Russia says it downed over 150 drones in one of the biggest Ukrainian drone attacks of the war

Russia says it downed over 150 drones in one of the biggest Ukrainian drone attacks of the war
This undated handout photograph released on September 1, 2024, on the official Telegram account of the Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, shows a firefighter extinguishing a car after a recent shelling by a Ukrainian strike in Belgorod. (Handout/TELEGRAM:@VVGLADKOV via AFP)
Short Url
Updated 02 September 2024
Follow

Russia says it downed over 150 drones in one of the biggest Ukrainian drone attacks of the war

Russia says it downed over 150 drones in one of the biggest Ukrainian drone attacks of the war
  • Russia’s Defense Ministry said drones were intercepted over 15 regions, including two over Moscow
  • Ukrainian drone strikes have brought the fight far from the front line into the heart of Russia

Russian air defenses intercepted and destroyed 158 Ukrainian drones overnight, including two over Moscow and nine over the surrounding region, the Defense Ministry said Sunday.
Forty-six of the drones were over the Kursk region, where Ukraine has sent its forces in recent weeks in the largest incursion on Russian soil since World War II. A further 34 were shot over the Bryansk region, 28 over the Voronezh region, and 14 over the Belgorod region — all of which border Ukraine.
Drones were also shot down deeper into Russia, including one each in the Tver region, northwest of Moscow, and the Ivanovo region, northeast of the Russian capital. Russia’s Defense Ministry said drones were intercepted over 15 regions, while one other governor said a drone was shot down over his region, too.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that falling debris from one of the two drones shot down over the city caused a fire at an oil refinery.
Ukrainian drone strikes have brought the fight far from the front line into the heart of Russia. Since the beginning of the year, Ukraine has stepped up aerial assaults on Russian soil, targeting refineries and oil terminals to slow down the Kremlin’s assault.
Also in Russia, regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said 11 people were wounded in Ukrainian aerial missile attacks in the Russian border region of Belgorod on Sunday. These included eight in the regional capital, also called Belgorod.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday it had taken control of the towns of Pivnichne and Vyimka, in Ukraine’s Donetsk region. The Associated Press could not independently verify the claim.
Russian forces have been driving deeper into the partly occupied eastern region, the total capture of which is one of the Kremlin’s primary ambitions. Russia’s army is closing in on Pokrovsk, a critical logistics hub for the Ukrainian defense in the area.
At least three people were killed and nine wounded on Sunday in Russian shelling in the town of Kurakhove, some 20 miles (33 kilometers) south of Pokrovsk, Donetsk regional Gov. Vadym Filashkin said.
Also on Sunday, 44 people were wounded when Russia attacked the Kharkiv regional capital, also called Kharkiv, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. The city was struck by 10 missiles, with a shopping center, a sports facility and residential buildings among those damaged.
Elsewhere in Ukraine overnight, eight drones were shot down out of 11 launched by Russia, according to the Ukrainian air force.
One person was killed and four wounded in shelling overnight in the Sumy region, local officials said, while Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said five other people had been wounded in his region.
 


Denmark says no country can ‘just help themselves’ to Greenland

Denmark says no country can ‘just help themselves’ to Greenland
Updated 57 min 46 sec ago
Follow

Denmark says no country can ‘just help themselves’ to Greenland

Denmark says no country can ‘just help themselves’ to Greenland
  • “Greenland is a wonderful place, we need it for international security,” Trump said
  • Lokke said he was “satisfied” that Trump had not cited Greenland as a priority in his speech

COPENHAGEN: Denmark’s foreign minister said Tuesday that no country should be able to simply help themselves to another country, following US President Donald Trump’s renewed remarks about taking control of Greenland.
Trump, who took office on Monday, set off alarm bells in early January by refusing to rule out military intervention to bring the Panama Canal and Greenland — which is an autonomous Danish territory — under US control.
“Of course we can’t have a world order where countries, if they’re big enough, no matter what they’re called, can just help themselves to what they want,” Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters Tuesday.
While he didn’t mention Greenland in his inauguration speech on Monday, Trump was asked about it by reporters in the Oval Office afterwards.
“Greenland is a wonderful place, we need it for international security,” Trump responded.
“I’m sure that Denmark will come along — it’s costing them a lot of money to maintain it, to keep it,” he added.
Lokke said he was “satisfied” that Trump had not cited Greenland as a priority in his speech, but added that the “rhetoric” was the same.
“It doesn’t make me call off any crisis, because he said other things about expanding the American territory,” Lokke told Danish media.
Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Egede has insisted “that Greenland is not for sale” but that the territory was open to doing business with the US.
Among Danes, the omission of Greenland in the inauguration speech led to some relief.
“He didn’t mention Greenland or Denmark in his speech last night, so I think there’s room for diplomacy,” 68-year-old actor Donald Andersen told AFP.
On Monday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a post to Instagram that Europe would need to “navigate a new reality.”
While noting the Greenlandic people’s right to self-determination, the head of government also stressed the need for Denmark to maintain its alliance with the US — which she described as Denmark’s most important since World War II.
A number of Danish party leaders were called to the prime minister’s office on Tuesday to be briefed on the situation.
“We have to recognize that the next four years will be difficult years,” Pia Olsen Dyhr, leader of the Green Left, told reporters after meeting with Frederiksen.


Zelensky says Ukraine working to set up Trump meeting

Zelensky says Ukraine working to set up Trump meeting
Updated 21 January 2025
Follow

Zelensky says Ukraine working to set up Trump meeting

Zelensky says Ukraine working to set up Trump meeting
  • “The teams have been working on a meeting, they are currently in the process,” Zelensky said
  • Trump has said he will stop the war in Ukraine swiftly without saying how

DAVOS: Ukraine is working to set up a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump, Zelensky said on Tuesday.
“The teams have been working on a meeting, they are currently in the process,” Zelensky said of efforts to arrange a meeting with Trump.
He was speaking in an interview panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Trump, who took office on Monday, has said he will stop the war in Ukraine swiftly without saying how.
Zelensky said Ukraine would not agree to Russian demands that it drastically reduce the size of its military, predicting that Russian President Vladimir Putin would demand Ukraine cut its military to a fifth its size.
“This is what he wants. We will not allow this to happen,” Zelensky said.
In his speech, Zelensky suggested Europe had less influence over Washington because the United States viewed its allies’ contribution to security as lacking.
“Does anyone in the United States worry that Europe might abandon them someday – might stop being their ally? The answer is no,” Zelensky said.


Zelensky urges ‘united’ European defense policy at Davos

Zelensky urges ‘united’ European defense policy at Davos
Updated 21 January 2025
Follow

Zelensky urges ‘united’ European defense policy at Davos

Zelensky urges ‘united’ European defense policy at Davos
  • Zelensky said Europe needed to be ready to stand on its own feet and must work to remain relevant as a “strong global” player
  • “Europe must be able to guarantee peace and security for itself“

DAVOS: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that Europe should develop a joint defense policy and be willing to increase spending to guarantee its own security from emerging threats.
His comments to the World Economic Forum in Davos came a day after the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, who has demanded NATO members raise their defense spending and boasted he can end the war in Ukraine, without offering a clear roadmap.
Zelensky said Europe needed to be ready to stand on its own feet and must work to remain relevant as a “strong global” player and “indispensable” on the global stage.
“We need a united European security and defense policy, and all European countries must be willing to spend as much on security as is truly needed,” Zelensky argued in his address to the WEF.
“Europe must be able to guarantee peace and security for itself,” he added.
He evoked the Kremlin’s deployment of North Korean troops to western Russia to illustrate what he said were growing threats to European security.
“European leaders should remember this — battles involving North Korean soldiers are now happening in places geographically closer to Davos than to Pyongyang,” he said.
And he pointed to a recent pact between Russia and Iran boosting their economic and military cooperation, saying the accord was an example of a changing landscape that was a threat to Europe.
“Whom do they make such deals against? Against you, against all of us,” he said. “Such threats can only be countered together,” he added.
Zelensky also questioned whether Trump was committed to NATO and European security, claiming that Washington has openly indicated their security priorities lie in the Middle East and in the Asia-Pacific region.
“Will President Trump even notice Europe? Does he see NATO as necessary? And will he respect EU institutions?” Zelensky asked.


‘Canada will respond’ if US imposes tariffs: Trudeau

‘Canada will respond’ if US imposes tariffs: Trudeau
Updated 21 January 2025
Follow

‘Canada will respond’ if US imposes tariffs: Trudeau

‘Canada will respond’ if US imposes tariffs: Trudeau
  • “Canada will respond and everything is on the table,” Trudeau told a news conference

OTTAWA: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday vowed a strong response if Donald Trump slaps 25 percent tariffs on Canadian imports, which the US president signaled could come as early as February.
“Canada will respond and everything is on the table,” Trudeau told a news conference, adding that Ottawa’s reaction would be “robust and rapid and measured,” but also match dollar for dollar the US tariffs.


Marco Rubio becomes Secretary of State, emphasizes ‘America First’ agenda

Marco Rubio becomes Secretary of State, emphasizes ‘America First’ agenda
Updated 21 January 2025
Follow

Marco Rubio becomes Secretary of State, emphasizes ‘America First’ agenda

Marco Rubio becomes Secretary of State, emphasizes ‘America First’ agenda
  • The US Senate unanimously confirmed Rubio, a China hawk and staunch backer of Israel, just hours after Trump took office on Monday
  • “His (Trump’s) primary promise when it comes to foreign policy is that the priority of the United States Department of State will be the United States,” Rubio said

WASHINGTON: US Senator Marco Rubio from Florida became the first of President Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees to be sworn into office on Tuesday, where he emphasized that US foreign policy under Trump will put American needs first.
The US Senate unanimously confirmed Rubio, a China hawk and staunch backer of Israel, just hours after Trump took office on Monday.
“His (Trump’s) primary promise when it comes to foreign policy is that the priority of the United States Department of State will be the United States, it will be furthering the national interest of this country,” Rubio said after he was sworn into office by US Vice President JD Vance.
He added that another foreign policy goal under Trump will be “the promotion of peace. Of course, peace through strength, peace and always without abandoning our values.” Rubio, 53 and a Republican, was a long-term member of the Senate foreign relations and intelligence committees. He is a harsh critic of China and an advocate for Israel. The son of immigrants from Cuba, he has also pushed for tough measures against the Communist-ruled island and its allies, especially the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
During his confirmation hearing, he warned that the US must change course to avoid becoming more reliant on China, and promised a robust foreign policy focused on American interests.
Rubio also said it should be US policy that the war in Ukraine must end. He said reaching an agreement to stop the fighting would involve concessions from both Moscow and Kyiv, and he suggested that Ukraine would have to give up its goal of regaining all the territory Russia has taken in the last decade.
Rubio is the first person of Hispanic origin to serve as the nation’s top diplomat.