Latest news with #NeptuneMissile
The Guardian
10-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Ukraine arrests Chinese father and son on suspicion of spying
Ukraine says it has arrested a Chinese father and son on suspicion of spying on its Neptune anti-ship missile programme, a key part of Kyiv's growing domestic arms industry that is critical to its defence against Russian forces. The announcement by Ukraine's security service (SBU) follows assertions by Kyiv in recent months that Beijing, which has sought to project an image of neutrality, is helping the Kremlin's war effort. Counterintelligence officials arrested a 24-year-old former student in Kyiv after they provided him with 'technical documentation' related to Neptune production, the SBU said in a statement on Wednesday. They later detained his father, who had aimed to smuggle out the documents to the Chinese special services, the agency said. The father had been living in China but visited Ukraine to 'personally coordinate' his son's work, it added. A Ukrainian official told Reuters the two men were the first Chinese people arrested for spying since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. China's foreign ministry on Thursday said it was 'still verifying the relevant information'. 'If Chinese citizens are involved, we will safeguard their legitimate rights and interests in accordance with the law,' a ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, told a regular press conference when asked about the arrests. A lawyer for the men could not immediately be reached. Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has accused China of supplying weapons and gunpowder to Russia, and has imposed sanctions against Chinese firms Kyiv believes are aiding Moscow's war machine, including by providing components for drones. He has also said Ukrainian forces have captured Chinese nationals fighting for Russia on the battlefield. Sign up to Headlines Europe A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day after newsletter promotion Though Beijing is an ally of Moscow, it has aimed to cast itself as a peacemaker in the war and says it has not armed either party. In May, China's president, Xi Jinping, travelled to Moscow for a pomp-filled visit that included talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. Ukraine's Neptune missile was used to destroy the flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet in the first months of the war. It has since been fired at other targets including Russian oil terminals. Kyiv is strengthening its domestic defence sector amid mixed signals on future support from the US, its top military backer, and as Europe struggles to ramp up its own production.
The Independent
10-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Ukraine arrests Chinese father and son accused of spying on missile programme
Ukrainian authorities say they have detained a Chinese father and son on charges of spying on its Neptune anti-ship missile programme at a time when Kyiv is seeking to boost its domestic arms industry to counter Russian advances. Neptune, a key component of Ukraine 's naval warfare capabilities, was used to destroy the flagship of the Russia n Black Sea Fleet in the early months of the war. It has since been used on a range of targets including oil terminals. The Security Service of Ukraine said on Wednesday that counterintelligence officials arrested a 24-year-old former student in Kyiv after supplying him with 'technical documentation' related to Neptune production. They then detained the student's father who they alleged was working to give the classified documents to Chinese special services. Ukrainian officials claimed that the father lived in China but visited Ukraine to 'personally coordinate' his son's work. The father and son are the first Chinese citizens to be held in Ukraine on spying allegations since the East European country was invaded by Russian forces in 2022. The Chinese foreign ministry said on Thursday it was 'still verifying the relevant information' about the arrest. "If Chinese citizens are involved, we will safeguard their legitimate rights and interests in accordance with the law," spokesperson Mao Ning said at a regular press conference. In the face of a relentless Russian air and ground onslaught and mixed signals about continued support from the US, its top military backer, Kyiv is trying to strengthen its domestic defence industry, especially the production of drones and missiles. The arrest of the Chinese nationals follows allegations by Ukraine that Beijing is aiding the Russian war effort despite trying to project neutrality. Beijing denies the allegation. President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused China of supplying weapons and gunpowder to Russia and sanctioned Chinese companies suspected to be involved. He has also claimed that Ukraine has captured Chinese nationals fighting for Russia. Beijing, an ally of Moscow, has sought to portray itself as a peacemaker and said it was not arming either party. In May this year, Chinese president Xi Jinping travelled to Moscow for a visit that included talks with president Vladimir Putin. He has also spoken with Mr Zelensky in the course of the war and made calls for peace.
The Guardian
10-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Ukraine arrests Chinese father and son on suspicion of spying
Ukraine says it has arrested a Chinese father and son on suspicion of spying on its Neptune anti-ship missile programme, a key part of Kyiv's growing domestic arms industry that is critical to its defence against Russian forces. The announcement by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) follows assertions by Kyiv in recent months that Beijing, which has sought to project an image of neutrality, is helping the Kremlin's war effort. Counterintelligence officials arrested a 24-year-old former student in Kyiv after they provided him with 'technical documentation' related to Neptune production, the SBU said in a statement on Wednesday. They later detained his father, who had aimed to smuggle out the documents to the Chinese special services, the agency said. The father had been living in China but visited Ukraine to 'personally coordinate' his son's work, it added. A Ukrainian official told Reuters the two men were the first Chinese people arrested for spying since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. China's foreign ministry on Thursday said it was 'still verifying the relevant information'. 'If Chinese citizens are involved, we will safeguard their legitimate rights and interests in accordance with the law,' a ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, told a regular press conference when asked about the arrests. A lawyer for the men could not immediately be reached. Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has accused China of supplying weapons and gunpowder to Russia, and has imposed sanctions against Chinese firms Kyiv believes are aiding Moscow's war machine, including by providing components for drones. He has also said Ukrainian forces have captured Chinese nationals fighting for Russia on the battlefield. Sign up to Headlines Europe A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day after newsletter promotion Though Beijing is an ally of Moscow, it has aimed to cast itself as a peacemaker in the war and says it has not armed either party. In May, China's president, Xi Jinping, travelled to Moscow for a pomp-filled visit that included talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. Ukraine's Neptune missile was used to destroy the flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet in the first months of the war. It has since been fired at other targets including Russian oil terminals. Kyiv is strengthening its domestic defence sector amid mixed signals on future support from the US, its top military backer, and as Europe struggles to ramp up its own production.
The Guardian
10-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Ukraine war briefing: Two Chinese nationals arrested in Neptune missile espionage case
Ukraine said it had arrested a Chinese father and son, both suspected of spying on Kyiv's Neptune cruise missile programme. Counterintelligence officials detained a 24-year-old former student in Kyiv after they provided him with 'technical documentation' related to Neptune production, Ukraine's SBU said. They later swooped on his father when he visited Ukraine from China to 'personally coordinate' his son's work and smuggle out the documents to the Chinese special services, the SBU said. A Ukrainian official told Reuters the two men were the first Chinese people arrested for spying since Moscow's 2022 full-scale invasion. Kyiv has repeatedly accused China of supplying parts and technologies central to the Russian drone and missile programme. China's government insists there has been no such trade. The Chinese embassy in Kyiv did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters on the Neptune case and a lawyer for the men could not immediately be found. The US resumed delivering artillery shells and mobile rocket artillery missiles to Ukraine, US officials told Reuters and the Associated Press on Wednesday, on the instructions of Donald Trump who claimed he did not know who ordered the shipments' suspension last week. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said 155mm artillery shells and GMLRS (mobile rocket artillery) missiles were being provided. The shipment paused last week included 30 Patriot missiles, 8,500 155mm artillery shells, more than 250 precision GMLRS missiles and 142 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles. Kyiv was again under bombardment early on Thursday morning. As air defences fought off Russian drones, one struck an apartment building in the centre of the capital, said Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv military administration, and debris fell in different districts of the city. Reuters witnesses reported loud explosions. On Wednesday, Russia pummelled Ukraine with its largest missile and drone attack in more than three years of war – a dark record that is seemingly reset higher every few days. Lutsk, a town in western Ukraine, was heavily targeted for its military airfield and infrastructure. Kyiv's air force said Russia fired 728 drones and 13 missiles at Ukraine, with air defence systems cutting down 711 drones and seven missiles. Air force representatives said new Ukrainian drones played an important role in defending against the attacks and most of the Russian drones were decoys. A one-year-old boy was killed in a Russian attack on the village of Pravdyne in the southern Kherson region, local officials announced. Some reports said he was hit by a drone in his back yard along with his grandmother who was badly injured. Ukrainian prosecutors said Russian drone and bombing attacks in two towns in Donetsk killed eight civilians on Wednesday. Officials published images showing the remains of two people burnt to death in their car, which officials said was hit by a Russian drone. Casualties included three people killed and one injured in the frontline town of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk region, the national emergency services said. A one-storey administrative building was destroyed and rescue teams pulled bodies out of the rubble. Firefighters extinguished blazes in four buildings. Vadym Filashkin, governor of Donetsk oblast, said it was time to 'take a responsible decision. Evacuate to less dangerous regions of Ukraine!' Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Keith Kellogg had a 'substantive' conversation, the Ukrainian president said after meeting the US president's Ukraine envoy in Rome. 'We discussed weapons supplies and strengthening air defence … We also covered the purchase of American weapons, joint defence manufacturing, and localisation efforts in Ukraine.' Both men were in Italy ahead of a conference on 10-11 July dedicated to Ukraine's recovery and long-term reconstruction. Zelenskyy said he and Kellogg had discussed at length proposals to slap tougher sanctions on Moscow. He expressed hope for progress in a sanctions bill before the US Congress, sponsored by Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democrat Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. Donald Trump has been aiming unusually direct criticism at Vladimir Putin, saying the Russian ruler's statements on moving towards peace were 'meaningless' and 'bullshit'. The Guardian's diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour, considers whether the Trump-Putin bromance may have run its course. 'If so it is a transformatory moment, and a vindication for both Volodymyr Zelenskyy as he arrives in Rome for the annual Ukraine reconstruction conference and for those others, notably the British and the French governments, who have patiently helped the scales to fall from Trump's eyes about Putin's true intentions. At long last and after many false starts, the US president seems to have accepted he is unpersuadable on ending the war. Europe's top human rights court delivered damning judgments on Wednesday against Russia in four cases brought by Kyiv and the Netherlands. Judges at the European court of human rights ruled that Russia committed a string of human rights violations in backing anti-Kyiv separatists in eastern Ukraine from 2014, in the downing of the MH17 flight that year and in invading Ukraine in 2022. Russia violated the convention through 'extrajudicial killing of civilians and Ukrainian military personnel' outside of combat, 'torture', 'forced labour', 'unlawful and arbitrary detention of civilians' as well as looting in its invasion of Ukraine, the judges found.
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ukraine accuses 2 Chinese men of trying to steal info on missile system
Ukrainian officials said Wednesday that two Chinese nationals — a father and a son — had been detained and accused of attempting to illegally transfer classified documents on a key Ukrainian missile system to Beijing. According to a statement by the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's office, an investigation by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) intelligence agency found the younger man, a 24-year-old who was expelled from a Ukrainian university in 2023 for academic failure, remained in Ukraine and attempted to recruit a Ukrainian national who worked on the development of the "Neptune" guided missile system. "It was established that the foreigner was collecting and was supposed to transfer to his father, who has close ties with the security agencies and the General Staff of China, documentation about the Neptune missile system," the government said in its statement, calling the missiles "a unique weapon of the Defense Forces of Ukraine" that was used in a hallmark attack on Russia's navy in 2022. The SBU said the man's father entered Ukraine earlier this week to "personally coordinate his son's spy work." Neither of the men were identified. According to the Prosecutor General's office, the 24-year-old was detained while in the process of passing the information to his father, who was detained two days later. The father visited the Chinese Embassy in Kyiv a day before he was detained, the statement said. The Chinese Embassy did not reply to CBS News' request for comment on this story. The news comes a week after China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi reportedly told the European Union's top diplomat that Beijing did not want to see Ukraine win the war Russia launched with its full-scale 2022 invasion. Chinese officials have not confirmed that private statement by Wang during a visit to Brussels, reported by the South China Morning Post and other outlets. Chinese officials have said repeatedly that the country's stance on the Ukraine war is one of neutrality, but a U.S. Department of Defense report issued at the end of 2024 concluded that China has supported Russia in the war and sold Russia dual-use items that are crucial to Moscow's military industry. Under the Biden administration, then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in early 2023 that the U.S. government was concerned Beijing was considering augmenting its support for Russia with "everything from ammunition to the weapons themselves." China has continued to deny taking sides in the war, but it has deepened its relationship with Moscow, both politically and militarily, significantly in recent years. The Neptune system is a domestically designed Ukrainian cruise missile that has been in service with the Ukrainian navy since March 2021. The nearly-2,000 pound guided missiles are designed to target both ships and land targets, and it proved successful in the first months of the war when it was used to sink the Moskva guided missile cruiser, which was the flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet. The missiles, which have a range of about 174 miles, are a vital weapon for Ukraine as it seeks to defend its Black Sea coastal area. It has also been deployed elsewhere and struck military targets including an airbase in Russia's Kursk region last year, according to Ukraine's military. The original Neptune design was upgraded to extend its range and reduce Ukraine's reliance on weapons provided by the U.S. and Europe. The two Chinese men were to remain in custody during a pre-trial investigation. If found guilty of the charges, they could face prison sentences of up to 15 years. Sneak peek: Who Killed Aileen Seiden in Room 15? Everything we know so far about the deadly Texas floods Justice Department sues California over transgender athletes
