Is the war entering a new phase? Russian forces have launched widespread missile, drone, and artillery attacks across Ukraine, causing civilian casualties while hitting regional infrastructure and commercial shipping in the Black Sea. Ukraine's Air Force on Saturday reported facing a huge overnight barrage involving 174 drones from across Russia and Ukraine's annexed Crimean Peninsula, alongside two Zircon antiship missiles launched from Russia's Kursk region. "Enemy [Zircon antiship] missiles did not reach the targets," it said. Meanwhile, Russia's Ministry of Defence claimed its forces used Geran-4 Seeker loitering drones to strike two commercial vessels in the Black Sea - a Ukrainian dry cargo ship en route to Odesa and a docked tanker in the port of Odesa - asserting that both ships were carrying military supplies. In the Kharkiv region, Governor Oleh Syniehubov confirmed Russian attacks spanning 14 settlements killed five people and injured 15 others, causing heavy destruction in towns like Balakliya and Lypkuvativka.

Is the war entering a new phase? Ukraine has launched a barrage of drones on Moscow and other regions as Russia opened polls for its first parliamentary elections since the start of the war. More than 350 Ukrainian drones targeted the Russian capital on Friday morning, Moscow's mayor reported. With the vote potentially offering the Kremlin a measure of the public mood over the invasion, Kyiv has maintained its bid to use air attacks to have Russians feel the impact of the conflict politically, socially and economically. Only political parties that back the war have been registered to run.

Russia's State Duma elections will be held in occupied territories of Ukraine including Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia without OSCE election observers.

Is the war entering a new phase? Russia's parliamentary election: Who's on the ballot, and why it matters Share Russia's parliamentary election: Who's on the ballot, and why it matters on social media Russians head to the polls from Friday to Sunday to elect members of the State Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament, in the first parliamentary election to be held since the country launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The vote comes as Russians face a slowing economy as well as Ukrainian drone strikes on refineries and warehouses far from the front line. United Russia, the governing party that backs President Vladimir Putin, is expected to keep its dominant position. The authorities are presenting the election as a chance for voters to have their say.

Is the war entering a new phase? Ukrainian officials say at least 19 people have been injured in Russian missile and drone strikes targeting Kyiv and surrounding areas. Ukraine's Air Force said on Thursday that it destroyed or suppressed 131 Russian aerial targets during the overnight attacks, adding that the main areas targeted were the Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia and Odesa regions. Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces hit metallurgical and electronics plants, factories of the military-industrial complex, energy and transport facilities in the three regions. Three bulk carriers and a ferry used to carry supplies for the Ukrainian military were hit in the port of Chornomorsk, added the ministry.

Russia's attacks on Europe are getting more brazen and more dangerous Firefighters extinguish a fire inside a train carriage that was damaged by a drone strike near Ukraine's border with Poland on Saturday. Over the course of the summer, Russian attacks have been pushing ever deeper into European territory. On Aug. 11, military divers destroyed two drones floating off the coast of Romania near a €4 billion ($4.7 billion) energy project. Nine days later, Bucharest scrambled two F-16s to take out a maritime drone near the same Black Sea gas platform with hundreds of workers on board. Earlier that month, German police detected an armed UAV at Leipzig airport, while this week NATO jets downed another unmanned aircraft that entered Lithuanian airspace from neighboring Belarus, an ally of Moscow.

Rosenberg: Russia's elections will have few surprises, but for the Kremlin they matter To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Figure caption, Low expectations that Russia's election will bring peace closer, Steve Rosenberg reports The system of power in Russia is often referred to as managed democracy (where the Kremlin does the managing). That means huge powers for the president and few political surprises. This weekend's election is set to deliver another parliament dominated by the party of power, United Russia, and a house of MPs fiercely loyal to Vladimir Putin. Critics dismiss the vote as neither free nor fair.

Fans falsely claim to have spotted moving trucks outside FSU head coach Mike Norvell's house Reporter for The Athletic fumes over Arch Manning, silent on Josh Jacobs' alleged violence against woman Jordon Hudson dusts herself off and resumes her WAG duties, Belichick vs Sydney Sweeney & 'Gainesville Ripper' Mets are'trash' because they're not listening to former NJ Gov Chris Christie, Stephen A Smith says Orioles pitcher Shane Baz drilled with 105.1 mph line drive in scary scene NFL's battle with drinking and driving continues as Keenan Allen formally charged in Indianapolis Anthony Molina and Matthew Liberatore's struggles make over 8 runs the play for Giants-Cardinals Shota Imanaga's home run struggles and Wrigley wind make over 7.5 the play for Braves-Cubs Jaxson Dart's girlfriend Marissa Ayers shines in Week 1 win, a Giants-Cowboys fan fight & Ole Miss tension MLB's most electric slugger just had one of the slowest, most disrespectful walk-off home runs of all time James Franklin makes Virginia Tech press conference extremely awkward with bizarre'Hey Michael' moment Charlie Kirk's family files legal claim over alleged security failures at UVU Houthis would be an'easier target' to take out, ex-energy chief says'Fastest pathway' to lowering energy costs is restoring stability: Former VP Mike Pence'Fastest pathway' to lowering energy costs is restoring stability: Former VP Mike Pence Fed decision to raise interest rates clashes with Trump's wishes China's spy chief sounds the alarm against generative AI dangers Emily Compagno: FBI made America safer, but we were treated to a'congressional tantrum Rep. Joe Wilson asked Commissioner Gary Bettman to review the matter and clarify the league's policies Rep Joe Wilson: 'Absurd' Alex Ovechkin would be in advertisement for Puin Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., has a problem with Alex Ovechkin appearing in a campaign advertisement for the Vladimir Putin-backed United Russia party, and he wants NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman to address it. Wilson sent Bettman a letter Tuesday calling the Washington Capitals captain's participation shameful and asking the league to review the matter. Capitals owner Ted Leonsis was copied on the letter. Rep. Joe Wilson (right) calls on NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman to review Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin (left) appearing in a United Russia campaign ad tied to Vladimir Putin. Ovechkin does not speak in the ad.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with the governor of Novgorod region in Moscow on Monday. When Russian President Vladimir Putin imposed harsh censorship laws in the wake of his 2022 invasion of Ukraine, a major Russian publishing house took drastic action. Faced with trawling through the thousands of volumes it had published over the previous 20 years in light of the new restrictive criteria, the Eksmo-AST group trained an artificial intelligence agent to highlight books and passages that risked falling foul of the law so they could be removed from bookshelves. The publisher conducted some 20,000 checks, and 600 volumes were handed over to external experts for additional reviews, Oleg Novikov, the group's president, told Russian state television. "We're here on the frontier of technological progress," he said.

Denmark has accused a Russian warship of firing two emergency flares at one of its helicopters while it was tracking the vessel in the Baltic Sea. The Danish government has summoned the Russian ambassador over the incident, which it said happened during a routine monitoring operation on Monday. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen branded the Russian action reckless and said it was designed to intimidate and divide. Moscow has not commented on the incident. It came on the same day Nato forces shot down a drone over Lithuania in the latest security scare on the alliance's eastern flank, where tensions remain high during Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.