• 1:55 pm: Volodymyr Zelenskiy inspects F-16s expected to be received from Netherlands

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a surprise visit to the Dutch Air Force Base in Eindhoven (South) to inspect the US F-16 fighter jets he expects to receive from the Netherlands.

Two days after the United States gave the green light to the Netherlands and Denmark to deliver American planes to Kiev, the Ukrainian president, along with resigned Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, spotted two planes in a hangar, an AFP journalist noted.

• 12:25 pm: Volodymyr Zelensky’s surprise visit to Dutch Air Force base

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived at a Dutch air force base in Eindhoven, southern Netherlands, two days after the United States approved the deployment of American F-16 fighter jets in Kiev.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy landed around 12pm local time, a Dutch government spokesman told AFP. Confirmation and details of the delivery of the devices from the Netherlands to Ukraine are still unknown. “With the first lady and the team, we arrived in the Netherlands,” the Ukrainian president confirmed on his Telegram account. A message was broadcast on “X” (formerly Twitter).

“[Les F-16] To protect our people in Ukraine from Russian terrorism, [sont l’objet principal de la visite]”We are getting stronger,” he added, according to the Ukrainian president.

• 9:01 am: Russian military says it has foiled a Ukrainian drone attack targeting Moscow and its territory.

The Russian military said it had foiled a Ukrainian drone attack targeting Moscow and its territory, the second in two days, at a time when such attacks on Russian soil are escalating as part of a counteroffensive by Kyiv forces.

“At around 4 a.m. (1 a.m.), an attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack by drone on infrastructure in Moscow and the Moscow region was thwarted,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. He said there was no loss of life or damage.

• 4:33 am: Drone attack on Russian city of Kursk, five injured

A Ukrainian drone strike over the western Russian city of Kursk hit a train station, injuring five people, the regional governor said.

“A Ukrainian drone attack in Kursk,” Roman Starovoit said in Telegram, “according to preliminary information, it hit the roof of the station building, after which a fire broke out on the roof.” “Five people were slightly injured by shards of glass,” he added, adding that emergency services were at the scene.

Kursk is 90 kilometers from the border separating Russia and Ukraine.

• Essentials of August 19

At least seven people were killed and 110 injured in a Russian bombing in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv on Saturday, Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said. The UN condemned a particularly “heinous” attack.

For its part, the Russian military says it has repelled Ukrainian drone strikes.

With AFP and Reuters