Intern arrested in Belgium on suspicion of spying inside Nato military headquarters

A Canadian woman was arrested and accused of espionage while working as an intern in the operational headquarters of the Nato military alliance, Belgian authorities said Saturday.

Belgium's Federal Prosecutor's Office said it launched an espionage investigation after being tipped off by Nato’s security services. Authorities then detained “a Canadian citizen of Chinese origin” Friday, a day after raiding the suspect's home and workplace inside Nato's vast operational command centre.

“She is suspected of spying on behalf of a third country and of being a member of a criminal organisation,” the prosecutors said in a statement.

Maira Butt26 July 2026 11:00

Russia says it captures Shevchenko in Ukraine's Donetsk region

Russian forces have captured the settlement of Shevchenko in Ukraine's Donetsk region, Russia's defence ministry said on Sunday.

Maira Butt26 July 2026 10:40

Ukrainian Air Force says Russian forces targeting Kyiv with ballistic missiles

The Ukrainian capital Kyiv came under attack early on Sunday, and Ukraine's Air Force said Russian forces were targeting the city with ballistic missiles.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said falling debris had triggered fires in at least three districts.

Reuters witnesses said they had heard repeated explosions.

Maira Butt26 July 2026 10:30

Watch: Zelensky warns Putin is preparing to send more Russians to war

Maira Butt26 July 2026 10:00

In pictures: Aftermath of Russian attack in Kyiv

Maira Butt26 July 2026 09:30

Iran says Ukrainian attack on vessel in Caspian Sea killed sailor

Iran's Foreign Ministry condemned on Saturday a Ukrainian attack on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea, saying it resulted in an explosion that killed one sailor and injured another.

Throughout the war in Ukraine, Kyiv has had to counter Iranian-designed drones deployed by Moscow. Kyiv has offered its drone interception expertise to countries in the Middle East that have suffered strikes from Iran.

Tehran described the attack on its vessel as an act of aggression and said it would defend its national interests and security, while accusing Kyiv of seeking to expand the war in Ukraine.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned Ukraine's chargé d'affaires in Tehran to convey its protest over what it described as a "hostile and criminal" attack, Iran's state news agency IRNA reported.

The Iranian denunciation coincided with comments by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that Kyiv had noted Russia was passing on its satellite observations in the Middle East to Iran to enable it to direct strikes in the region.

Zelensky had earlier said that Ukraine's forces struck a Russian warship and vessels used for transporting Iranian-linked military cargo in the Caspian Sea.

Maira Butt26 July 2026 09:00

Russian satellites helping Tehran direct strikes in Middle East, says Zelensky

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Russia was passing on its satellite observations in the Middle East to Iran to enable it to direct strikes in the region.

“Since the beginning of July, we have recorded active Russian satellite surveillance of the Gulf states and US military facilities located there. These images subsequently appear in Iran,” Zelensky said in comments on X.

“At the same time, there is a clear correlation between Russia’s satellite imagery of these sites and Iranian strikes – both before the attacks, in preparation for them, and afterward, to assess the damage inflicted.”

Maira Butt26 July 2026 08:30

Ukraine’s petrol stations are the latest target for Putin’s drones: ‘When I see something... I run for my life’

Get off the forecourt now,” shouts Dima, 65, an attendant at a petrol station on the main road into Pavlohrad, in Ukraine’s eastern Dnipropetrovsk region.

As the air raid siren wails, he points to an app on his phone tracking Russian drones — now an essential tool for those working on the country’s increasingly dangerous petrol station forecourts. An arrow is moving across the screen.

“It’s a Russian Geran-3 drone heading in our direction,” he says. “They missed us yesterday, but they are coming back for another try. You must leave immediately.”

Russia has intensified its assault on Ukraine’s retail fuel network over the past month, striking ordinary roadside stations across the east and south of the country.

Maira Butt26 July 2026 07:58

Fire reported overnight at Russia's Engels air base – report

A fire was from reported Russia's Engels-2 military airfield in Saratov Oblast overnight, according to the Kyiv Independent.

Eyewitnesses reported a large fire at the air base and published footage of smoke and flames at the site, which is home to Russia's strategic aircraft, including the Tu-95 long-range bomber, the news outlet said.

Namita Singh26 July 2026 07:00

Putin preparing to send more Russians to war, says Zelensky

Volodymyr Zelensky warned, citing intelligence reports, Vladimir Putin is "preparing the conditions for expanding mobilisation" as Russian losses mount on the battlefield.

The Ukrainian president said in his evening address Moscow enlisted 221,000 people into the Russian military thus far in 2026, while sustaining nearly 225,500 losses among Russian soldiers, including 131,000 killed and almost 93,000 wounded this year alone, the Kyiv Independent reported.

"A significant share of those wounds are severe, as frontline medical care in Russia is catastrophically poor," Zelensky said.

Namita Singh26 July 2026 06:30