Zelenskyy visits Serbia as Russian strikes kill four near Kyiv

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Serbia on 8 August 2026 for his first official visit to the country. The trip took place as Russian missile and drone attacks on Kyiv and its surrounding region killed at least four people overnight, including a three-year-old child. Zelenskyy met Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic at the presidential palace in Belgrade, where the two leaders discussed economic ties, relations with the European Union, and security issues.

Serbia is one of the few European countries that has maintained close ties with Russia and has refused to impose sanctions on Moscow. Vucic has repeatedly stated that his position on sanctions will not change, a stance that has slowed Serbia’s path to joining the EU. Despite this, Serbia has supplied non-military aid to Ukraine and Vucic has visited Kyiv in the past. The Kremlin has accused Serbian firms of selling munitions to Ukraine, a claim Vucic has denied.

The overnight attacks on Kyiv involved ballistic missiles and drones, according to Ukrainian officials. Zelenskyy said on social media that three people, a grandfather, a grandmother, and their three-year-old grandson, were killed in the village of Pukhivka, outside Kyiv. A fourth person died in a separate strike on civilian infrastructure in the capital. Four others, including the child’s parents and a neighbour, were hospitalised. Ukraine’s state emergency service reported that the strikes destroyed a two-storey house and two cars, and sparked a fire in a warehouse.

What the reports agree on

All eight reports confirm that Zelenskyy’s visit to Serbia on 8 August 2026 was his first official trip to the country. They also agree that Russian missile and drone attacks on Kyiv and the surrounding region killed at least four people overnight, including a three-year-old child. The reports note that Serbia has not imposed sanctions on Russia and that Vucic has refused to change this position.

What the coverage left out

None of the right-rated digests mentioned that Serbia has supplied non-military aid to Ukraine or that Vucic has visited Kyiv in the past. None of the centre-rated digests carried Zelenskyy’s statement about Ukraine’s thermal power stations or the specific details of the strikes in Pukhivka, including the hospitalisation of the child’s parents. The full report in *The Hindu* was the only one to quote Zelenskyy’s call for new sanctions to prevent the production of Russian ballistic missiles.

“Last night, Russia killed three people in Pukhivka, Kyiv region, with drone strikes -- a grandfather, a grandmother, and their grandson. The boy was only three years old.”