Russia launched a large-scale missile and drone attack on Ukrainian cities

Russia carried out a large-scale missile and drone attack against Ukraine overnight on Aug. 30, leaving at least one person dead and 28 others injured, officials said.

Explosions were reported in Zaporizhzhia, Pavlohrad, Dnipro, Chernihiv, Lutsk, and Cherkasy. Ukraine’s Air Force confirmed that Russia launched 537 Shahed-type drones, eight Iskander-M or North Korean KN-23 ballistic missiles, and 37 cruise missiles. Ukrainian defenses intercepted 510 drones, six ballistic missiles, and 32 cruise missiles, though five missiles and 24 drones struck targets in seven regions. Debris was also reported in 21 locations.

In Zaporizhzhia, regional Governor Ivan Fedorov said 40 houses, 14 apartment buildings, and several industrial facilities were damaged. He added that at least eight people were hospitalized, including a 10-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl.

Ukraine’s state railway operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, reported damage to railway infrastructure in Kyiv Oblast, leading to several hours of delays. Meanwhile, Poland’s Air Force said it scrambled fighter jets around 5 a.m. to secure its own airspace during the attack.

The strike followed another massive Russian assault on Aug. 28 that killed 25 civilians and injured 63 people in Kyiv.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the international community to take decisive action following Russia’s large-scale overnight attack on Ukraine on 29–30 August. He said Moscow exploited the time ahead of a planned leaders’ meeting to prepare new strikes, showing contempt for mere words. Zelenskyy stressed that only tough sanctions on Russia’s banking and energy sectors, along with measures against those funding its military, can reopen prospects for diplomacy. He called on the U.S., Europe, and global partners to move beyond political statements and take real steps to stop the war.

India will host Putin in December amid Trump`s pressure

The Kremlin announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit India in December, his first trip there since 2021, amid rising U.S. pressure on New Delhi over its energy ties with Moscow. President Donald Trump has imposed 50% tariffs on Indian goods, criticizing India’s purchases of Russian oil and weapons while trying to broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.

Despite earlier reports that India was reducing Russian oil imports under U.S. pressure, Reuters said New Delhi now plans to increase imports by up to 20% in September, arguing the supplies are vital for energy stability. Washington has condemned India’s role, with Trump’s advisor Peter Navarro calling it an “oil money laundromat for the Kremlin.”

India has maintained a neutral stance on the war, urging peace while continuing trade with Russia, whose energy exports provide a major source of funding for its invasion of Ukraine.

 Ukraine's ex-parliament speaker, current MP assassinated in Lviv

Andrii Parubii, one of Ukraine’s most prominent political figures and a veteran of the country’s modern independence struggle, was gunned down in broad daylight in Lviv on Aug. 30. His killing has shocked the nation, not only because of his senior political role but also because of his long history of leadership during Ukraine’s most pivotal moments.

Police reported that the shooting occurred around noon in the southern Frankivskyi district of Lviv. Witnesses said the attacker, disguised as a delivery courier and riding an electric bicycle, approached Parubii and opened fire. The politician was struck by multiple bullets and died instantly at the scene. Investigators later confirmed that several shell casings were recovered nearby. Governor Maksym Kozytskyi said an intensive manhunt was underway across Lviv Oblast to locate the shooter, and prosecutors have officially launched a murder investigation.

President Volodymyr Zelensky reacted swiftly, calling the killing a “terrible murder” and confirming that Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko and Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko had briefed him on the early details of the case. The brazen nature of the attack—an assassination carried out in the middle of the day against a well-known public figure—has left many Ukrainians stunned.

Parubii, 54, was no ordinary politician. A native of Lviv Oblast, he first rose to prominence during the Orange Revolution of 2004 and later became a central figure in the EuroMaidan Revolution of 2013–2014, where he organized volunteer self-defense units in Kyiv as protesters demanded an end to corrupt pro-Russian rule. Following the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych, Parubii was appointed secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, a position he held during the early days of Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the start of the war in Donbas.

His leadership during those turbulent months made him a constant target of Russian propaganda, which painted him as a symbol of Ukraine’s resistance to Moscow. He went on to serve as the first deputy speaker of parliament from 2014 to 2016, and later as parliament speaker from 2016 to 2019. Since 2019, he had been a member of the European Solidarity party led by former President Petro Poroshenko.

To many Ukrainians, Parubii represented the generation of leaders who emerged from the barricades of Kyiv’s Independence Square to guide the country through its hardest years of conflict and reform. His assassination—whether the act of a lone gunman or something more coordinated—will likely resonate far beyond Lviv.