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NPR News: 07-20-2026 12AM EDT

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Russia Hits Kyiv in One of Its Largest Bombardments of the War

NPR News: 07-20-2026 12AM EDT · Jul 20, 2026 News

Russia launched massive missile and drone strikes on Kyiv, hitting residential buildings, businesses, and an underground metro passage used as a civilian bomb shelter. The assault came just 24 hours after Ukraine struck two Wildberries warehouses in Russia — killing 8 workers — in what Kyiv claims was a strike on military drone supply lines.

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American Service Member Killed in Iraq — Shondalise Duster Reports

At 1:00 · chapter starts 0:22

NPR correspondent Shondalise Duster delivers the granular details of a casualty report that reveals just how dangerous the U.S.-Iran confrontation has become. A service member died not in a firefight but during a controlled detonation of an unexploded weapon recovered from a downed Iranian drone in northern Iraq — a grim reminder that even neutralising threats carries lethal risk. A second service member was injured and treated for minor wounds. This brings the total to three American deaths since Friday, when two soldiers were killed in a direct Iranian attack in Jordan; four others were medically evacuated but later discharged from Jordanian hospitals. Perhaps most hauntingly, CENTCOM reports unidentified remains were found at the Jordan attack site and are still being examined — underscoring that the full human toll may not yet be known.

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U.S. Casualties Mount: Third Service Member Dead Since Friday

NPR News: 07-20-2026 12AM EDT · Jul 20, 2026 News

A U.S. service member died Saturday in northern Iraq during a controlled detonation of an unexploded weapon from a downed Iranian drone. That brings the toll to three American deaths since Friday, when two soldiers were killed in an Iranian attack in Jordan — and unidentified remains were still being examined at the Jordan attack site.

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