logo
Army bosses plan to buy drones that can be fired from VANS after Ukraine's devastating attack on Russia

Army bosses plan to buy drones that can be fired from VANS after Ukraine's devastating attack on Russia

The Sun05-06-2025
THE Army plans to buy drones which can be launched out of vans after Ukraine blitzed a third of Russia's bombers from lorries.
Top Brass issued a request for a covert launcher that fits in a 'Sprinter truck or regular Transit van'.
The weapon, codenamed Project Volley, must be robust, simple to use, weigh no more than 275kg, and fire at least five drones in four minutes at speeds of 200kmph.
The MoD put out a message to industry, known as a 'notice for contracts', and will potentially give the launchers to Ukraine.
It said: 'The user will use the launcher in a high-threat environment with persistent enemy surveillance.
'Therefore it must create a minimal signature — acoustic, heat, visual when used, eg hiding in plain sight.'
It comes after Ukraine claimed to have destroyed at least 41 Russian aircraft on Sunday with 117 drones hidden on cargo trucks.
They were in pre-fabricated sheds that were loaded on to flatbed trucks and driven across Russia.
As they neared airfields, the roofs of the sheds flipped open and the drones took off.
They destroyed Tu-95 and Tu-22 long-range bombers and prized A-50 Beriev command and control aircraft.
Russia continues to launch drone strikes of its own, including one on a residential area in Kharkiv yesterday.
The MoD's notice stressed urgency by saying that it is not interested in solutions 'that will not be ready for UK field demonstration or testing in October'.
From tactical nuke to 7,600mph missile & 50k-troop assault…6 ways Putin could respond to Ukraine blitz after Trump call
The MoD said Project Volley was part of a £5billion investment in 'advanced new weapons' based on lessons learned from Ukraine.
It added: 'This investment will improve accuracy and lethality for our Armed Forces, while boosting UK export potential.'
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

EXCLUSIVE The lawless London tourist hotspot in the shadow of Parliament: How Westminster Bridge has become a magnet for violent street scammers, illegal traders and pickpocket gangs
EXCLUSIVE The lawless London tourist hotspot in the shadow of Parliament: How Westminster Bridge has become a magnet for violent street scammers, illegal traders and pickpocket gangs

Daily Mail​

time4 hours ago

  • Daily Mail​

EXCLUSIVE The lawless London tourist hotspot in the shadow of Parliament: How Westminster Bridge has become a magnet for violent street scammers, illegal traders and pickpocket gangs

Sickening footage of scammers spitting at a man when he filmed them fleecing tourists on Westminster Bridge is the latest proof of the crime-wave gripping one of London's most iconic landmarks. Swindlers tricking visitors into betting on impossible-to-win 'cup and ball' games have become a common sight on the bridge, which sits in the shadow of the Houses of Parliament. Keen to expose the predators, a social media user filmed them - only to be shoved, abused and spat on. Westminster Bridge has become notorious as a hotbed for lawbreakers of all forms, from pickpockets, bag thieves and unlicensed pedicab riders to illegal traders hawking hot nuts, ice cream and hotdogs. Susan Hall, leader of the Conservatives in the London Assembly, told MailOnline: 'This is happening right under the nose of New Scotland Yard - which overlooks the bridge. You must ask yourself why the hell this is allowed to carry on.' One recent victim of the bridge's growing lawlessness was volunteer policeman Ned Donavan - a grandson of Roald Dahl - who was punched, kicked and choked by a mob when he tried to stop one of their accomplices pickpocketing a female tourist. Britain's 'revolving door' borders are one factor hindering police, with Romanian career criminal Ionut Stoica arrested on the bridge last year for illegal gambling and deported from the UK - only to be caught at almost the same spot just weeks later. The scammers themselves are highly organised, with spotters recruited to look out for police and council inspectors. This prompted a pair of enterprising officers to snare two of them by dressing up as Batman and Robin. The TikTok video, entitled 'five minutes of unedited scammers', was shared online earlier this month. Cup and ball games involve betting on where a ball is concealed under one of three cups. Tourists are lured in by accomplices who loudly celebrate to make it seem like they have just won money. But in reality, the game is impossible to win. The scam is a Europe-wide problem, with groups of criminals travelling between different cities to carry out the con. Members of the public who confront the gangs are often met with violence, as shown by the experience of TikToker @londonscammers. As he films several groups of scammers, the criminals - some of whom are dressed in designer gear - shout abuse and demand he delete the footage, before spitting at him when he bravely refuses. Susan Hall, who previously stood as Tory candidate for London Mayor, worries about the damage such scenes cause to the capital's reputation. 'The people who are getting scammed are tourists, so that doesn't send a good signal about London,' she said. 'I was recently driving a black cab along the bridge and watching it going on. These people are putting two fingers up to the police and saying ''we can do what we want'', which it seems they can.' Spotters employed by the scammers wait by the side of the bridge and send a text if they see inspectors approaching. To get around this problem, two Met Police officers recently went undercover dressed as Batman and Robin before grabbing two men they caught scamming tourists. Following the operation, Costica Barbu was remanded by police and fined £925. Eugen Stoica fled the country and was convicted at Croydon Magistrates Court in his absence. Ms Hall described the operation as 'fantastic' but questioned why they could not happen more regularly. London has a well documented problem with street thefts, with numerous incidents reported on Westminster Bridge. Ned Donovan, who volunteers as a special constable, intervened to try and stop a pick pocketer last August, only to be attacked by other members of his gang. 'Walking across Westminster Bridge, I saw a man in the act of pickpocketing a female tourist,' he previously said. 'I grabbed him and stopped him before he could disappear. 'Unfortunately, several of his accomplices appeared and began to punch me, kick me and choke me to get me to release their friend, which I wasn't going to let happen.' The Met Police appealed for witnesses at the time. Illegal street traders are another major issue on Westminster Bridge, alongside ice cream vans who block traffic to serve customers - despite the road being a red route. Westminster Council recently handed out £20,000 in fines to illegal traders and pedicabs following a much needed crackdown. The street traders had been selling peanuts, balloons and hot dogs on the bridge without having a licence or paying any tax on their earnings. One of the vendors was convicted for the second time in two months for previously selling hotdogs. Nine pedicabs operators - several of them repeat offenders - were handed fines totalling £9,075 following concerns rogue operators are ripping off tourists and operating unsafe vehicles. Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children and Public Protection Cllr Aicha Less said: 'This is Westminster, not the Wild West. These fines send a clear message: if you break the rules in our city you will end up out of pocket and out of excuses.' 'Whilst we work with TfL to finalise a structured the licencing scheme is being finalised, our City Inspectors continue to prosecute pedicab drivers and partner with our neighbours in Lambeth and in the Metropolitan Police to ensure unsuspecting tourists are not ripped off.' Westminster Council recently fined illegal traders flogging goods such as peanuts, balloons and hot dogs A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: 'Our officers conduct regular patrols on Westminster Bridge as part of our work to tackle criminal behaviour and protect Londoners and tourists. 'This is seeing results, with two repeat offenders convicted in April for illegal gambling. 'We are going further this summer, with an enhanced police and local authority presence in London's town centres and high streets to tackle anti-social behaviour, theft and street crime.'

Russia looks to Kyrgyzstan's crypto industry to evade sanctions
Russia looks to Kyrgyzstan's crypto industry to evade sanctions

Coin Geek

time7 hours ago

  • Coin Geek

Russia looks to Kyrgyzstan's crypto industry to evade sanctions

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... A new report has indicated that Russian actors are using Kyrgyzstan's digital asset ecosystem to evade international sanctions and purchase dual-use goods for its ongoing war in Ukraine. According to research from U.K.-based blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs, published in a July 21 blog post, Kyrgyzstan-registered exchanges have 'repeatedly facilitated transactions linked to sanctioned Russian entities.' It noted that 'many of these virtual asset service providers (VASPs) show indicators of being shell companies — including the reuse of identical residential addresses, founders, and contact information across multiple entities.' The report also found that several of these Kyrgyz exchanges exhibited similar on-chain heuristics to Garantex, a Russian digital asset exchange that was the subject of an international operation to disrupt its operations due to facilitating terrorist financing and sanctions violations. 'The high-risk exchange Grinex—likely a rebranded successor to Garantex—was also registered in Kyrgyzstan,' said the report. 'On-chain analysis suggests that Grinex and other Kyrgyz-based exchanges may have played a role in moving funds after the takedown, underscoring Kyrgyzstan's growing importance as a conduit for post-sanctions Russian financial activity.' TRM Labs observed increasing instances of Russia-linked actors exploiting Kyrgyz-registered exchanges to circumvent international sanctions and move funds. Some of these exchanges, said the report, 'display behavioral heuristics similar to the sanctioned Russian exchange Garantex and appear to have served as conduits for funds following law enforcement action against Garantex in 2025.' This pattern was found in several other entities as well, according to the report. Russia's route out of its sanctions hole Russia has been the subject of massive and unprecedented international sanctions since its illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, making it the most sanctioned nation on Earth. With an ailing economy—some suggesting it is on the brink of collapse—and in the face of such severe restrictions as being shut out from the international financial messaging system, Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), Russia has increasingly turned to the digital asset space for a reprieve. The appeal to a heavily sanctioned nation of being able to exchange and transfer funds instantaneously via an anonymous (or pseudonymous) and decentralized peer-to-peer network, not controlled by any antagonistic nation, is obvious. However, the ability to track and trace funds on the blockchain and the increasing legitimization of the digital asset space have made this route to international monetary freedom more difficult. Many popular exchanges and crypto-companies, such as and LocalBitcoins, and Kraken, have felt the need to comply with international sanctions against Russia, including European Union-mandated bans on all digital asset wallets, accounts, or custody services to Russian entities and accounts. Suspiciously booming Kyrgyzstan industry The TRM report noted that, since Russia invaded Ukraine, its economic ties with Kyrgyzstan have deepened significantly. While Russia-linked activity accounted for almost all of Kyrgyzstan's digital asset industry after the invasion, before February 2022, it was 'virtually nonexistent.' In January 2022, Kyrgyzstan passed digital currency-friendly legislation which, amongst other measures, recognized digital assets as property and established a registration regime for virtual asset service providers (VASP). Since then, the Central Asian Republic, formerly part of the USSR, has rapidly emerged as a crypto hub. According to TRM Labs, 'by October 2024, Kyrgyzstan had issued 126 VASP licenses, fueling a sharp rise in digital asset activity. Transaction volume by licensed VASPs surged from USD 59 million in 2022 to USD 4.2 billion in just the first seven months of 2024.' This booming industry would not be a problem, were it not for the fact that VASPs registered in Kyrgyzstan shared 'suspicious' on- and off-chain overlap with Russian entities, including identical registration addresses at private residences, phone numbers and emails tied to freight companies or other VASPs, named founders linked to multiple other providers, no discernible background in business or digital currency, and/or no functional user registration processes. As well as the example of Garantex and Grinex, the report pointed to the Kyrgyz exchange Envoys Vision Digital Exchange (EVDE), which registered a digital currency wallet address tied to the Rusich Group, a Russian paramilitary organization sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in 2022 for its involvement in the war in Ukraine. 'Beyond its on-chain exposure, the exchange also shows several off-chain links to cross-border logistics firms and a Chinese financial institution, suggesting a wider support infrastructure that warrants further scrutiny,' said TRM Labs. Plugging the hole? In terms of what can be done about this sanction loophole that Russia appears to have found, TRM Labs recommended several measures. If Kyrgyzstan is being exploited rather than complicit, the report suggested implementing stronger ownership requirements, such as mandating the physical presence or local residency of company principals, which would raise barriers for foreign bad actors. Similarly, increasing transparency around funding sources would reduce the appeal of Kyrgyzstan as a destination for shell entities.' However, if Kyrgyzstan is an equal partner in facilitating Russia's sanctions evasion, 'governments and law enforcement agencies seeking to counter Russia's sanctions evasion toolkit need to urgently engage directly with Kyrgyz authorities on compliance.' Without proactive intervention, argued the report, the model Russia has implemented in Kyrgyzstan can be easily exported: 'If left unchecked, Russia could replicate these same playbooks in neighboring jurisdictions — further weakening the global sanctions regime and enabling the continued flow of funds to fuel aggression, procurement, and destabilization.' Watch | Tech of Tomorrow: Diving into the impact of tech in shaping the future title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""> Garantex Kyrgyzstan Russia Sanctions SWIFT TRM Labs Ukraine

Acting NASA administrator to hold talks with Russian counterpart on space issues
Acting NASA administrator to hold talks with Russian counterpart on space issues

Reuters

time7 hours ago

  • Reuters

Acting NASA administrator to hold talks with Russian counterpart on space issues

WASHINGTON, July 29 (Reuters) - The interim head of NASA, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, said on Tuesday he is looking to find common ground with Russia on space issues when he meets with his Russian counterpart later this week. Russian news agencies reported earlier this week that Duffy is set to hold talks with the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos, Dmitry Bakanov, for the first in-person meeting at the agencies' heads' level since 2018. "We have wild disagreement with the Russians on Ukraine," Duffy told reporters after an event on Capitol Hill, while noting that the United States has a partnership with Russia on the International Space Station. "We're going to continue to build alliances and partnerships and friendships as humanity continues to advance in space exploration." President Donald Trump named Duffy as NASA's interim head earlier this month. Duffy has emphasized that this is a temporary assignment. "We find points of agreement, points of partnership, which is what we have with the International Space Station and the Russians," Duffy said. "Through hard times, we don't throw those relationships away." Duffy is headed to Cape Canaveral, Florida on Wednesday for meetings and to attend the scheduled launch of the SpaceX Crew-11 flight this week. The space program is one of the few international projects on which the United States and Russia still cooperate closely. Relations in other areas between the two countries have broken down since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. "We plan to discuss the continuation of the cross-flight program, the extension of the International Space Station's operational life, and the work of the Russia-U.S. joint task force on the future safe deorbiting and controlled ocean disposal of the ISS," TASS cited Bakanov as saying in the Roscosmos statement. The last meeting between the heads of Roscosmos and NASA took place in October 2018, when Dmitry Rogozin, then director general of Roscosmos, met NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine in person also at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store