Russian air defence units destroy 51 Ukrainian drones over Belgorod region
June 16 (Reuters) - Russian air defence units destroyed 51 Ukrainian drones over the border Belgorod region over a 3-1/2 hour period late on Monday, the Defence Ministry said.
A ministry statement on the Telegram messaging app said the drones were destroyed between 8 p.m. and 11.30 p.m. in the region.
Both Russia and Ukraine have been deploying waves of drones in cross-border attacks against a range of targets in recent weeks.
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Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Top Ukrainian commander sees new assault on key eastern city
June 28 (Reuters) - Ukraine's top commander said on Saturday that his forces faced a new onslaught against a key city on the eastern front of its war against Russia, while Moscow said it was making progress in another sector farther southwest. After their initial failed advance on the capital Kyiv in the first weeks after the February 2022 invasion, Russian troops have focused on capturing all of Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine. The city of Kostiantynivka has been a major target. Ukrainian forces have for months defended the city against fierce assaults, with the regional governor urging remaining residents this week to evacuate as infrastructure breaks down. Top Ukrainian commander Oleksander Syrskyi, writing on Telegram on Saturday, said the area around Kostiantynivka was gripped by heavy fighting. "The enemy is surging towards Kostiantynivka, but apart from sustaining numerous losses, has achieved nothing," Syrskyi said. "The aggressor is trying to break through our defences and advance along three operating sectors." A spokesman for Ukrainian forces in the east, Viktor Trehubov, told the Ukrinform news agency that Kostiantynivka and the city of Pokrovsk to the west were "the main arena of battles and the Kremlin's strategic ambitions". Syrskyi also said that Ukrainian forces had withstood in the past week a powerful attack near the village of Yablunivka in northeastern Sumy region, where Russian forces have been trying to establish a buffer zone inside the Ukrainian border. Russia's Defence Ministry, in a report earlier in the day, said Moscow's forces had seized the village of Chervona Zirka -- further southwest, near the administrative border of Dnipropetrovsk region. Russia's slow advance through eastern Ukraine, with Moscow claiming a string of villages day after day, has resulted in destruction of major cities and infrastructure. Moscow has insisted that progress towards a settlement of the 40-month-old war depends on Ukraine recognising Moscow's control over four Ukrainian regions -- Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. Russian forces control about one-fifth of Ukraine's territory, though they do not fully hold any of the four regions. Moscow has said in recent weeks that its troops have made advances in areas adjacent to Dnipropetrovsk region, which lies next to both Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions. Ukrainian officials have denied those reports.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
‘Are we safe, if nuclear weapons are here?': trepidation in Norfolk village over new jets
The genteel west Norfolk village of Marham does not seem to be at the forefront of Britain's military might. A dance class is about to start in the village hall, a game of crown green bowls is under way and swallows are swooping around the medieval church tower as wood pigeons coo. 'It's a lovely, quiet little village,' says Nona Bourne as she watches another end of bowls in a match between Marham and nearby Massingham. Like many, Bourne is troubled by the news that this week thrust Marham to the frontline of UK's nuclear arsenal, in the biggest expansion of the programme for a generation. Without consultation, RAF Marham is to be equipped with new F-35A jets capable of carrying warheads with three times the explosive power of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Bourne said: 'When they spread it all over the news that these planes are going to come here from America with these bombs, it makes you think we're going to be targeted. My bungalow is five minutes from the base.' The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is planning a protest in Marham on Saturday. Bourne, whose son-in-law used to work at the base, is tempted to take part. 'I might join in,' she says. 'My daughter says we've always been a target here, but I am concerned. If I was younger I'd think about moving, but I'm 83, I'm not going anywhere.' Sisters Becky, 29, and Katherine Blakie, 31, are heading to a friend's house for a plunge in their hot tub. 'I read about the weapons on Facebook,' says Becky. 'It's strange to think they'll be here in little old Marham.' Becky, who works in fundraising, is annoyed that the village was not consulted about the decision. She says: 'Marham and the RAF base are intertwined so we should definitely have had a say.' Katherine, a medical student, says: 'It makes you think, 'Are we safe, if people know nuclear weapons are here?'' At this stage it is unclear where the nuclear warheads will be housed, but new jets to be based at Marham have the capacity to drop them. Wherever they are stored, the fear Marham will be a target is widespread in the village. 'Look what happened at Pearl Harbor,' says Patricia Gordon after finishing her bowls match. 'We'd be obliterated here.' She adds: 'And with Donald Trump's finger on the button, does it matter that we've got nuclear weapons or not?' But her partner, Bruce Townsend, 77, a retired lorry driver, thinks the nuclear deterrent works. He says: 'You can't give up nuclear weapons. Iran, and those countries, know damn well that if they start anything, they'll just get wiped out.' He adds: 'I feel the same about the protest as I did about people who tried to ban the bomb. It's stupid. They can't change it.' It is the men in Marham who seem more relaxed about the prospect of nuclear-armed planes on their doorstep. Chris Joice, a carer who used to work at the base, says: 'We've had F-35s for so many years, and having the next model isn't going to make much difference.' Joice is out walking a friend's dog, Millie, who has an RAF roundel pendant strapped to her collar. He is concerned about the lack of consultation: 'I'm just annoyed that all these decisions go ahead and the common man doesn't have a single word in.' He adds: 'No one needs that kind of firepower. I'd rather people rolled dice to settle their beefs.' Others are more full-throated in their support. Jim Smith, 79, a retired construction worker, remembers nuclear weapons at the base in the 1950s. 'They had them up there in 1958 or 59 when they had the V bombers. It stopped a world war then. And it's no different now.' A man on a bike who would only give his name as John recently retired as a grounds maintenance worker at the base. He says: 'They're never going to attack us. It would be Armageddon if it comes to that. So it doesn't make a shite's worth of difference worrying about it.' He adds: 'I don't mind protest, I'm a biker so I'm all about freedom, but I've got better things to do. People protesting here don't live in the real world, they should worry instead about people sleeping on the streets in King's Lynn.' Colin Callaby, 64, is out picking cherries from a tree in the middle of the village. The cherries, which he plans to turn into wine, are the sweetest he has ever known. 'We're right in the firing line,' he says, 'but if there's going to be a nuclear bomb we're all done for so I'd rather be right underneath it and die instantly than be 50 miles away and take weeks to die from radiation.' He adds: 'It's very sad that mankind has got to spend billions of pounds on mass destruction and we can't do something better with that money. But what can you do?'
Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
Ukraine destroys Russian helicopters in latest airfield drone strikes
Ukraine destroyed three Russian attack helicopters in its latest blow to Moscow's air power, Kyiv has claimed. Saturday's pre-dawn strike on the Kirovske base, in occupied Crimea, targeted Russian aircraft, air defence systems and storage facilities for ammunition and drones, according to Ukraine's Security Service. 'Available data indicate the destruction of multi-purpose and attack helicopters Mi-8, Mi-26 and Mi-28, as well as the self-propelled anti-aircraft missile and gun complex Pantsir-S1,' an official told the Associated Press. The Kyiv Independent reported that secondary explosions were heard at the airfield during the night. Russia's defence ministry said more than 40 Ukrainian drones were shot down over western Russia and occupied Crimea overnight and into Saturday morning. Earlier this month, nearly a third of Moscow's strategic bomber fleet was destroyed or damaged in a covert Ukrainian operation using cheaply-made drones that had been smuggled into Russian territory. On Friday Ukrainian drones also struck four Su-34 fighter jets at the Marinovka airfield in Russia's Volgograd Oblast. Preliminary reports indicated that two of the jets were destroyed. Despite recent strikes, Ukraine continues to struggle against Russian advances on the battlefield and mounting aerial attacks, as diplomatic efforts to end the war have faltered. Overnight, Russian drones hit a residential tower in the southern port city of Odesa, killing a married couple and injuring at least 17 others, including three children, Ukrainian officials said. There was no immediate comment from Moscow. Smaller, short-range drones are used by both sides on the battlefield and in areas close to the roughly 1,000km (620-mile) front line. Short-range drone attacks have killed at least 395 civilians and injured 2,635 since the war began in February 2022, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine reported Thursday. It said nearly 90 percent of those strikes were carried out by Russian forces. More than 13,300 civilians have been killed and over 34,700 have been injured in the war, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a report on June 11. Also on Saturday, Andrzej Duda, Poland's outgoing president, visited Ukraine and urged Kyiv to be patient during the transition to Karol Nawrocki, his nationalist successor. Mr Nawrocki won this month's presidential election after a campaign in which he criticised Ukraine and accused Volodymyr Zelensky of 'indecent' behaviour towards allies. He has pledged continued support for Ukraine's defence against Russia, but has signalled a possible shift in Warsaw's stance by opposing Kyiv's entry into Western alliances such as Nato. 'Please be patient,' Mr Duda told reporters at a press conference with Mr Zelensky. 'The world looks different from behind the presidential desk, slightly different from what it looks like to a candidate in elections.' Mr Zelensky said he would 'of course' invite Mr Nawrocki to Ukraine after he assumed office.
