Ukraine has launched a new operation targeting Russian ballistic missile launchers near its borders, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Aug. 22, as Kyiv faces a shortage of missiles capable of intercepting ballistic weapons.

Zelensky said that Ukrainian military struck an Iskander ballistic missile launcher near Ukraine's borders on Aug. 22, without providing further details.

The strike was part of a separate operation to hunt down Russian missile systems positioned near Ukraine, which Zelensky described as an alternative tactic amid the dire lack of of anti-ballistic missile interceptors.

The Iskander is Russia's main surface to surface tactical ballistic missile system, with a stated range of around 500 kilometers.

Complemented with North Korean KN-23 ballistic missiles and advanced Zircon cruise missiles, the Iskander has been the workhorse of combined mass attacks again Ukrainian targets in recent months.

When attacking Kyiv and other targets inside Ukraine, Iskanders are launched from mobile erector-launcher systems inside Russian territory, usually in border regions like Bryansk or Kursk oblasts.

With Ukraine's stocks of Patriot ballistic missile interceptor at or near empty, strikes against Iskander launchers have long been proposed as an alternative method of fighting the Iskander threat, but Ukraine has lacked options for quickly detecting and hitting launch sites.

"At one point (the Russians) were planning to launch an attack, but didn’t go through with it. This is no coincidence," Zelensky told journalists.

"In other words, we're working to prevent them from carrying out large-scale missile attacks. These are individual, complex operations, and we're now starting to see the first results."

Zelensky said Russia could potentially produce up to 1,300 ballistic missiles annually and currently has around 600–630 in stock. Moscow could eventually aim to produce around 100 ballistic missiles per month, he said, although it has not yet reached that rate.

Ukraine is also seeking more Patriot interceptors ahead of winter, Zelensky said, revealing that Ukraine had only received 264 missiles for the advanced surface-to-air system this year so far.

The Air Force has requested 360 missiles, up from an initial target of 300. According to the president, Kyiv hopes to secure 5–10% of U.S. stocks, with Ukraine prepared to pay for the missiles.

Zelensky also said Germany had agreed to provide 600 PAC-2 missiles for Patriot systems in 2027–2028, while negotiations with Washington over additional supplies continue.

Longer-term alternatives to the Patriot are also moving ahead, the president said, referring specifically to the Freyja project, a joint effort by European and Ukrainian defense companies to produce a new anti-ballistic missile system.

The project has moved from political discussions to the technical stage, with companies now beginning practical work, Zelensky said.

Keith Kellogg, the former U.S. envoy to Ukraine, met with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Aug. 22 to discuss Ukraine’s urgent need for air defense missiles, as Russia continues to intensify its attacks on Ukrainian cities.

Kellogg, previously regarded as one of the most pro-Ukrainian voices in the White House, left his position in 2025 but said his work in support of Ukraine would continue after leaving his government role.

Zelensky said on social media that he discussed with Kellogg Ukraine's shortage of Patriot air defense missiles, which the Presidential Office described as an "absolute priority" for Ukraine's defense needs. Zelensky reiterated to Kellogg the country's willingness to purchase the interceptor missiles ahead of what is expected to be yet another gruelling winter.

Russia has been exploiting Ukraine's shortage of protection against ballistic missiles, hammering cities with intense, frequent bombardments. Recent attacks over the last few days killed 16 people at a shopping center in Kryvyi Rih on Aug. 21 and 15 people in Kyiv on Aug. 20.

Kellogg's visit to Kyiv comes a day after the former official visited Odesa on Aug. 21 as part of a working group analysis Russia's ongoing attacks on port infrastructure.

The U.S. delegation led by Kellogg was shown the damage from Russian attacks on port infrastructure and briefed on measures being taken to maintain operations, the Infrastructure Ministry said.

Amid Zelensky's calls for more Patriot interceptor missiles from allies, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Aug. 22 that France will speed up the delivery of missiles and other military equipment following a nearly two-hour-long phone call between the two leaders.

Macron also agreed to help Kyiv in its communications with international partners that possess Patriot air defense systems, according to Zelensky. The president has repeatedly said that Patriots are critical for protecting Ukrainian civilians.

Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses delegates from the United Russia party as he attends the party's congress ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections in Moscow, Russia, August 22, 2026. Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via REUTERS Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

KYIV, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Ukraine thinks Russia is planning ​to draft an additional 300,000 troops for its war effort after Russian parliamentary elections in mid-September, Ukrainian President ‌Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.

Moscow's forces are pressing ahead with an effort to capture the rest of eastern Ukraine's industrialised Donbas region, where its troops have ground forward at what Kyiv says is a great cost.

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In comments to reporters released on Sunday, Zelenskiy said Russia could draft more ​troops in 2027 to reach an overall goal of 500,000, part of what he described as a "peripheral mobilisation" ​targeting Russia's far-flung regions.

"We believe it will not take place in the central cities," he said. "But ⁠I don't think they will be able to hide it very well."

Parliamentary elections in Russia are set for September ​18 to 20.

As fighting rages around the strategic city of Kostiantynivka, Zelenskiy said Russia was losing a "maximum" amount of troops in ​its bid to advance into Ukraine's so-called fortress belt of eastern cities.

He also hailed recent gains by Kyiv's troops in southeastern Ukraine, adding that the amount of territory occupied by Russia and liberated by Ukrainian forces in 2026 would be equal.

RUSSIA RAMPING UP MISSILE OUTPUT, ZELENSKIY SAYS

Russia ​is bolstering its battlefield offensive with an escalating air war on Ukrainian cities made worse by a critical shortage ​of U.S.-designed Patriot interceptors.

Zelenskiy said the 264 interceptors Ukraine is expecting to have received in 2026 represent a significant drop from 2025, when Ukraine ‌received ⁠364, and 2023, when it received 675.

He added that Russia was aiming to develop a capacity to produce up to 1,300 ballistic missiles per year.

Over the summer, Ukraine has escalated a campaign of drone strikes targeting Russian economic infrastructure, including oil refineries and online retailers' warehouses, seeking to destroy infrastructure it says is central to Russia's war effort.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in ​comments on Saturday that Kyiv ​had opened "Pandora's box" by striking ⁠economic targets, saying Russia would hit back at Ukraine's "most sensitive economic sectors".

UKRAINE BRACES FOR NEW ENERGY STRIKES, FACES FUNDING GAP

Zelenskiy said Ukraine was facing another difficult winter of Russian strikes ​on its energy grid, a prospect that had prompted Kyiv's air force to ask ​for 360 missile ⁠interceptors for the season.

He also said he had reached an agreement with France on at least one SAMP/T air-defence system this year, and with Germany on the supply of about 600 PAC-2 and PAC-3 interceptors through 2028.

Ukraine's war effort is further complicated by ⁠a $27 ​billion defence funding gap this year, Zelenskiy said, a result of higher-than-expected ​spending in the first half of the year.

At least $8 billion is needed for "a normal start" to 2027, plus about $20 billion more for military salaries, payments ​to families of the dead, as well as other financing, he added.

Writing by Dan Peleschuk; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Helen Popper

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Russia and Ukraine have exchanged heavy air attacks, killing at least 17 people, as Russian President Vladimir Putin warned of intensified retaliatory strikes on Ukrainian economic infrastructure.

Russian attacks on Ukraine on Saturday killed at least seven people, while Ukrainian strikes on Russia and Moscow-occupied territory killed at least 10, according to officials.

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Ukraine’s strikes included hits on a warehouse operated by online retailer Ozon and an industrial site in Samara region, officials said.

The deadly attacks came as Russia and Ukraine both ramp up drone campaigns aiming to cripple each other’s economic infrastructure, often striking targets far beyond the war’s front lines, ⁠as fighting on the battlefield grinds towards the four and a half year mark.

The exchange on Saturday also followed a Russian drone attack on a shopping centre in Kryvyi Rih that killed 16 people and wounded about 130 on Friday, according to a local official.

Strikes on Russia

In a post on Telegram on Saturday, the governor of Russia’s Samara region, Vyacheslav Fedorishchev, said that an elderly woman had been killed in a strike on the city of Novokuibyshevsk, which he said caused damage to industrial facilities.

Ukraine’s military said it had struck the city’s oil refinery, causing a fire.

Ozon, Russia’s second-largest online retailer, said in a statement on Telegram that ⁠work at its Samara region logistics centre in the town of Chapayevsk had been ⁠halted after the strike, which it said caused injuries.

The attack is the first on Ozon following weeks of drone strikes on its larger rival Wildberries, which Ukraine has cast as part of a wider campaign against economic infrastructure underpinning the Russian war in Ukraine.

Elsewhere, regional officials reported casualties across several Russian border and occupied territories. Three people, including two children, were killed in Krasnodar region, while two were killed and 13 wounded in Belgorod.

In Russian-annexed Sevastopol in Crimea, at least two people died, and 10 were injured after a Ukrainian drone struck a bus, according to the Moscow-installed governor.

In Russian-controlled Luhansk, two civilians, including a 16-year-old boy, were reported killed.

Putin, speaking to state broadcaster Vesti TV, said Ukraine’s strikes on Russian economic targets amounted to opening a “Pandora’s box”.

“The Kyiv regime set out to damage our economy,” he said. “What did it do? It opened this Pandora’s box itself.”

“Retaliation will not be long in coming,” he said. “Russia’s actions are far more painful and far more destructive. I have said many times that there will always be a response.”

Strikes on Ukraine

In Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, at least one person was killed and another wounded when Russian ballistic missiles hit railway infrastructure in the city overnight, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Another attack on the Kyiv region on Saturday afternoon killed two others, officials said. One person was killed overnight in the Zaporizhia region, while a daytime attack killed three others and wounded 15, according to local officials.

Rescuers in Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy’s hometown, meanwhile searched the charred wreckage of the Sunny Gallery shopping complex following Friday’s deadly assault.

Oleksandr Hanzha, the governor of Dnipropetrovsk, confirmed in an update on Saturday morning that the death toll in Kryvyi Rih had risen to 16, with more than 130 wounded, including 22 children.

Al Jazeera’s Audrey MacAlpine, reporting from Kyiv, said Friday’s attack began “at 4:30 in the afternoon when the mall is typically crowded”, with a second wave following “just 30 minutes later, with rescue workers from nearby regions called in to help”.

“The attacks come as civilian casualties in the war continue to mount, with July marking one of the deadliest months for civilians on both sides since the full-scale war began. And they are another example of how attacks far beyond the front lines are taking their toll on ordinary people,” she said.

Air defences and humanitarian aid

The strikes prompted renewed pledges of support from European allies.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he would accelerate deliveries of military equipment and missiles to Ukraine and confirmed France’s willingness to license domestic missile production, following a call with Zelenskyy.

Macron said he expressed his “horror” and “emotion”, adding that Russia was seeking to “break Ukraine through terror”.

“With these strikes and those this week against Kyiv, Russia is continuing and intensifying the crime of its aggression,” Macron added on X.

Ukraine is expected to receive the ⁠new Italo-French SAMP/T-NG missile defence ⁠system, which is believed to be capable of downing ballistic missiles. Prior to the attack, the shipments were not expected to arrive in Ukraine ‌before ‌spring 2027, according to European diplomats.

The French president said he and Zelenskyy also discussed preparations for a meeting of the “Coalition of the Willing” scheduled for Monday.

“It is essential that all countries with capabilities at their disposal also join this effort,” Macron posted on X, adding that France would continue cooperation under the Integrated Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, who was visiting Kyiv on Saturday, also sharply criticised the shopping centre attack, condemning Putin for increasing the “intensity of war” and “deliberately terrorising civilians”.

At a news conference, Wadephul announced additional humanitarian aid for Ukraine, pledging an additional $58m, which will go to the United Nations agencies and NGOs focused on people residing near the front lines.

Zelenskyy said he discussed preparations for the upcoming winter with Wadephul, as Russia is expected to renew its relentless attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid.

Germany is expected to pay about another $12m into a NATO fund to strengthen Ukraine’s energy networks and systems for defending against drones, Wadephul said.