Strikes kill 19 in Russia and Ukraine
Recent drone and missile strikes between Russia and Ukraine have resulted in 19 deaths, marking some of the highest civilian casualty rates since the start of the conflict. Both nations have intensified long-range attacks on infrastructure, including industrial sites and cultural landmarks.
Why it matters
The escalation of long-range strikes indicates a shift in the conflict's intensity as front-line fighting remains largely stagnant.
Strikes killed 19 people in Russia and Ukraine, authorities said Sunday (August 16, 2026), as waves of drones and missiles pummelled civilian infrastructure on both sides.
With fighting at the front at a near standstill and talks frozen, the warring countries have significantly stepped up long-range attacks deep behind each other’s lines, pushing the civilian death toll to its highest levels since the war’s first months in 2022.
In Russia, swarms of Ukrainian drones killed five people in a residential area of the southern Rostov region, regional governor Yuri Slusar said.
Three more people were killed in the Belgorod, Kursk and Moscow regions, along with four others in parts of Ukraine occupied by Russia.
Firefighters try to put out a fire at a city book market following a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on August 16, 2026. | Photo Credit: AP
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