Russian and Ukrainian drone strikes kill at least 5 in each country

Ukrainian drone attacks in the region around Moscow killed five people, local officials said Tuesday, while authorities in Ukraine said Russian aerial strikes there also caused at least five civilian deaths.

Since Russia’s invasion more than four years ago, Ukraine has developed long-range drones that can hit targets deep inside Russia. In the past year, they have battered oil facilities, major storage depots and other key infrastructure.

Russia’s relentless aerial attacks on Ukraine have killed more than 16,000 civilians, with casualties rising steadily each year, according to the United Nations.

Meanwhile, escalating attacks by both sides on shipping in the Black Sea has reawakened fears that global food security could be put at risk.

The death toll from a drone strike Monday in the Russian Black Sea resort of Arkhipo-Osipovka rose to seven, including three children, regional authorities said.

On Tuesday morning, Krasnodar regional authorities updated the number of wounded to 58, with 21 of them hospitalized.

Footage circulating online showed a drone slamming into a crowded beach, with what sounded like rapid gunfire ringing in the background. Ukraine has not commented on the strike.

A Ukrainian drone attack in the Moscow region, which surrounds but doesn’t include the Russian capital, killed five people and wounded 10 others wounded on Tuesday morning, the region’s governor Andrei Vorobyov said.

Most damage from the attack occurred in the Chekhov municipal district, where several fires erupted at the Novoselki industrial zone, Vorobyov said.

In the latest in a string of attacks attack on Russia’s biggest online retailer, Wildberries said Tuesday that its warehouse in the Leningrad region, which lies adjacent to St. Petersburg, was on fire.

In the Tver region, located between Moscow and St. Petersburg, drone debris inflicted “partial” damage on a wall of a Wildberries warehouse in the village of Emmaus, the region’s governor Vitaly Korolyov said.

Ukrainian drones have over the past 18 days targeted 15 Wildberries warehouses, 13 of which have caught fire, Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces commander Robert Brovdi said. Ukrainian officials say the company provides goods that can be used by the Russian military. Kyiv is also keen to unsettle the Russian public with high-profile attacks.

Overall, the Russian Defense Ministry reported Tuesday morning that its air defenses shot down 320 Ukrainian drones overnight.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that its forces the previous night “continued to strike Ukrainian ports, vessels, and port infrastructure” used by Kyiv’s army.

In the port of Chornomorsk in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, the Russian military said it struck an automobile components plant and a port terminal, where the Ukrainian forces “were repairing military vehicles and storing ammunition and fuel.”

Meanwhile, a bulk carrier with military cargo was damaged in the southern port of Mykolaiv, while another ship unloading military cargo was hit in Pivdennyi, another Ukrainian Black Sea port, according to the statement.

The ministry also said two bulk carriers taking weapons and military equipment to Ukrainian ports were damaged at sea, south of Odesa.

Turkey on Tuesday repeated its appeal for both Russia and Ukraine to ensure the safety of navigation in the Black Sea after two Turkish-owned ships were attacked by drones after leaving the Russian port of Novorossiysk.

A Turkish Foreign Ministry statement expressed concerns that the war is increasingly spreading across the Black Sea, threatening civilian shipping, and warned such incidents could have broader consequences, including for the global food supply, as important amounts of grain, fertilizers and other key produce moves through those waters.

Russian attacks on Mykolaiv, including its port, killed an 89-year-old woman and wounded seven other people with ages between two and 83, Ukrainian regional officials said.

The Russian strike on civilian infrastructure in southern Odesa region destroyed a private home and wounded two people, according to Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa regional military administration.

Elsewhere, in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region six Russian glide bombs killed three people, including two girls aged 5 and 10 and an elderly woman, Oleh Hryhorov, head of the Sumy regional military administration, said.

Russian forces also struck Kharkiv and 18 towns and villages across the northern region over the previous 24 hours, killing one person and injuring seven others, including an 8-year-old child, said Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional military administration.

Two glide bombs slammed into downtown Kramatorsk in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine on Tuesday morning, injuring four people, Vadym Filashkin, head of the regional military administration, said.

Kramatorsk sits at the northern end of Ukraine’s Fortress Belt, where Western analysts say Russia’s army is making a renewed effort to break through after four years of attrition.

Filashkin urged people remaining near the front line to evacuate, saying evacuation is free and that authorities would help with transportation, housing and other necessary support.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, private houses destroyed following a night Russian missile attack are seen in Odesa region, Ukraine, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, a firefighter puts out a fire following a Russian missile attack in Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia voters will pick their nominees Tuesday for this year’s congressional midterm elections, capping a primary season marked by upheaval thanks to Democrats’ failed redistricting initiative.

The commonwealth typically holds its primaries in June but this year moved them to August to accommodate a push approved by voters — but squashed by the courts — to draw congressional districts more favorable to Democrats, part of a nationwide redistricting battle.

The state Supreme Court struck down the Democrats’ redrawn map, which would have given their candidates a shot at winning 10 of the state’s 11 congressional seats, but not before candidates launched campaigns in those presumed districts. When it became clear in May that voters would be casting ballots in congressional districts that have been in place since 2021, many candidates ended their bids. Others scrambled to move their campaign to another district, while some opted to carry on in much less favorable races.

The upheaval created challenges for the candidates, who had to stay in the primary season longer than usual and in some cases take their messages to different communities, Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger recently told reporters. But Spanberger, a former member of Congress who represented swing districts, said she remained “bullish” on her party's chances in the general election and hopeful that as many as four seats could flip in Virginia.

“The biggest point of consternation that I have is I think that along the way, people … incorrectly took the message that we couldn’t win without redistricting. We can win. I believe we will win,” she said.

Virginia is currently represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by six Democrats and five Republicans, all of whom are seeking reelection this year. Democrats who are less optimistic than Spanberger hope to flip at least two seats, contributing to their party’s effort to take control of the House for the second half of Trump’s term.

There are crowded Democratic primaries in two of the most competitive seats, where Republican incumbents Jen Kiggans and Rob Wittman avoided intraparty challenges but will be on defense in the fall.

Elsewhere, two incumbents, Democratic Rep. Don Beyer and Republican Rep. John McGuire, face primary challenges but have far outraised their opponents.

Republicans also were picking their nominee for what will be an uphill challenge against U.S. Sen. Mark Warner.

Two of Virginia’s congressional districts are among Democrats' top targets for retaking control of the House. The coastal 2nd District, with its population center in Virginia Beach, is a must-win for the party. The slightly more Republican-leaning 1st District has about half its population in the Richmond suburbs and the other half in more rural counties stretching north and west.

In the 2nd District, former U.S. Rep. Elaine Luria is seen as the favorite in the four-way Democratic primary field. It also includes physician Nila Devanath, who sought to define herself as the progressive voice in the race, along with scientist and veteran Bill Fleming, and Patrick Mosolf, a former international aid and humanitarian worker.

Luria, who is backed by the House Democrats’ campaign arm and has far outraised her opponents, is a retired Navy commander who was elected to the House in 2018 and served two terms before being ousted by Kiggans, a former Navy helicopter pilot.

The 1st District features a crowded seven-way primary, but most observers see a front-runner in Shannon Taylor, who has served as the elected prosecutor in suburban Richmond’s Henrico County for 14 years.

Taylor also has the backing of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and a massive fundraising advantage, though she’s faced sharp criticism from her opponents, including Salaam Bhatti, an attorney.

The race also includes several military veterans — Elizabeth Dempsey Beggs, Jason Knapp and Mel Tull — along with environmental advocate Tim Cywinski and attorney Ericka Kopp.

Only two of Virginia's 11 U.S. House incumbents face a primary challenge.

In central Virginia’s 5th District, Trump-endorsed McGuire, a former Navy SEAL and state lawmaker, faces veteran Melanie Lucero, whom McGuire has far outraised.

In Northern Virginia’s overwhelmingly blue 8th District surrounding Washington, incumbent Rep. Don Beyer faces four challengers for the nomination as he seeks a seventh term.

A former congressman seeking the chance at a comeback, Tom Perriello, is also among Tuesday’s primary contenders. Perriello has led fundraising in a three-way race for the Democratic nomination in the 5th District, which he represented for one term beginning in 2009.

Voters will also be settling a three-way statewide contest to pick the Republican nominee to challenge Democratic Sen. Mark Warner, a well-known former governor who was first elected to the Senate in 2008 and currently serves as the ranking Democrat on the chamber’s Intelligence Committee.

Defeating Warner would be an enormous challenge, and the race is not among those seen as a battleground that will determine control of the Senate.

The GOP contenders are: Kim Farington, an accountant who has touted her work over decades in the federal government; Bert Mizusawa, a decorated retired Army major general; and David Williams, a Marine Corps reservist.

Warner does not have a primary challenger.

Democratic congressional candidate Shannon Taylor speaks with supporter Bill Ramsey at a door-knocking event Saturday, July 25, 2026, in Williamsburg, Va. (AP Photo/Mike Kropf)