Russia Escalated Strikes on Ukraine Following Zelensky's White House Visit

Russia launched 270 drones and 10 missiles against Ukraine on August 19, in a kinetic response to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's White House talks with US President Donald Trump and key European allies. Ukrainian regional officials said that over 24 hours Russian shelling across the Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya, and Kherson regions had claimed the lives of 15 people and injured at least 76 more. It was reported that the Poltava region was hit particularly hard, leaving over 1,500 residents without electricity. In Chernihiv, drones…