22 August 2026

Around 110,000 residents in Lithuania were without power by Saturday evening after severe wind and rain, and firefighters had logged about 500 callouts by 4.30 p.m. for fallen trees and downed lines. In Silute, rainfall reached the threshold for extreme precipitation after 83 per cent of the monthly August norm fell since morning. Emergency alerts were sent to mobile phones in the morning warning of dangerous wind and heavy rain, while forecasts pointed to easing conditions overnight into Sunday. Firefighters said no wind-related injuries had been reported so far.

Lithuania's Defence Ministry yesterday extended reinforced protection for critical infrastructure indefinitely after intelligence warned of possible Russian provocations in the Baltic region. Officials are also assessing a low-altitude drone detection system presented this summer by Elbit Systems, and President Gitanas Nauseda said air-defence work must be completed as fast as possible. Armed forces chief Raimundas Vaiksnoras said on Saturday he was confident US troops would return to Lithuania, even after more than 1,000 American soldiers ended their summer rotation. The immediate question is now the timing and size of the next US deployment.

Social Security and Labour Minister Inga Ruginiene reiterated over the past day that the government is preparing a two-year extra pension indexation plan, with at least a 10 per cent rise pencilled in for 2027. The Finance Ministry has already set aside 388.4 million euros for a 12 per cent increase in old-age pensions in 2026, lifting the average pension to 750 euros and pensions for retirees with the required contribution record to 810 euros. In Vilnius, customs officers also disclosed a cannabis smuggling scheme that used pastries sent from Canada, with about 0.5 kg of the drug hidden in a 5 kg parcel. A Ukrainian suspect detained in June was remanded in custody for three months.

A severe storm became Lithuania’s dominant late story, with PAGD receiving about 1,200 callouts by midnight and the emergency call centre logging its busiest period of the year in less than 12 hours. About 240,000 residents were left without power, and officials said damage to the electricity grid was very extensive. President Gitanas Nauseda will travel to Kyiv for a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Kyiv was hit by Russian ballistic missiles, killing at least three people, injuring about 20 and cutting power to parts of the capital. Ukraine’s air force said the wider overnight assault included dozens of cruise, ballistic and hypersonic missiles, along with 168 drones. One ballistic strike also hit a railway company in Kyiv, killing an employee.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy said delays in replenishing Ukraine’s air-defence missile stocks were costing lives. Foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine was fighting for every Patriot interceptor because it sees them as the only weapon it has that can shoot down such ballistic missiles. A previous Russian missile and drone strike on the Kyiv region killed at least 16 people.

On Saturday morning, another Russian strike set a warehouse on fire in Kyiv’s Darnytskyi district, killing one person and injuring several others. In Zaporizhzhia, a drone strike killed a man and wounded four people after a wave of attacks on Friday killed at least 20 people across Ukraine, including 16 in Kryvyi Rih. Overnight, Ukrainian drones hit targets in Russia’s Samara region, damaging an industrial site and an Ozon logistics warehouse, while the Novokuibyshevsk refinery was set ablaze.

France and Italy have pledged to speed up deliveries of Aster 30 missiles to Ukraine by October 2026, while a first GF300 radar is due by the end of this year. Paris will also hand over two existing SAMP-T batteries while Kyiv waits for four next-generation systems, and licensed Aster 30 production in Ukraine is due to start before the end of 2026. In Poland, weekend storms pushed the Territorial Defence Forces to high readiness after firefighters logged more than 4,000 call-outs by Saturday midday, with Mazowieckie the hardest hit.

Storms in Latvia left about 160,000 households without power on Saturday evening. Streets were flooded in Riga, and Poland put its army on high alert after severe storms.

Russian strikes on Ukraine’s Kharkiv and Sumy regions killed at least two people over the past day. Local authorities were still assessing damage and possible injuries, and fresh air raid alerts were issued in the border areas.

Ukraine struck Russia’s Samara region overnight, sending thick black smoke over the Novokuibyshevsk refinery. The plant processes 8.8 million tonnes a year and ranks among Russia’s ten biggest refineries. A fire later broke out at an Ozon warehouse in Chapayevsk, hitting the logistics chain of one of Russia’s largest e-commerce groups. Both sites lie about 900 km from the Ukrainian front, and the weapons used were not disclosed.

Donald Trump said the United States would launch an unprecedented economic offensive against Iran and force Tehran to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil and gas tankers. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the war with the US should end because the world had already accepted Iran’s victory. The 60-day window for peace talks has now expired, and Washington and Tehran remain far apart on Iran’s nuclear programme and control of the strait.

London’s High Court on Friday ordered Prince Harry, Elton John and five other claimants to pay 9,544,355 pounds to Associated Newspapers within a week. Their case against the Daily Mail publisher collapsed after the judge found the allegations of unlawful information-gathering had not been proved. The court said the publisher’s defence costs had reached about 34.5 million pounds by July 9, with the final bill to be set later if the sides cannot agree.

Russia launched a new phase of its drone campaign against Ukraine, intensifying the pace of attacks. Israel also carried out another strike in Syria, wounding one person.