group of disputed islands on Thursday.
US Ambassador to Tokyo George Glass said Washington recognises Japanese sovereignty over the islands and remains “unwavering” in its support for Japan.
“The United States remains unwavering in its support of its most important ally and in its recognition of Japanese sovereignty over the Northern Territories,” Glass said on X, using the Japanese name for the Kuril islands visited for the first time by Putin on Thursday.
“At a time when the US-Japan Alliance is dedicated to cultivating prosperity across the Indo-Pacific, we strongly oppose any action that undermines its peace and stability,” Glass added.
‘A seductive redhead Russian spy’: The true story of Anna Chapman and why she matters now
If you say the name ‘Anna Chapman’ or ‘that story about the Russian redhead spy’, everyone’s come across it in the tabloids at some point,” says Jamie Crawford. “It’s one of those cultural blips in the last 15 years or so… Her story in and of itself is not history-changing. But what’s interesting about it is how it fits into a bigger story of East against West.”
Crawford is the director of the new Channel 4 documentary Spy Next Door: The Anna Chapman Story. It depicts the true story of Chapman, a glamorous Russian spy, from her time living in Britain in her early twenties before moving to New York City, where she’s tracked by the FBI as part of a larger web of deep-cover Russian agents.
“It’s a story told in reverse in that she suddenly sprang to brief fame in 2010 when she was arrested as part of an FBI sting on Russian spies operating in the United States,” says Crawford. “And it quickly became apparent that before being in the US, she had been in the UK.”