An overnight Ukrainian blitz damages Russia's Black Sea naval stronghold, Zelenskyy says

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian anti-ship missiles and drones blitzed a major Russian naval base on the Black Sea coast in a “unique” nighttime operation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday.

Cutting-edge drones developed by Kyiv since Moscow's full-scale invasion over four years ago have repeatedly targeted Russian ships in the Black Sea, including warships and oil tankers.

Ukraine's air and sea drones have succeeded in limiting the movements of Russia’s once-dominant Black Sea navy, Kyiv officials say, in one of the country’s biggest accomplishments of the war.

But Ukrainian officials believe Russian President Vladimir Putin is bent on pressing ahead with the war, despite his bigger army’s slow and costly progress on the battlefield and U.S. diplomatic efforts to find a settlement.

Putin is planning “an additional rapid mobilization of several hundred thousand Russians by the end of the year,” Zelenskyy said Tuesday night on social media, citing Ukrainian intelligence reports.

Those reports have said recently that Russia is expanding production of ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones, both of which are hard for Ukrainian air defenses to counter.

Ukraine also is trying to scale up its weapons manufacturing through agreements with partner countries.

Neither Putin nor other senior Russian officials have hinted at a possible major call-up of forces to fight in Ukraine. Some officials have accused Kyiv of trying to rattle the Russian public with talk of a mobilization.

Russian lawmaker Andrei Gurulyov brushed off reports of a possible autumn mobilization. “It is the enemy deliberately spreading rumors about mobilization in order to destabilize the situation inside Russia,” he was quoted as saying by pro-Kremlin online outlet Tsargrad in comments published Monday.

After the widely unpopular partial mobilization of some 300,000 men four years ago, Russia has relied on volunteers attracted by relatively high pay. However, the decree declaring the partial mobilization that Putin signed in September 2022 is open-ended, allowing authorities to resume it if needed.

The Ukrainian military “carried out a unique operation targeting the naval base in Novorossiysk — the last major stronghold of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea,” Zelenskyy said in a social media post Wednesday. The attack struck air defenses, piers and other port infrastructure, he added.

Russia relocated most of its naval ships to Novorossiysk after Ukrainian strikes on the main Black Sea base at Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula earlier in the war.

Hundreds of Ukrainian drones attacked Novorossiysk, Anapa and Gelendzhik and the Temryuk district of the Krasnodar region overnight, said Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev.

An 8-year-old child was one of three people killed in the attack on the region, Kondratyev said. He added that 24 others in the region were wounded. Dozens of residential buildings were damaged, Kondratyev said, and debris from downed drones fell on the grounds of four industrial plants.

The strikes damaged two of Novorossiysk’s three grain terminals, with one of them halting operations, the Russian business daily Vedomosti reported.

Russia's Defense Ministry said its air defenses downed more than 500 Ukrainian drones.

Novorossiysk also is home to the Grushovaya oil terminal, one of the largest international hubs in southern Russia for petroleum products. No reports indicated it had been hit.

In February, the U.S. State Department expressed its displeasure about Ukraine’s attacks on Novorossiysk, saying they affected U.S. oil interests in ⁠Kazakhstan.

The Caspian Pipeline Consortium operates a pipeline from the Caspian coast in northwestern Kazakhstan to Novorossiysk. The pipeline handles much of the crude exports from three major Kazakh fields in which major U.S. energy companies, Chevron and ExxonMobil, have stakes.

With the militaries of European countries boarding and detaining sanctioned Russian oil tankers at sea, hurting the country’s trade and heaping economic pressure on Moscow, Putin on Wednesday threatened retaliation for what he termed “piracy.”

Speaking on a visit to a Russian warship taking part in a naval exercise in the Pacific, Putin said Western countries are breaking international maritime law by seizing ships they say are part of Moscow’s “ shadow fleet ” of sanctions-dodging merchant vessels.

“It’s nothing but piracy and robbery,” Putin said. “If this is done, we will be forced to respond in kind.”

On the Crimean Peninsula, which was illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014, air defenses downed 115 Ukrainian drones over Sevastopol overnight, said Mikhail Razvozhayev, the city’s Russian-installed head. He added that 10 apartment buildings and 25 private houses were damaged.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia fired 138 long-range drones as well as an unspecified number of missiles during the night, with damage recorded at 16 locations.

In the Kherson region of southern Ukraine, a large-scale Russian drone attack overnight killed two people and wounded two others, said regional head Oleksandr Prokudin.

The attacks also destroyed a shopping mall in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, according to authorities.

Missiles and long-range drones hit fuel reservoirs and infrastructure used for unloading and storing military cargo in the port of Chornomorsk in Ukraine’s Odesa region, Russia’s Defense Ministry said.

A bulk cargo vessel carrying military equipment and a tanker loaded with oil for the Ukrainian armed forces also were hit in Odesa, it said.

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

Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, listens to a navy officer as he visits the Varyag missile cruiser of the Pacific Fleet to watch a military exercise near Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, on Sakhalin Island, Russia, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, as Admiral Viktor Liina, right, looks on. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the Varyag missile cruiser of the Pacific Fleet to watch a military exercise near Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, on Sakhalin Island, Russia, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, as Admiral Viktor Liina follows him. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, second right, visits the Varyag missile cruiser of the Pacific Fleet to watch a military exercise near Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, on Sakhalin Island, Russia, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with navy officers on board of the Varyag missile cruiser of the Pacific Fleet during a military exercise near Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, on Sakhalin Island, Russia, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Russian Pacific Fleet Commander-in-Chief Admiral Viktor Liina attends a meeting with navy officers on board of the Varyag missile cruiser of the Pacific Fleet during a military exercise near Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, on Sakhalin Island, Russia, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

In this photo provided by Ukraine's 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Separate Mechanized Brigade press service and taken Monday, Aug. 10, 2026, Ukrainian soldiers walk along the street in the frontline town of Druzhkivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine. (Iryna Rybakova/Ukraine's 93rd Mechanized Brigade via AP))

WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 13, 2026--

Radian Group Inc. (NYSE: RDN) announced that, effective today, Mike Weinbach has assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer and joined its Board of Directors, completing the planned leadership transition announced on May 21, 2026. Weinbach succeeds Rick Thornberry, who will serve as a strategic advisor through his retirement on December 31, 2026.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260813708638/en/

“Radian’s Board of Directors is pleased to welcome Mike to his new roles following a thoughtful and comprehensive transition process,” said Howard Culang, Non-Executive Chairperson of the Board. “Mike is an accomplished leader whose experience, strategic judgment and deep financial services expertise make him well suited to lead Radian through this next phase of growth.”

Weinbach assumes the CEO role as Radian builds momentum as a global, diversified multi-line specialty insurer, following its acquisition of Lloyd’s specialty insurer Inigo Limited, which closed on February 2, 2026, and its actions to successfully divest of its other non-core businesses. Together, its Mortgage and Specialty Insurance businesses continue to strengthen Radian’s ability to deliver long-term value.

“It is an honor to join Radian at such a pivotal and promising moment,” Weinbach said. “My confidence in the company’s future has only grown as I have spent time with our talented team and seen firsthand our differentiated approach to delivering value for customers, stockholders, and other stakeholders. Thanks to the vision and dedicated work of Rick Thornberry and the entire Radian team, I believe the company is exceptionally well-positioned for what lies ahead. I am excited to build on that strong foundation.”

“On behalf of the Board, I want to once again thank Rick for his outstanding leadership over his nine years as CEO,” said Culang. “His accomplishments and contributions will leave a lasting legacy that will benefit the company for years to come.”

About Mike Weinbach

Mike Weinbach is a seasoned executive whose 30-year career has been defined by leading large, complex businesses through growth and transformation at the intersection of financial services, data, and technology. Most recently, he served as President of Mr. Cooper Group, where he successfully led the industry's largest mortgage servicer through its acquisition by Rocket Companies in 2025 while advancing technology initiatives that enhanced customer experience and grew the company's servicing and originations portfolios. Prior to Mr. Cooper, Weinbach was CEO of Consumer Lending at Wells Fargo, overseeing strategy across home, auto, student, and personal lending, credit cards, and merchant services, leading a team of more than 40,000 employees and serving on the company's Operating Committee. Before Wells Fargo, he spent 16 years at JPMorgan Chase, ultimately serving as CEO of Chase Home Lending after progressive leadership roles across consumer banking, business banking, home lending, and auto lending. He began his career as an M&A investment banker at Citigroup. Weinbach holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor's degree in economics from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

About Radian
Radian Group Inc. (NYSE: RDN) is a trusted, global multi-line specialty insurer that helps businesses navigate risk with confidence. Built on financial strength and disciplined risk management, Radian brings clarity to complex risk decisions through its proprietary view of risk and a global perspective. Visit radian.com to learn how our collaborative and customer-centric culture transforms risk into a world of opportunity.

Mike Weinbach, CEO, Radian