Energy & Resources
Ukraine has almost no intact thermal plants, Zelensky says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday in Belgrade that Ukraine was entering winter with almost no intact thermal power plants, after overnight Russian strikes killed four people in the Kyiv area, including a child.
Speaking alongside Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Zelensky said Russia's latest overnight attacks and shelling of frontline communities had killed 13 people across Ukraine in the previous 24 hours.
“Russian missiles are aimed precisely at making the lives of Ukrainians unbearable,” Zelensky told reporters, saying attacks often target Ukraine's energy infrastructure. He said thermal power plants remained important complements to the nuclear energy that also supplies Ukraine's grid.
Zelensky was in Serbia for his first official visit to the country since becoming Ukraine's president in 2019. He had begun talks with Vucic earlier Saturday after a ceremonial welcome at Serbia's presidential palace.
The visit came after Russia launched another overnight barrage of missiles and drones, mainly hitting Kyiv and surrounding areas. Zelensky said a three-year-old boy was among those killed in a village outside Kyiv. He said four people were hospitalised there: the child's parents, his 15-year-old brother and a neighbour who came to help and was wounded in what Zelensky called a double-tap strike.
An AFP reporter in Kyiv heard about a dozen explosions as Ukraine's air force warned of a threat from ballistic weapons from the north. Moscow has increased attacks on the Ukrainian capital in recent months, often using ballistic missiles that are difficult to intercept. Ukraine has sought more US-made Patriot interceptors and other Western air defences.
After meeting Vucic, Zelensky called for tougher sanctions to stop missile parts reaching Russia from “almost every continent, including from our close partners”. He said Ukraine also needed more access to interceptor missiles as long-range strikes increased.
Serbia remains one of the few European countries not to sanction Russia, a longtime ally of Belgrade. Vucic said he and Zelensky had discussed the war but that Serbian government policy had not changed.
“We did not discuss any military cooperation today or at present. What will happen when the war ends is another matter,” Vucic said. He also said Serbia's support for Ukraine's territorial integrity remained unwavering.
Vucic's government has supplied non-military aid to Ukraine. The Kremlin has accused Serbian firms of selling munitions to Ukraine, a claim Vucic has repeatedly denied.
Update
Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine had virtually no intact thermal power plants as it prepared for winter.
Zelensky said Russian attacks and shelling of frontline communities had killed 13 people in the previous 24 hours.
Zelensky renewed calls in Belgrade for tougher sanctions to stop missile components reaching Russia.
Aleksandar Vucic said Serbia had not discussed military cooperation with Ukraine and that his government's policy had not changed.
Vucic said Serbia's support for Ukraine's territorial integrity remained unchanged.
Source note: AFP news report published on 8 August 2026 at 14:40:53 UTC.
Update
Volodymyr Zelensky received a ceremonial welcome in Serbia.
Talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic got under way at the presidential palace.
The two leaders posed for photos before closed-door talks.
Source note: AFP news report published on 8 August 2026 at 09:56:24 UTC.
Update
Ukraine's reported death toll from the overnight Kyiv and surrounding-region attacks rose to at least four people.
Zelensky said the three people killed in Pukhivka were a grandfather, a grandmother and their three-year-old grandson.
Zelensky said four people were hospitalised in Pukhivka: the child's parents, his 15-year-old brother and a neighbour wounded while helping the family.
Zelensky said another person was killed in a Kyiv strike involving six ballistic missiles against civilian infrastructure.
Source note: AFP news report published on 8 August 2026 at 07:59:03 UTC.
Update
Overnight attacks on Kyiv and the surrounding region killed at least three people and wounded seven, according to Ukrainian officials.
The three deaths, including a child, were reported in the Brovary district northeast of Kyiv.
Ukraine's state emergency service said an attack in Pukhivka destroyed a two-storey house and two cars and caused a warehouse fire.
Zelensky was due to hold talks with Vucic at the presidential palace on Saturday after their Friday dinner.
Source note: AFP news report published on 8 August 2026 at 06:33:05 UTC.
Update
Volodymyr Zelensky was welcomed at Belgrade airport by Serbian Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic.
Zelensky had dinner with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
The Serbian presidency said Vucic and Zelensky would hold official talks at the presidential palace on Saturday and make a statement to the press.
Source note: AFP news report published on 7 August 2026 at 20:24:35 UTC.
Update
Zelensky said he would discuss economic ties, EU relations, areas of mutual benefit and security issues with Aleksandar Vucic.
Vucic said Serbia had set its position on not sanctioning Russia nearly five years ago and had not changed it.
Vucic said Serbia's sanctions position would remain unchanged until further notice.
The item says Vucic has supplied non-military aid to Kyiv.
The Kremlin has accused Vucic of selling munitions to Ukraine, which he has repeatedly denied.
Source note: AFP news report published on 7 August 2026 at 17:05:21 UTC.
Update
Volodymyr Zelensky said he would meet Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic over two days in Belgrade.
Source note: AFP news report published on 7 August 2026 at 16:48:31 UTC.
Update
Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in Serbia for the visit that had previously been reported as planned.
Source note: AFP news report published on 7 August 2026 at 16:38:46 UTC.
Update
Zelensky has not visited Serbia since becoming president in 2019.
Serbia has not sanctioned Russia over the 2022 invasion and has maintained close energy ties with Moscow.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and called for stronger cooperation and trade.
Serbia is formally seeking to join the European Union, while Brussels has objected to its warm ties with Moscow.
Source note: AFP news report published on 6 August 2026 at 16:01:51 UTC.
Update
The visit is planned for Saturday.
The visit is described as Volodymyr Zelensky's first-ever trip to Serbia.
A senior Ukrainian official described the Belgrade visit as a symbolic dig at Moscow.
The official said Ukraine wanted to pull Serbia away from Russia's side.
Source note: AFP news report published on 6 August 2026 at 15:47:17 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
The precise breakdown of the four Kyiv-area deaths between Kyiv and nearby settlements is not fully clear in the latest account.
The full extent of damage to Ukraine's thermal power plants is presented as Zelensky's assessment.
Source
AFP news report published on .