The Daily Populous Sunday July 26th, 2026 evening edition
Authored by euronews.com and submitted by Galt1776-Part2

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned of a "massive" new Russian attack on Ukraine.

In a post on X, the Ukrainian leader said intelligence suggested Moscow had "readied missiles" for an attack "within the next 48 hours."

"Please take care of yourselves and pay attention to air raid alerts," he wrote.

It comes after Ukrainian authorities said Russian missile strikes on the Kyiv region on Friday killed at least 10 people and injured around 100 more. The strikes reportedly hit an arms exhibition where representatives of the Ukrainian defence industry were present.

A further five people were killed following guided aerial bomb strikes in Slovyansk, per Zelenskyy.

Latvia's foreign minister confirmed that the Latvian consulate in Slovyansk was damaged in the attacks.

Responding to the news in a statement posted to social media, Kaja Kallas, the European Union's top diplomat, said the strike on the consulate "underscores Moscow’s utter disregard for international law."

"Latvia has our full support," she added.

On Saturday, Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukrainian forces had carried out strikes on a weapons facility in Kirov on Friday night.

Ukraine also targeted an oil refinery in Tyumen, a logistics facility in Yekaterinburg, and a fuel and lubricants depot in Rostov‑on‑Don, he said.

"We also achieved very strong results with long‑range strikes in the Caspian Sea – including vessels used in military cargo shipments involving Iran, as well as a warship," he added, while also sharing video footage appearing to show the aftermath of some of the strikes.

In Ukraine, one person died and nine were injured following a Russian attack on the southeastern region of Zaporizhzhia on Saturday, per local authorities.

Zelenskyy is due to meet with US President Donald Trump in Washington next week as the US and Ukraine continue to discuss peace proposals to end the war, which began following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that he had spoken with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, about efforts to end the conflict.

"A good and important conversation about how to energize diplomacy and bring peace closer," he said.

Earlier this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sat down with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) foreign ministers' summit in the Philippines.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, second from right, attends a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. AP photo

According to the Kremlin, Lavrov used the meeting to warn Washington against continuing arms sales to Kyiv.

"Lavrov briefed his American counterpart on the actual situation along the front line and emphasised that it would be unacceptable to further arm the Kyiv regime," a statement from the Russian foreign ministry read.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Rubio said the pair had a "good," "frank" conversation but declined to go into more detail.

Asked specifically about the Kremlin's statement, Rubio said: "We sell arms via PURL, which is an initiative we have through NATO and that's what we're involved in. There's been no change to our policy in that regard".

"We want a peace deal. We want the war to end," he added.

SerenumSunny on July 26th, 2026 at 12:35 UTC »

Give them hell, Ukraine. God bless, if no believer, then may luck be with you.

ImpressionCool1768 on July 26th, 2026 at 10:31 UTC »

Ukraine spy network must be pretty damn good at this point it’s a shame Russia won’t even try to talk for peace until they get all land east of the river

_PlumRipe on July 26th, 2026 at 09:51 UTC »

Do we know if air defense supplies actually arrived in time to help intercept this upcoming wave?