PDB Afternoon Bulletin | August 12th, 2026: Ukraine Destroys the Defenses Around Putin’s Palace & China’s AI Cyberattack

**Mike Baker** (0:12)
It's Wednesday, the 12th of August, welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, Ukraine reportedly destroys the air defenses protecting Vladimir Putin's lavish Black Sea Palace before launching a large assault on Russia's last major naval stronghold in the region. We'll break down what appears to be a new Ukrainian offensive along Russia's Black Sea coast. Later in the show, China-linked hackers reportedly unleash autonomous AI agents, that doesn't sound good, against Taiwan in a first-of-its-kind cyber attack. But first, today's afternoon spotlight.
Ukraine appears to be opening a new offensive against Russia along the Black Sea. And it started by stripping away the defenses around one of Vladimir Putin's most notorious personal retreats. And he's got a lot of them. We're talking about the massive estate near Gelendzhik, commonly known as Putin's Palace. That sounds jolly. According to multiple reports, Ukrainian forces have destroyed both an electronic warfare system and part of an S-400 missile battery protecting the surrounding area. And Ukraine reportedly took those defenses apart in stages. On August 7th, Ukrainian forces struck an electronic warfare system near Gelendzhik. It was a Russian jamming system designed to interfere with starling connections and disrupt the communications that Ukrainian drones rely on. Satellite imagery reportedly confirms the system was destroyed. Then, two days later, Ukrainian drones went after a nearby S-400 air defense system. Now, the S-400 is one of Russia's most advanced surface-to-air missile systems. It's designed to detect and destroy incoming aircraft and missiles and drones. But in this case, it didn't do a very good job of protecting itself. Ukraine says the battery fired six missiles before it was hit. The position reportedly burned for about three hours. And satellite imagery appears to show that at least one S-400 launcher was destroyed.
One Russian military analyst who reviewed the images offered a fairly straightforward conclusion. Putin's palace, he said, is now, quote, left unprotected. Now obviously, that may be hyperbole. It doesn't mean that Ukraine eliminated every Russian radar and jammer and missile launcher within range of Putin's posh pad. And there's no indication that Ukraine attacked the palace itself. But Kyiv does appear to have opened a significant hole in the local defensive network. The compound sits on the Black Sea coast about 12 miles from Gelendzhik, and it reportedly includes a theater, an underground hockey rink, a casino, a vineyard and its own port.
Putin denies owning it, of course. He does, after all, like to portray himself as a man of the people. And as we've reported before, Russia had heavily reinforced the area as Ukrainian drone attacks pushed deeper into Russian territory. That meant taking already limited air defense equipment and using it to protect one of Putin's private retreats. Those same systems could have been protecting Russian troops, military factories, oil refineries or naval facilities. Instead, Moscow used them to defend Putin's palace. And that would be embarrassing enough on its own. But the operation against Putin's pad now looks like the opening phase of something much larger.
Early Wednesday, Ukraine launched a massive coordinated attack against Novorossiysk, that's roughly 60 miles further up Russia's Black Sea coast. The operation involved anti-ship missiles, aerial drones and unmanned boats. Zelensky described it as a, quote, unique attack against the naval base, air defenses, piers and other port infrastructure. Russia claims it shot down more than 500 Ukrainian drones across the region. Now, that's an enormous number, of course, and one that has not been independently confirmed. But whatever Russia intercepted, enough apparently made it through to cause real disruption. Ukraine says it struck the naval base and port infrastructure. Two major grain terminals suspended operations. Russian authorities also reported damage to industrial sites and residential buildings. They say two civilians were killed and 12 others were wounded. Now, Novorossiysk isn't just another port. It is effectively the last major sanctuary for Russia's Black Sea fleet. For years, the fleet operated primarily from Sevastopol in occupied Crimea. But Ukraine repeatedly attacked its warships and headquarters, dry docks and air defenses located there. Those strikes forced Moscow to move many of its most valuable assets farther east to Novorossiysk. That's on Russia's internationally recognized territory.
The assumption was that the ships would be safer there. Well, that assumption appears to be misguided. Now there's one interesting wrinkle here, and that is that the Financial Times reports that Vice President JD. Vance recently asked Zelensky to stop attacking certain tankers and oil infrastructure at Novorossiysk. Those facilities handle crude from Kazakhstan and involve major American companies including Chevron and ExxonMobil. With the Strait of Hormuz largely closed, Washington reportedly worried that Ukraine's attacks could further disrupt global oil supplies.