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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the trip is currently being coordinated and emphasized that the European Union must do “everything possible” to help secure a lasting cessation of hostilities beyond the upcoming weekend.

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Ukrainian soldiers down Russian cruise missile with anti-air missile in Zakarpattia Oblast

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Ukrainian soldiers down Russian cruise missile with anti-air missile in Zakarpattia Oblast
A Ukrainian soldier shooting at a Russian cruise missile with a machine gun in Zakarpattia Oblast on Aug. 26, 2024. Screenshot from video. (Zakarpattia Oblast Governor Viktor Mykyta/Telegram)

Editor's note: This item was updated to include comments from former Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat, who said that the Russian cruise missile had also been targeted by an anti-air missile. Current Air Force spokesperson Illia Yevlash declined to comment.

Ukrainian soldiers from an air defense unit in western Zakarpattia Oblast shot at a Russian cruise missile with a truck-mounted machine gun, according to a video shared by Governor Viktor Mykyta on Aug. 26. The Russian cruise missile was downed by an anti-air missile, said former Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat.

Mykyta had claimed earlier that the machine-gun fire downed the missile.

In comments to the Kyiv Independent, Air Force spokesperson Illia Yevlash reiterated that Ihnat had refuted the claim and declined to comment further.

The shoot-down occurred amid a large-scale Russian attack across Ukraine. As of 10:31 a.m. local time, at least three people have been killed.

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A Ukrainian air defense unit shooting down a Russian cruise missile with a machine gun in Zakarpattia Oblast on Aug. 26, 2024. (Zakarpattia Oblast Governor Viktor Mykyta/Telegram)

Mykyta said the missile was heading toward Zakarpattia Oblast from neighboring Lviv Oblast, and was shot at by the 650th separate anti-aircraft machine gun battalion.

Zakarpattia is located in the far western part of Ukraine, bordering Slovakia and Hungary to the west and Romania to the south.

Poland says jets scrambled amid massive Russian strikes across Ukraine
As of 10:09 a.m. local time, at least three people were killed in Ukraine, and strikes were reported in Odesa, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia, Kremenchuk, Dnipro, Khmelnytskyi, Kropyvnytskyi, and Kryvyi Rih, as well as in Lviv, Rivne, and Ivano-Frankivsk oblasts.
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Nate Ostiller

News Editor

Nate Ostiller is a former News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. He works on special projects as a researcher and writer for The Red Line Podcast, covering Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and focused primarily on digital misinformation, memory politics, and ethnic conflict. Nate has a Master’s degree in Russian and Eurasian Studies from the University of Glasgow, and spent two years studying abroad at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine. Originally from the USA, he is currently based in Tbilisi, Georgia.

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