(WARSAW, POLAND) – Ukrainian forces have damaged the Russian frigate Admiral Makarov, one of Russia’s most important warships in the Black Sea, during an attack on the naval base at Novorossiysk, according to the Ukrainian Navy. The strike comes amid a broader escalation of tensions along NATO’s eastern flank, with suspected Russian airspace violations and drone incursions reported across the region.
Navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk confirmed to TVP World that the Admiral Makarov was damaged in the latest Ukrainian strike on the Russian naval facility. The Admiral Essen, another key vessel, was also reported damaged during the same attack.
“They still have at least three surface vessels and two submarines in service. Two of their main ships, the Admiral Essen and Admiral Makarov, were damaged during the latest attack on their base,” Pletenchuk stated.
The spokesman also confirmed that Kalibr cruise missiles used in the overnight Russian attack on Ukraine on 20th August were launched from Novorossiysk.
Odesa remains under pressure from the air. Russia is using missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, including faster jet powered drones, while Ukraine is employing aircraft and interceptor drones to defend the region. No Russian warships have been observed at sea for several months, forcing them to hide at their base in Novorossiysk. Russian forces have resorted to launching cruise missiles directly from the military port.
Russia has also stepped up attacks on Odesa’s port infrastructure and civilian shipping. Several merchant vessels have been damaged, and navigation through the port of greater Odesa is currently suspended. This is placing pressure on one of Ukraine’s most important exports, grain. Ukraine is seeking alternative routes, including transporting grain through Moldova to the Romanian port of Constanța. However, Moldovan farmers are threatening protests, fearing that increased Ukrainian grain transit could hurt their own exports.
In Finland, a Russian aircraft is suspected of violating the country’s airspace over the western Gulf of Finland on Thursday 21st August. The Finnish Defence Ministry said in a statement that every violation of airspace is taken seriously and that an investigation is underway. Finland, which shares a 1,300 kilometre border with Russia, reported similar incidents earlier this year, with two Russian military aircraft entering the country’s airspace in May and June respectively. NATO countries regularly scramble fighter jets in response to suspicious Russian military activity.
Romania also deployed fighter jets on Thursday to destroy a naval drone spotted a few hundred metres from the Neptun Deep, a Romanian offshore gas platform in the Black Sea. Hours earlier, another drone entered the country’s airspace and crashed near the Ukrainian border.
Ukraine is reportedly seeking Elon Musk’s approval to use Starlink equipped drones to intercept ballistic missiles up to 200 kilometres inside Russia. The move comes as Kyiv faces a shortage of air defence interceptors. According to a Financial Times report published on Thursday, Kyiv is running short on Patriot missiles, the only interceptor reliable against ballistic missiles, and requests for more have fallen on deaf ears amid a global shortage caused by Washington’s war in Iran.
To be able to use Starlink equipped drones, Kyiv needs Musk’s approval, as his stance on Ukraine and the use of his technology has fluctuated. The Financial Times reports that the only person with direct access to Musk in President Zelenskyy’s cabinet was Mykhailo Fedorov, who was recently dismissed. Starlink equipped drones use SpaceX’s satellite network to maintain stronger connections with operators over longer distances than conventional radio links, making them more resistant to jamming.
Lithuania is moving ahead with the largest military infrastructure project in its history. A new military camp is being built near the Belarusian border at the Rūdninkai training area. The facility will host German and other NATO troops as the alliance strengthens its eastern flank. The seven hectare field will be covered with residential and support buildings, transport links and military infrastructure, at a cost of 40 million euros (approximately 43.6 million US dollars or 34.5 million British pounds). Construction is expected to conclude in the first half of 2028. The facility is planned to accommodate as many as 1,000 soldiers taking part in exercises.
The camp’s construction is part of increased defence cooperation between Lithuania and Germany, with Berlin in the midst of establishing the 45th Armoured Brigade, Germany’s first permanent foreign military deployment since the Second World War. The brigade was formally activated in April 2025 and is expected to reach full operability as a combat unit by next year, with 4,800 soldiers and 200 civilian personnel. Around 2,000 members are already stationed in Lithuania.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said that those who built Nord Stream should be ashamed, referring to the ongoing investigation into who blew up the pipeline and the continued arrests of suspects. Tusk’s remarks followed the arrest of a Ukrainian suspect in the 2022 Nord Stream sabotage case in Croatia on Wednesday, based on a European arrest warrant issued by Germany.
Named by German prosecutors as Volodymyr Z, the suspect was detained in Poland in September 2025. However, a Warsaw court refused to extradite him and ordered his release the following month. Asked on Thursday whether he still believed the suspect should not face criminal liability, the Polish prime minister said his position had not changed. The two Nord Stream pipelines were built to carry Russian gas directly to Germany via the Baltic Sea. In September 2022, seven months into Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine, explosions ruptured three of the four lines.
Norway is strengthening its military presence in the Arctic with a new brigade tasked with monitoring the border with Russia. The Finnmark Brigade, established last year, is the first unit of its kind created by Norway since the Cold War. The brigade’s main duty is to monitor and patrol the nearly 200 kilometre border the country shares with Russia.
Following Oslo’s latest decision to bolster it, the unit will include an artillery battalion, air defence battery and communications company that will enable it to carry out actions such as firing at targets on land some 40 kilometres away or coordinating fire with planes and ships from both Norwegian and NATO forces. The expansion is a direct response to threats which arose after Russia’s 2022 full scale invasion of Ukraine. The Finnmark Brigade’s headquarters in Porsanger is around 180 kilometres from the Russian border. On the other side of the border fence lies a major Russian military hosting area, including for Moscow’s Northern Fleet.
France has condemned Washington’s decision to impose sanctions on the president of the International Criminal Court and one of its senior prosecutors. The United States imposed sanctions against ICC President Tomoko Akane and a lawyer on the prosecution team that sought an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. France joins a chorus of international outrage over the move.
A statement from the French foreign ministry said Paris condemns all forms of threats and means of coercion taken against the court. A spokesperson said that France expresses its solidarity towards those magistrates targeted by the United States.
Questions remain over Washington’s continued commitment to NATO. Philip Breedlove of the German Marshall Fund says mixed messages, including tensions over Greenland, are creating uncertainty within the alliance. He warned that if Moscow misreads those signals, the consequences could come sooner than Europe expects.
“The commitment is reliable, the signals are confusing at best. And I don’t want to short change some, even the threats towards Greenland for example. We saw the Nordic leaders meeting today and I’m sure they’re talking about how do we understand this or how do we deal with this and continue to lobby Washington to keep their eye on the ball, or at least be okay with supporting NATO as it is now as Europe takes on more core responsibilities with US political support.
That’s good enough. But I think the signalling and some of the herky jerky nature, which I’m not going to lie, I don’t understand all the time. If you want to paint it nicely and philosophically, maybe the US is pivoting somewhere else. But if that happens quickly or is misunderstood in NATO capitals, that certainly can be a risk of misunderstanding in Moscow, which may pull the rug out quicker than we want to see,” Breedlove said.
As NATO steps up military exercises across the Baltic and Arctic regions, former Danish foreign minister Jeppe Kofod told TVP World the drills send a clear message that the alliance is ready to respond to Russian provocations.
“Yes, of course, this is good that NATO long planned exercises and drills are being carried out and will be carried out not only in the Baltic Sea but also in the high north, the Arctic century as we also talking about in other important ways of deterring Russia from attacking us.
But at the same time, we have to be strong enough in Europe in the future to be able to defend ourselves much better. And that military buildup as I said is crucial. The pace of deploying drone technology, it’s also sea drones, land drones and of course air drones. All of this has to be there. And I think the fact that US is part of these NATO exercises is natural but it’s also showing that US is still very present in Europe and that is good for our security,” Kofod said.
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