Russia intercepts almost all Ukrainian Flamingo missiles
According to German outlet Focus, Russia has been intercepting nearly all Ukrainian FP-5 “Flamingo” missiles in recent weeks. Out of 11 launched rockets, only one or two successfully reached their targets, including a strike on the Avitek missile plant in Kirov Oblast on July 24–25. The rest were shot down before they could hit their intended destinations.
This sharp drop in effectiveness is largely due to Russia’s increased use of A-50U early-warning aircraft. Since July, these planes have been flying high over Russian territory, detecting the missiles earlier than ground-based radars and predicting their likely flight paths. As a result, Ukrainian attacks on key industrial facilities inside Russia have largely come to a halt.
Russia and North Korea will continue cooperation in all sectors, Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reaffirmed their growing partnership in messages marking the 81st anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese rule on August 16.
Putin said Russia and North Korea would continue expanding cooperation “in all sectors,” while Kim praised the countries' longstanding ties and shared struggle. The relationship has deepened significantly since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with North Korea providing Moscow with troops, ballistic missiles and large quantities of artillery ammunition.
Russia has used North Korean KN-23 and KN-24 ballistic missiles in strikes against Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said North Korean missiles were used in the Aug. 11 attack on Zaporizhzhia and that Russia is preparing to receive another 30,000 North Korean troops. Pyongyang previously sent an estimated 14,000 troops to Russia, where they fought Ukrainian forces in Kursk Oblast.
Putin and Kim signed a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty in June 2024 that includes a mutual-defense provision requiring each country to assist the other if attacked.
Sixty Ukrainians have been brought back from occupation since early June
Sixty Ukrainians have been returned from Russian-occupied territories to Ukrainian-controlled areas since the beginning of June, including an 87-year-old person, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets said.
Lubinets said those returned include people from Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kherson and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts. Among them was a married couple from occupied Kherson Oblast who had been unable to leave because their documents were invalid. They later learned that their son, who had been fighting for Ukraine, had been killed. The couple wanted to return home to say goodbye to him.
Lubinets said returning people requires more than arranging a safe route out of occupied territory. Those who return may need medical care, new documents, housing and social assistance, as well as help reconnecting with their families.
He urged Ukrainians still living in occupied areas who want to leave for government-controlled territory to contact his office for assistance. Additionally, 10 Ukrainian children and teenagers were returned from occupation to Ukrainian-controlled territory on July 1.
Melania Trump helps reunite another Ukrainian family separated by war
U.S. First Lady Melania Trump has helped reunite another Ukrainian child with their family after they were separated by Russia's war against Ukraine, the White House said.
The latest case brings the number of Ukrainian children reunited with their families through Trump's efforts to 34. First Lady Melania Trump said she and her representative remain focused on facilitating further reunifications of people separated from their loved ones by the war.
The White House linked the effort to a letter Trump previously sent to Russian President Vladimir Putin concerning the separation of Ukrainian children from their families.