Belgium winger Diego Moreira joins AC Milan in latest big-money sale by Strasbourg

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Belgium winger Diego Moreira joins AC Milan in latest big-money sale by Strasbourg

2026-08-20 16:56 Last Updated At：17:00

MILAN (AP) — Belgium winger Diego Moreira joined AC Milan in a reported 50-million-euro ($58.5-million) move from Strasbourg, which is under increased financial scrutiny by UEFA.

The 22-year-old Moreira signed a five-year contract, Milan said in a statement late Monday.

Moreira was a member of Belgium's World Cup squad and played in one game, as a second-half substitute in a 3-2 come-from-behind win over Senegal in the round of 32.

He was a youth international for both Belgium and Portugal, then got FIFA approval in May 2025 to choose Belgium as his senior eligibility.

Moreira’s exit brings Strasbourg’s sales this week to about 100 million euros ($117 million).

The French club, which is owned by Chelsea’s holding company BlueCo, was fined 13 million euros ($15 million) by UEFA in June for overspending in breach of financial monitoring rules. It was the biggest financial sanction imposed by the European soccer body on any club last season.

UEFA told Strasbourg to “significantly decrease” player costs in 2026, when the club has no European soccer after reaching the semifinals of the third-tier Conference League last season.

Moreira was sold to Strasbourg in 2024 by Chelsea, where he never played in the Premier League.

Milan will play in the second-tier Europa League this season under new coach Ruben Amorim after a fifth-place finish in Serie A.

See AP’s full soccer coverage here

A Russian missile and drone barrage kills at least 14 in Ukraine's Kyiv region

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia pounded the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and the surrounding region with scores of missiles and drones in a nighttime aerial attack that lasted for hours and killed at least 14 people, officials said Thursday.

Moscow's forces have in recent months intensified their ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv, exploiting Ukraine's chronic shortage of U.S.-made Patriot air defense interceptors, the sole weapon in its arsenal able to shoot down ballistic missiles.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pleaded for countries to send more Patriot interceptors but international stockpiles are low amid the Iran war and Ukraine's more than four-year fight against Russia's all-out invasion.

Russia's overnight barrage also included cruise missiles and fast-flying jet-powered drones that put further strain on air defenses, the Ukrainian air force said.

Explosions boomed across the city in the dark. Kyiv was the primary target, but hits were recorded at 28 locations across the country, according to the air force. About 40 people were wounded, Zelenskyy said, as air raid warnings remained in place until after dawn.

“It was a massive attack,” Zelenskyy said on social media, adding that Russia “had been preparing (it) for a long time, combining different types of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones, aiming to cause as much damage as possible to civilian infrastructure."

But the Russian Defense Ministry said the attack struck a Kyiv industrial site manufacturing components for Ukraine’s Flamingo cruise missiles. Sites involved in the production and storage of drones, an ammunition depot and a logistics center were also hit, it said.

Russia and Ukraine have battered each other with drones and missiles as their armies struggle to gain the upper hand on the 1,250-kilometer (780-mile) front line, where huge numbers of drones are pinning down troops.

Ukraine has attempted to shift the war onto Russian soil through long-range drone strikes on oil facilities and other infrastructure.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday morning that air defenses shot down 726 Ukrainian drones overnight over a number of Russian regions, annexed Crimea and the Black and Azov seas, in one of Ukraine's biggest aerial attacks of the war. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

Russia’s relentless onslaught on Kyiv has spooked other European countries, especially those bordering Ukraine, which fear what Russian President Vladimir Putin might have in store for the continent.

As the Russian attack on Kyiv unfolded, the Polish Armed Forces Operational Command activated its military aviation operations, ground-based air defense systems and its radar reconnaissance.

Polish and other NATO military aircraft were deployed to monitor the country’s airspace, Polish news agency PAP reported.

Romania’s Defense Ministry said that an unidentified drone crashed and caught fire in an uninhabited area near the border with Ukraine.

Two Spanish F-18 jets, deployed on an air policing mission in Romania, were scrambled after 2 a.m. local time to monitor a group of “air targets” near the border, the ministry said.

Also, Moldova’s Defense Ministry said that its airspace was breached by an unauthorized drone.

Russia's overnight strikes hit 12 locations across Kyiv’s Darnytskyi, Sviatoshynskyi and Solomianskyi districts, damaging residential buildings, a medical facility and an educational institution. Emergency crews were at the scene and pulled people out from under the rubble.

60-year-old Larysa Bondaruk sat on the ground, holding her cat, Chanel, which had been rescued by firefighters.

With tears in her eyes, she said that her neighbor’s grandson had been trapped under the rubble and died. Her apartment was badly damaged.

“A rocket hit the roof. It was incredibly loud. Immediately, debris and doors were blown out. There were columns of smoke, columns of fire, screams, crying and despair,” she said. “Two people were killed in our building, but the rescuers responded quickly and professionally. I am grateful to them for that.”

In Solomianskyi district, the top two floors of a 9-story residential building were destroyed and fires broke out on other floors. People were also trapped in two residential buildings and a school shelter.

AP reporters Vasilisa Stepanenko and Hanna Arhirova in Kyiv, Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin and Stephen McGrath in Leamington Spa, England contributed to this story.

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