ReportWire

Tag: ukraine

  • Incredible video shows Ukraine’s storming invasion of Russia

    Incredible video shows Ukraine’s storming invasion of Russia

    [ad_1]

    INCREDIBLE footage illustrates how Ukraine has captured a huge slice of Russian territory in a week-long rapid blitz.

    It’s taken Kyiv’s troops just several days to claim 400 square miles of enemy soil as Vlad grapples with being the first Russian leader to surrender home turf since the Second World War.

    Ukraine is blasting its way into Russia as the war enters a fiery new chapter

    8

    Ukraine is blasting its way into Russia as the war enters a fiery new chapterCredit: Reuters
    A Russian man reacts to missile debris, with many of his fellow residents evacuating

    8

    A Russian man reacts to missile debris, with many of his fellow residents evacuatingCredit: Kommersant Photo/Anatoliy Zhdanov via REUTERS RUSSIA
    A Ukrainian soldier holds up the peace sign as he goes into battle

    8

    A Ukrainian soldier holds up the peace sign as he goes into battleCredit: Reuters

    8

    The animation shows Ukraine forces breaking over the border into Russia’s Kursk region in the early hours of August 6 in a surprise move.

    The advance then spills into the rival country in multiple directions, with troops speeding straight ahead in a sharp incision as others take wider territory to the northwest and southeast.

    Ukraine’s territory takeover then broadens out in all directions, leading to the huge 400,000 square mile coup in only seven days, according to the country’s top commander.

    Thousands of troops have piled in with beefed up convoys including tanks and aircraft.

    Read more on Russia-Ukraine

    Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi claimed Ukraine now controlled the massive chunk of Russian territory as it continued to “conduct an offensive operation in the Kursk region”.

    He said: “The troops are fulfilling their tasks. Fighting continues along the entire front line. The situation is under our control.”

    President Volodomyr Zelensky on Monday night warned adversary Vladimir Putin that war was “coming home” to Russia.

    He said: “Russia brought war to others, now it’s coming home.

    “Ukraine has always wanted only peace, and we will certainly ensure peace.”

    Tens of thousands of Kursk citizens were forced to evacuate last week with locals in the neighbouring Belgorod region now also given orders to leave.

    ‘Rattled’ Putin’s body language reveals deep fear over Ukraine invasion as he nervously twitches & rubs hands

    As many as 130,000 Russians are now displaced.

    Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov warned the entire region was under missile alert.

    He told residents: “Go down to the basement and stay there until you receive the all-clear”.

    The warring nations traded air attacks overnight, with 14 Ukraine drones launched into the Kursk, Belgorod and Voronezh regions taken out by air defence, according to Russian media.

    Kremlin forces fired 38 attack drones and two ballistic missiles into Ukraine, sending the entire country on air-raid alert as fighting intensifies.

    On the ground, Zelensky’s men tried to push further into Vlad’s territory.

    The Kursk town of Sudzha is expected to be hotly fought over given the flow of Russian gas that runs through it.

    As much as half of Russian natural gas sent into Europe travelled through Sudzha in 2023, making up five per cent of EU consumption.

    Russian war bloggers and Ukrainian telegram channels claimed it was under Kyiv’s control, according to Reuters, although those assertions are yet to be verified.

    Putin’s illegal invasion in 2022 has led to the Kremlin currently controlling nearly a fifth of Ukrainian territory after two-and-a-half years of fighting.

    Ukraine’s surprise push into Russia has been widely seen as an attempt to divert fighting away from its own turf.

    Why has Ukraine invaded Russia?

    By Ellie Doughty

    UKRAINE’S daring invasion into Russia has been launched for two key reasons – with one aimed at Putin and one at the West.

    A high-ranking Ukrainian official told AFP that the idea behind the attack is to stretch Putin’s armies as much as possible, spreading them thinly over different areas.

    The security brass told AFP on condition of anonymity that “the aim is to stretch the positions of the enemy, to inflict maximum losses and to destabilise the situation in Russia as they are unable to protect their own border”.

    As well as acting as a huge morale-boosting win for Ukraine – the invasion also has a second key purpose in Kyiv’s masterplan.

    It is a message to allies in the West who have closely monitored Putin’s war.

    Military analyst Franz-Stefan Gady told The Washington Post: “This is definitely one consideration that it is really a signal to the West and to Ukrainian allies and partners that Ukraine is still capable of launching offensive operations.

    “That Ukraine is capable of conducting fairly complex operations into enemy territory.”

    Vlad on the other hand claims Ukraine are simply trying to gain leverage for peace talk negotiations.

    Vlad has speculated the surge was driven “with the help of Western masters” to gain leverage at the negotiating table for potential peace talks.

    Although Kremlin chiefs and state media are insisting Ukraine is losing masses of troops in what will be a botched invasion, reports from the ground aren’t as glowing as Moscow might hope.

    Speculation is swirling that Russian troops are even looting their own citizens’ evacuated homes.

    Footage posted to X purports to show soldiers searching through a Kursk home before complaining that it had already been ransacked.

    Retired general Andrei Gurulev, a member of Putin’s United Russia party, hit out at the military for failing to stave off Ukraine’s offensive, The Times reported.

    He said: “Regrettably, the group of forces protecting the border didn’t have its own intelligence assets.

    “No one likes to see the truth in reports, everybody just wants to hear that all is good.”

    According to state news agency RIA, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service called Zelensky’s attacking move “insane”.

    They claim the Ukrainian chief has sparked a threat of escalation that could expand beyond the two nations’ conflict.

    US senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal meanwhile jetted into Kyiv to meet with Zelensky and praised the “bold and brilliant” move.

    Graham said: “Taking this war to Putin and making him understand and pay a price is the right thing

    “So two-and-a-half years later you’re still standing and you’re in Russia. Remind me not to invade Ukraine. 

    “I’m so proud of you, your people, your military, your leadership, your country.”

    Zelensky says he's bringing the war home to Russia

    8

    Zelensky says he’s bringing the war home to RussiaCredit: Ukrainian Presidency/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images
    Tanks and troops rumble further into Russia

    8

    Tanks and troops rumble further into RussiaCredit: REUTERS/Viacheslav Ratynskyi
    Vlad insists Ukraine will lose masses of troops in their offensive

    8

    Vlad insists Ukraine will lose masses of troops in their offensiveCredit: Reuters
    Ukraine claims tanks and troops have taken a huge slice of territory

    8

    Ukraine claims tanks and troops have taken a huge slice of territoryCredit: AFP

    [ad_2]

    Owen Leonard

    Source link

  • Putin orders army to

    Putin orders army to

    [ad_1]

    President Vladimir Putin ordered his army on Monday to “dislodge” Ukrainian troops who have entered Russian territory as authorities said more than 120,000 people had been evacuated away from the fighting.

    Kyiv launched a surprise offensive into Russia’s western Kursk region last Tuesday, capturing more than two dozen settlements in the most significant cross-border attack on Russian soil since World War II.

    “One of the obvious goals of the enemy is to sow discord, strife, intimidate people, destroy the unity and cohesion of Russian society,” Putin told a televised meeting with government officials.

    “The main task is, of course, for the defense ministry to dislodge the enemy from our territories,” he said.

    Some 121,000 people have fled the Kursk region since the start of the fighting, which has killed at least 12 civilians and injured 121 more, regional governor Alexei Smirnov told the meeting with Putin.

    Authorities in Kursk announced on Monday they were widening their evacuation area to include the Belovsky district, home to some 14,000 residents. The neighboring Belgorod region also said it was evacuating its border district of Krasnoyaruzhsky.

    “Apparently, the enemy is striving to improve its negotiating positions in the future,” Putin said Monday. “But what kind of negotiations can we even talk about with people who indiscriminately strike at civilians, at civilian infrastructure?”

    Russia launched a “full-scale invasion” of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and since then, Russia has attacked numerous Ukrainian population centers. Russian strikes have hit Ukrainian hospitals, theaters, train stations and shopping malls.

    Since last week, Ukraine has pierced into Russia by at least seven miles and captured 28 towns and villages, with the new front 25 miles long, Smirnov said.

    A top Ukrainian official told AFP over the weekend that the operation was aimed at stretching Russian troops and destabilizing the country after months of slow Russian advances across the frontline.

    Putin said Russia would respond by showing “unanimous support for all those in distress” and claimed there had been an increase in men signing up to fight.

    “The enemy will receive a worthy riposte,” he said.

    The assault appeared to catch the Kremlin off guard. Russia’s army rushed in reserve troops, tanks, aviation, artillery and drones in a bid to quash it, but it conceded on Sunday that Ukraine had penetrated up to 20 miles into Russian territory in places.

    On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged for the first time that his country’s military forces were fighting in the operation.

    In his night video address, Zelenskyy said he discussed the ongoing incursion “to push the war onto the aggressor’s territory” with top Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Syrskyi.

    “Ukraine is proving that it can indeed restore justice and ensure the necessary pressure on the aggressor,” he said.

    A Ukrainian security official told AFP, on condition of anonymity, that “the aim is to stretch the positions of the enemy, to inflict maximum losses and to destabilize the situation in Russia as they are unable to protect their own border.”

    The Ukrainian official said thousands of Ukrainian troops were involved in the operation.

    Russia’s defense ministry said on Monday that its air defense systems had destroyed 18 Ukrainian drones – including 11 over the Kursk region.

    Russia’s emergency situations ministry said on Sunday that over 44,000 residents in the Kursk region have applied for financial assistance, TASS news agency reported.

    Meanwhile, Russia’s rail operator has organized emergency trains from Kursk to Moscow, around 280 miles away, for those fleeing.

    “It’s scary to have helicopters flying over your head all the time,” said Marina, refusing to give her surname, who arrived by train in Moscow on Sunday. “When it was possible to leave, I left.”

    Across the border in Ukraine’s Sumy region, AFP journalists on Sunday saw dozens of armored vehicles daubed with a white triangle — the insignia apparently being used to identify Ukrainian military hardware deployed in the attack.

    At an evacuation center in the regional capital of Sumy, 70-year-old retired metal worker Mykola, who fled his village of Khotyn some 10 kilometers from the Russian border, welcomed Ukraine’s push into Russia.

    “Let’s let them find out what it’s like,” he told AFP. “They don’t understand what war is. Let them have a taste of it.”

    Analysts think Kyiv may have launched the assault to relieve pressure on its troops in other parts of the frontline.

    But the Ukrainian official said: “Their pressure in the east continues, they are not pulling back troops from the area,” even if “the intensity of Russian attacks has gone down a little bit.”

    The Ukrainian official said he expected Russia would “in the end” stop the incursion.

    Ukraine was bracing for a large-scale retaliatory missile attack, including “on decision-making centers” in Ukraine, the official said.

    Haley Ott

    contributed to this report.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Ukraine’s Energy Sector Faces Its Biggest Crisis Yet

    Ukraine’s Energy Sector Faces Its Biggest Crisis Yet

    [ad_1]

    As part of its hybrid war strategy, Russia has been targeting Ukrainian grain silos, schools, hospitals, power plants, and more for two and a half years. Given the Kremlin’s failure to overrun Ukraine militarily, it has increasingly turned instead to making the country uninhabitable. This strategy isn’t new. But 2024 has seen wave after wave of basic infrastructure hit with previously unknown accuracy and ferocity. The biggest target is now the country’s power sector, and specifically, its ability to generate electricity.

    Between 2022 and 2024, Russia targeted approximately 50% of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, including forcing the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power plant offline with repeated strikes, and the bombing of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Dam. Transmission lines and electrical substations were also often hit. But Ukrainian engineering and power line teams had proved extremely diligent, fast, and adept at repairing them. Difficulty in procuring replacement autotransformers sometimes extended blackouts, but Ukraine bounced back relatively quickly and survived both winter 2022-2023 and 2023-2024. This time is different. 

    Some 60% of Ukraine’s power generation has been knocked out, as Russian precision bombs, drone strikes, and rocket attacks increasingly home in on power plants and energy infrastructure. The country is now suffering the worst rolling blackouts since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

    Ukraine’s ability to regenerate and rebuild has now been overwhelmed, at least for the immediate future. Over 9 gigawatts of power generation alone has been taken out just since March. More hydroelectric plants have been destroyed, including the Dnipro station, the largest that was still working. Solar power facilities, too. Every single one of the thermal—coal and natural gas burning—plants has been hit, and of the original 13 no more than two are still operational. DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private power company, has lost 90% of its generation capacity. The current national power deficit is approximately 35%.

    Four months of brutal strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have done so much damage that even in Kyiv there are only 10 hours of electricity per day—and just four for some other cities. It will take years to rebuild. Come winter, this situation will get much worse. DTEK executives estimate that winter blackouts could reach 20 hours per day. And several of the power plants that have been destroyed were combined electricity and heating facilities, so it will not only be dark but also very cold in the middle of Ukraine’s famously harsh winters. People will almost certainly die from cold, or lack of access to care.

    There are numerous proposals and ideas about how to help Ukraine survive this winter. Ukrenergo, the national electricity grid company, is working in both the public and private sectors to get new generation and storage capacity online, with a strong priority of developing distributed power instead of centralized facilities. Ukraine is already importing electricity from Poland and other neighboring countries, but imports cannot make up enough of the difference and are expensive. Rebuilding thermal power plants makes little sense in the long run, both because of Ukraine’s climate change commitments and because gas and coal have become scarcer under Russian sanctions, so renewables are the focus in the near future and nuclear power in the long term. Immediately, private generators are humming all over the country, for those who can afford the units and the diesel to keep them running.

    While these possible solutions are gradually taking shape, Ukraine exists in a partial darkness and state of dysfunction that is gradually undermining its stamina. People’s ability to work, to bank, to get medical treatment, to use their phones or internet, and so on, has been hammered by the lack of power. Schools cannot operate normally. Nor can businesses. This in turn means less money for individuals, and also less tax revenues with which to pay for the government and the war effort. And many may finally make the difficult decision to leave their country because life, already no walk in the park, has become even more difficult.

    But this bleakness does not mean Ukraine’s supporters should count it out. Nor should they stop supporting Kyiv, even as global attention has shifted to Israel’s expanding war and the U.S. presidential election. Friendly countries are still looking for much-needed power grid replacement parts to ship to Ukraine. Each shipment of new military support, now including F-16 fighter jets, helps Ukraine survive. Giving Ukraine air defense systems or allowing Kyiv to take offensive measures against Russia could mean a more decisive defense posture. At the very least, the West should help Ukraine win enough of its country back to strengthen its negotiating position against Russia should real peace talks ever take place.

    While Ukraine waits for more help to arrive, perhaps its most important defense against Russia is that its people somehow remain optimistic. Despite the brutality of war, and facing the looming doom of winter with major electricity shortages, only 44% of citizens want to negotiate with Russia. As many as 88% believe Ukraine will still win the war and 80% consider the country’s future to be promising. Their optimism should not make Ukraine’s backers complacent. As many Ukrainians are quick to explain, they are a resilient people. They have to be.

    [ad_2]

    Suriya Jayanti

    Source link

  • Can Bitcoin (BTC) Hit $100,000 if the Russia-Ukraine War Ends (ChatGPT Analyzes)

    Can Bitcoin (BTC) Hit $100,000 if the Russia-Ukraine War Ends (ChatGPT Analyzes)

    [ad_1]

    TL;DR

    • Bitcoin’s value dropped significantly due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. The conflict is ongoing and continues to impact global financial markets.
    • The end of the war could boost the cryptocurrency market, potentially pushing BTC’s price up. However, reaching the $100K milestone would require additional conditions.


    What if the Conflict Ceases?

    The cryptocurrency market, particularly the price of bitcoin (BTC), can be significantly affected by geopolitical tension. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the start of 2022, described by the former’s authorities as a “special military operation,” is one evident example. 

    BTC’s value plummeted severely on the news, while the crypto sector lost approximately $200 billion in a day. The war is still ongoing, remaining a burden on global monetary stability and causing huge uncertainty in financial markets.

    But what if the countries bury the hatchet? We decided to ask ChatGPT whether such a potential scenario could boost BTC’s price to an all-time high of $100,000.

    The AI-powered chatbot estimated that the war’s eventual end will most likely cause an upswing in the entire cryptocurrency industry. BTC has previously reacted positively after reports that the two nations are getting close to declaring a truce.

    However, ChatGPT claimed that reaching the $100K milestone would require additional factors. Some of the depicted elements include positive market sentiment, investor confidence, favorable regulatory changes, and increased BTC adoption. 

    It is worth noting that the price of the primary cryptocurrency has been progressing despite the military conflict in Eastern Europe. It was trading at around $37,000 at the time of Russia’s invasion, while currently, the price is around $61,000 (a 75% increase). Things looked even better for the bulls in mid-March when BTC hit an ATH of over $73,500.

    Could Trump Speed up the Process?

    One possible factor that could cease the clash between Russia and Ukraine is the potential election of Donald Trump as America’s new President. The Republican candidate has repeatedly claimed that he can solve the war in just a day should he enter the White House as a winner. 

    He insists that his established relationships with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would allow him to negotiate a quick deal between the fighting nations. 

    One should keep in mind, though, that the military conflict is very complex, meaning the chances of a resolution in such a short time are quite slim. 

    Even if Trump fails on the peace front, his potential election could positively impact BTC. The billionaire, who was a fierce critic of cryptocurrency in the past, has made a U-turn lately, presenting himself as the right choice for the pro-crypto voters in the US. 

    He promised to let the industry thrive and pledged to increase America’s BTC mining efforts. Last week, Trump attempted the Bitcoin conference in Nashville, making the headlines with his speech.

    He expressed his desire for the United States to become the global leader in cryptocurrency and to create a national strategic reserve of the leading digital asset.

    SPECIAL OFFER (Sponsored)

    Binance Free $600 (CryptoPotato Exclusive): Use this link to register a new account and receive $600 exclusive welcome offer on Binance (full details).

    LIMITED OFFER 2024 at BYDFi Exchange: Up to $2,888 welcome reward, use this link to register and open a 100 USDT-M position for free!

    [ad_2]

    Dimitar Dzhondzhorov

    Source link

  • Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 885

    Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 885

    [ad_1]

    As the war enters its 885th day, these are the main developments.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Moment Putin’s £40m fighter jet crashes as vid shows smouldering wreckage

    Moment Putin’s £40m fighter jet crashes as vid shows smouldering wreckage

    [ad_1]

    DRAMATIC footage shows Vladimir Putin’s £40million supersonic fighter bomber crash on the ground in the latest humiliation blow.

    The charred chassis of SU-34 can be seen burning in Russia‘s Volgograd region with plumes of smoke rising to the sky.

    5

    SU-34’s charred wreckage can be seen in the footageCredit: East2West
    Putin lost an estimated three dozen of SU-34 during the war

    5

    Putin lost an estimated three dozen of SU-34 during the warCredit: East2West
    The warplane crashed in the Serafimovichsky district of Volgograd region

    5

    The warplane crashed in the Serafimovichsky district of Volgograd regionCredit: East2West

    The crew of two managed to eject from the warplane before the military jet hit the ground and exploded.

    The video from the scene shows the smouldering wreckage lying in the Serafimovichsky district of Volgograd region.

    It was unclear if the plane had been on a mission linked to the Ukraine war. 

    The Russian defence minister confirmed the crash and said it was likely caused by a “technical malfunction” during a training flight. 

    The defence ministry statement read: “The crew ejected, there is no threat to the lives of the pilots.

    “The plane crashed in an uninhabited area. The flight was carried out without ammunition.”

    Putin has lost an estimated three dozen Su-34s since he started a war against Ukraine in 2022.

    Mad Vlad’s prized Su-34 planes, also designed for precise and brutal bombings, are thought to cost around £40million.

    The crash came following a remarkable kamikaze drone strike by Ukraine on the Russian military airbase Olenya, located above the Arctic Circle.

    The operation required flying 1,175 miles across heavily fortified areas of Russia to reach the closest border with Ukraine.

    Vlad’s forces humiliated as 29 Russian attacks wiped out one by one

    Putin had reportedly concealed his Tu-22M3 strategic bombers in the area packed with air defences to avoid being targeted by Ukrainian strikes.

    Bombers from Olenya have been deployed to attack Ukraine during the war.

    Ukraine also claimed to have attacked the Diagilevo facility in the Ryazan region and the Engels military airfield in the Saratov region today.

    The kamikaze drone strike also targeted an oil refinery in Ryazan, according to sources.

    All of the locations had reported explosions, but confirmation of damage to Russian warplanes and oil infrastructure is still pending.

    The attack comes as yet another embarrassing loss for Putin after his attacks were wiped out one by one by Ukrainian forces.

    The warmonger’s attempt to turn tide of the war failed after at least 29 attacks were fended off by President Volodymyr Zelensky‘s army.

    Earlier this year, at least six of the despot’s planes were destroyed while eight more were damaged in the overnight blitz on Russian bases.

    And in January, two of Putin’s most crucial spy planes worth £290million were shot down as Russia fears Ukraine used a secret NATO “miracle weapon” in the attack.

    One of the Russian dictator’s £260million jets disappeared and a £30million bomber jet was set on fire after Ukrainian forces shot them out of the sky above the Azov Sea.

    They were blasted out of the air in one of Moscow’s worst days for its air force since Russia’s invasion in 2022.

    Plumes of smoke could be seen from a distance

    5

    Plumes of smoke could be seen from a distanceCredit: East2West
    Putin's prized SU-34 is estimated to cost £40million

    5

    Putin’s prized SU-34 is estimated to cost £40millionCredit: East2West

    [ad_2]

    Aiya Zhussupova

    Source link

  • From basement to battlefield: Ukrainian startups create low-cost robots to fight Russia

    From basement to battlefield: Ukrainian startups create low-cost robots to fight Russia

    [ad_1]

    NORTHERN UKRAINE (AP) — Struggling with manpower shortages, overwhelming odds and uneven international assistance, Ukraine hopes to find a strategic edge against Russia in an abandoned warehouse or a factory basement.

    An ecosystem of laboratories in hundreds of secret workshops is leveraging innovation to create a robot army that Ukraine hopes will kill Russian troops and save its own wounded soldiers and civilians.

    Defense startups across Ukraine — about 250 according to industry estimates — are creating the killing machines at secret locations that typically look like rural car repair shops.

    Employees at a startup run by entrepreneur Andrii Denysenko can put together an unmanned ground vehicle called the Odyssey in four days at a shed used by the company. Its most important feature is the price tag: $35,000, or roughly 10% of the cost of an imported model.

    Denysenko asked that The Associated Press not publish details of the location to protect the infrastructure and the people working there.

    The site is partitioned into small rooms for welding and body work. That includes making fiberglass cargo beds, spray-painting the vehicles gun-green and fitting basic electronics, battery-powered engines, off-the-shelf cameras and thermal sensors.

    The military is assessing dozens of new unmanned air, ground and marine vehicles produced by the no-frills startup sector, whose production methods are far removed from giant Western defense companies’.

    A fourth branch of Ukraine’s military — the Unmanned Systems Forces — joined the army, navy and air force in May.

    Engineers take inspiration from articles in defense magazines or online videos to produce cut-price platforms. Weapons or smart components can be added later.

    “We are fighting a huge country, and they don’t have any resource limits. We understand that we cannot spend a lot of human lives,” said Denysenko, who heads the defense startup UkrPrototyp. “War is mathematics.”

    One of its drones, the car-sized Odyssey, spun on its axis and kicked up dust as it rumbled forward in a cornfield in the north of the country last month.

    The 800-kilogram (1,750-pound) prototype that looks like a small, turretless tank with its wheels on tracks can travel up to 30 kilometers (18.5 miles) on one charge of a battery the size of a small beer cooler.

    The prototype acts as a rescue-and-supply platform but can be modified to carry a remotely operated heavy machine gun or sling mine-clearing charges.

    “Squads of robots … will become logistics devices, tow trucks, minelayers and deminers, as well as self-destructive robots,” a government fundraising page said after the launch of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces. “The first robots are already proving their effectiveness on the battlefield.”

    Mykhailo Fedorov, the deputy prime minister for digital transformation, is encouraging citizens to take free online courses and assemble aerial drones at home. He wants Ukrainians to make a million of flying machines a year.

    “There will be more of them soon,” the fundraising page said. “Many more.”

    Denysenko’s company is working on projects including a motorized exoskeleton that would boost a soldier’s strength and carrier vehicles to transport a soldier’s equipment and even help them up an incline. “We will do everything to make unmanned technologies develop even faster. (Russia’s) murderers use their soldiers as cannon fodder, while we lose our best people,” Fedorov wrote in an online post.

    Ukraine has semi-autonomous attack drones and counter-drone weapons endowed with AI and the combination of low-cost weapons and artificial intelligence tools is worrying many experts who say low-cost drones will enable their proliferation.

    Technology leaders to the United Nations and the Vatican worry that the use of drones and AI in weapons could reduce the barrier to killing and dramatically escalate conflicts.

    Human Rights Watch and other international rights groups are calling for a ban on weapons that exclude human decision making, a concern echoed by the U.N. General Assembly, Elon Musk and the founders of the Google-owned, London-based startup DeepMind.

    “Cheaper drones will enable their proliferation,” said Toby Walsh, professor of artificial intelligence at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. “Their autonomy is also only likely to increase.”

    ___

    Follow AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Grieving Ukrainians attend Austrian Alps climbing camp to recover from war | 60 Minutes

    Grieving Ukrainians attend Austrian Alps climbing camp to recover from war | 60 Minutes

    [ad_1]

    Grieving Ukrainians attend Austrian Alps climbing camp to recover from war | 60 Minutes – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    Grieving Ukrainian widows and children headed to the Austrian Alps for mountain healing. They’re climbing at a camp while learning from U.S. veterans about strength, resilience and overcoming trauma.

    Be the first to know

    Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.


    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • 7/14/2024: Trump assassination attempt; Rise; Modern Ark

    7/14/2024: Trump assassination attempt; Rise; Modern Ark

    [ad_1]

    7/14/2024: Trump assassination attempt; Rise; Modern Ark – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    First, a report on the assassination attempt made on former President Trump. Then, a trip to an Austrian Alps camp for grieving Ukrainians. And, a look at animals rescued at troubled Puerto Rico zoo.

    Be the first to know

    Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.


    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • NATO’s 75th anniversary summit: A mix of success and setbacks – WTOP News

    NATO’s 75th anniversary summit: A mix of success and setbacks – WTOP News

    [ad_1]

    The leaders of 32 NATO member countries were greeted in Washington, Tuesday by blazing hot sunshine, sweltering temperatures and the turmoil of U.S. political uncertainty, as they kicked off the 75th anniversary and summit of the alliance.

    The leaders of 32 NATO member countries were greeted in Washington on Tuesday by blazing hot sunshine, sweltering temperatures and the turmoil of political uncertainty as they kicked off the 75th anniversary and summit of the alliance.

    By the time they prepared to depart, the U.S. political troubles, which directly impacts NATO’s future, had deepened; and separate internal concerns lingered.

    The summit was laced together with a mix of celebrations to commemorate NATO’s history and anxiety about its future.

    At the opening of the three-day gathering, President Joe Biden, the host of the historic event, was battling growing demands from his own party to bow out of the upcoming presidential election.

    European political and intelligence sources told WTOP that those calls rattled many of the dignitaries, who were already worried after Mr. Biden’s performance in a presidential debate on June 24 with Donald Trump.

    The newly-elected Biden guaranteed in 2020 that the U.S. was firmly back at NATO’s side and would remain there after a tumultuous four years during Trump’s presidency. But, looking at the current political landscape, he’s no longer able to back that guarantee.

    ‘It’s necessary for our own interest to defend Ukraine’

    In addition to American political dysfunction, NATO grappled during the summit with its own internal problems.

    Topping that list are businesses in NATO member countries that may be helping Moscow pursue its war against Ukraine.

    The day before the summit began, Russia’s military attacked a children’s hospital in Ukraine, reportedly using weapons built with Western components — something a broad Russia sanctions package was designed to prevent.

    Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, during the “Strengthening the trans-Atlantic Bond” panel discussion, criticized Western companies that, allegedly, knowingly provide weapons components to Moscow.

    “When I go to different European countries that are further away from the war and don’t see Russia — maybe the way that we do — I see this will still profit from it,” she said.

    She suggested that leaders in these companies believe the war is not their problem and have dealt with the conflict in a disingenuous way. Kallas said they tell themselves and others, “It doesn’t really concern me. I just want to do my trade.”

    “We see the circumvention of sanctions, but these are the same companies that are complaining that ‘our businesses are hurt, our economies are hurt because of it (the sanctions),’” she said.

    One potential reason for the look-the-other-way mentality, according to Western intelligence sources, is animosity toward Ukraine.

    The President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel addressed it briefly during the same panel discussion Kallas participated in.

    “It doesn’t matter if we take it as a matter of liking or disliking Ukraine. It’s about if we like to live in a world where rules matter or not, and this is what is it all about,” said Pavel.

    He said nations should support Ukraine because they would want the same if they were in a similar situation: “We want to live in a world where smaller countries are also protected; where they have the guarantees to live up to their aspirations, and that’s why we believe it’s necessary for our own interest to defend Ukraine.”

    He also chided NATO member countries for being too slow to help Ukraine.

    “From the beginning, there were some delays and gaps that cost Ukraine a lot of lives and some territory, and also some self-confidence when it comes to achieving their own goals,” Pavel said.

    Despite the prominent airing of internal shortcomings, the central focus of the summit was, as expected, Ukraine; and making sure the embattled country gets all it needs to fight Russia.

    ‘We have changed when the world is changing’

    WTOP’s JJ Green speaks with transatlantic relations expert Eeva Eek-Pajuste on the Russia-Ukraine war

    Even so, trans-Atlantic relations expert Eeva Eek-Pajuste, who has served in several diplomatic positions around the world for Estonia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, noted that while the summit was an extremely important moment for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he didn’t get everything he wanted.

    “He pleaded for and explained the importance of lifting the restrictions of using Western-allied arms for strikes in not only border areas around Russia, but on the whole territory of Russia. And also, his staff explained at the summit, how critical this permission was, but this allowance was not given to them,” Eek-Pajuste said.

    NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg sought to soothe the anxiety about the alliance’s problems and Ukraine’s challenges by reminding summit attendees that the organization’s longevity is proof that it can overcome tests like those it faces today.

    “The only way to truly celebrate that achievement — the 75th anniversary — is, of course, to demonstrate that NATO is adapting, that we are changing when the world is changing. We are the most successful alliance in history because we have changed when the world is changing. And now, we live in a more dangerous, more challenging security environment. And therefore, NATO is changing again,” Stoltenberg said.

    But even as NATO rises to meet those changes and challenges, one of the most concerning developments is the resurgence of far-right politics in Europe. Their views are often reminiscent of the ideologies that underpinned Nazi Germany’s efforts to absorb all of Europe during World War II.

    According to Steven Erlanger, chief diplomatic correspondent for the New York Times, diversity of thought among the far right in Europe is a complicating matter.

    “The far right is different in every country. I mean, the German far right isn’t the French far right. It’s not the Swedish far right. And, Europe operates with coalition government, so it’s very difficult for one party to swing weight in quite the same way,” Erlanger said.

    Erlanger said in an interview with WTOP that the power resides with control of the budgets in these countries. And considering there is significant support for Russia in some of these countries, it could impact how, or if, they support Ukraine.

    “Everyone talks about being with Ukraine as long as it takes, but they really don’t define what it is, or what victory is,” he said.

    “The Germans, for example, say it’s important Russia doesn’t win; and Ukraine doesn’t lose, which, in a way, is a formula for stalemate. I mean, they’re looking for a negotiation,” he added.

    Despite the public proclamations at the summit of unified support for Ukraine, there is still a lively debate behind the scenes about how far to go. Some say, “No matter how long it takes.” Others say, “whatever it takes.”

    But Denmark’s President Mette Frederiksen, who participated in the “Strengthening the trans-Atlantic Bond” panel discussion as well, suggested that regardless of how one describes their support for Ukraine, the most important thing is: to just do it.

    “It’s not a difficult decision. You have to do what is the right thing to do, and doing the right thing is never difficult,” said Frederiksen.

    Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

    © 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

    [ad_2]

    J.J. Green

    Source link

  • Fact-checking President Joe Biden’s NATO press conference

    Fact-checking President Joe Biden’s NATO press conference

    [ad_1]

    President Joe Biden defended his ability to serve as president and the Democratic nominee against former President Donald Trump during a July 11 press conference following the NATO summit in Washington, D.C. 

    The press conference — his first in eight months — came amid calls from some congressional Democrats and donors for Biden to drop out of the presidential race after his June 27 debate performance. Biden said he wouldn’t drop out unless his team showed him there was no path for him to win. 

    “No one’s saying that. No poll says that,” Biden said in a whisper.

    Here are the facts on seven of the president’s comments. 

    Says Donald Trump “already told Putin and I quote, ‘Do whatever the hell you want.’ In fact, the day after Putin invaded Ukraine, here’s what he said, ‘It was genius. It was wonderful.’” 

    Biden left out context and was off about when Trump paid Putin the compliment.

    Trump, at a Feb. 10 campaign rally in South Carolina, recalled a conversation with an unnamed leader of a NATO member state who he said asked whether the U.S. would protect the leader’s country if it were attacked by Russia, even if it hadn’t met defense spending targets. Trump said he told the leader, “No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You gotta pay. You gotta pay your bills.” 

    Trump did praise Russian President Vladimir Putin two days before he invaded Ukraine, not the day after, as Biden said.

    Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. 

    On a Feb. 22, 2022, radio show, Trump was complimentary of Putin’s decision to declare breakaway regions of Ukraine as independent. 

    “I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, ‘This is genius.’ Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — of Ukraine. Putin declares it as independent,” Trump said, adding, “Oh, that’s wonderful,” sarcastically.

    “So, Putin is now saying, ‘It’s independent,’ a large section of Ukraine. I said, ‘How smart is that?’ And he’s gonna go in and be a peacekeeper. That’s strongest peace force. … We could use that on our southern border,” Trump said. “That’s the strongest peace force I’ve ever seen. There were more army tanks than I’ve ever seen. They’re gonna keep peace all right. No, but think of it. Here’s a guy who’s very savvy … I know him very well. Very, very well.”

    “Trump’s calling for a 10% tariff on everything Americans buy, including foods from overseas, vegetables, and other necessities. And economists tell us that that would cost the average American working family another $2,500 a year. It’s a tax of $2,500 a year.”

    Economists say Trump’s proposed 10% tariff on all imported foreign products (not “everything Americans buy”) will cost consumers more money, but Biden’s $2,500 figure is higher than recent estimates.

    How much the tariff will cost consumers is debatable. The American Action Forum, a center-right think tank, estimated June 25 that households would pay from $1,700 to $2,350 more annually. The Peterson Institute of International Economics, another think tank focused on global economic matters, estimated in May that a middle-income household would pay about $1,700 more per year.

    The Center for American Progress, a left-leaning policy research organization, in March estimated cost to consumers at $1,500.

    “I took executive action last month. As a consequence, working with Mexico, border encounters have gone down over 50%. The current level is lower today than when Trump left office.”

    This comparison is misleading. The Department of Homeland Security on June 25 said that illegal immigration encounters at the southern border dropped 40%, to fewer than 2,400 each day, after a June 4 policy largely barred asylum access for people entering the U.S. at the southern border. Since the policy was announced only a few weeks ago, it’s unclear whether the drop in illegal immigration will continue. 

    In December 2020 and January 2021 — when Trump was still in office — Border Patrol encountered immigrants illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border about 71,000 and 75,000 times, respectively. That’s a daily average of around 2,300 to 2,400 encounters. (Biden was inaugurated Jan. 20, 2021.)

    The latest publicly available data for Biden’s presidency shows 170,000 southwest border encounters in May. That contradicts Biden’s claim that “the current level” is lower than when Trump left the presidency.

    CBS and The New York Times reported that unreleased data shows border encounters dropped to about 83,000 in June. That’s about 50% lower than the public May figures, but still higher than the last months of Trump’s presidency.

    “The UAW just endorsed me.” 

    This needs context. Biden gave the impression this endorsement recently happened. But it came in January, when United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain announced the union’s endorsement of Biden, saying, “Instead of talking trash about our union, Joe Biden stood with us.”

    That endorsement came before Biden’s debate performance sparked concerns about his candidacy, age and fitness for office. We contacted the UAW about the status of its endorsement but received no reply.

    “At least five presidents running or incumbent presidents … had lower numbers than I have now later in the campaign.”

    Biden didn’t specify if he was referring to campaign polling data or job approval ratings. The claim is true when looking at polling data, but wrong for approval ratings. 

    The Biden campaign pointed us to polling data that shows six presidents (either running for the first time or as an incumbent) who fared worse in national polls at a comparable point in their campaigns and won.

    Biden, according to FiveThirtyEight’s national average of polls, trails Trump by 1.9 percentage points as of July 12.

    Six other current or future presidents were trailing their opponents by greater numbers later in their campaigns, according to polling data:

    • Trump trailed Hillary Clinton by seven points in a Real Clear Politics national poll average in October 2016. He defeated Clinton in November.

    • Barack Obama trailed John McCain by 2.9 points in September 2008 and trailed Mitt Romney by 1 point in October 2012, according to Real Clear Politics data. He won both races.

    • George W. Bush trailed John Kerry by 2.5 points in August 2004, according to Real Clear Politics data, but won reelection.

    • Bill Clinton trailed George H.W. Bush by 8 percentage points in 1992 according to Gallup polling data, but won in November.

    • George H.W. Bush trailed Michael Dukakis by 17 points in July 1988, according to Gallup polling data, but won in November.

    • John F. Kennedy trailed Richard Nixon by 6 points in Gallup polling in August 1960 before winning in November.

    Approval ratings for Biden aren’t as promising. His approval rating when he made the claim was 36.8% (and inched up to 37.3% the day after his news conference), according to data from FiveThirtyEight.

    The FiveThirtyEight data goes back to the Harry Truman administration from 1945 to 1953. Only Jimmy Carter (33.9%) and George H.W. Bush (36.7%) had lower approval ratings through the same time as Biden. Carter’s approval rating dipped as low as 32.2% later in his 1980 campaign. George H.W. Bush fell as low as 30.1% late in his 1992 campaign. 

    Both incumbent presidents lost their reelection bids. 

    In the U.S. “more children are killed with, by a bullet than any other cause of death.”

    This is accurate. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows that in 2022, the most recent year of non-provisional data, firearms were the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 17. (Researchers generally say they don’t include infants in their analyses because of certain conditions unique to babies.)

    In total, 16,318 children ages 1 to 17 died in 2022. Of those deaths, firearms were the No. 1 cause, causing 2,526 deaths. Motor vehicle traffic crashes, broadly, were the second leading cause of death, causing 2,240 deaths.

    Firearms are not the leading cause of death for each age in that group. Firearm deaths are far more common among older children, according to the CDC data and researchers. 

    Trump “says he’s gonna do away with the civil service, eliminate the Department of Education.”

    This is largely accurate. In one of his agenda policy videos, Trump promised to close the Department of Education and “to send all education work and needs back to the states.” However, congressional approval is required, so Trump couldn’t do it on his own. 

    Trump has promised to “re-issue my 2020 Executive Order restoring the President’s authority to remove rogue bureaucrats.” More commonly known as Schedule F, this order would reclassify certain federal employees, stripping away protections from being fired or political pressures.

    Of the nearly 2 million federal employees, the vast majority are nonpolitical career officials who carry out their duties regardless of the administration. Currently, these employees cannot be fired for political reasons.

    Trump opening up the ability to fire civil servants without cause doesn’t necessarily “do away” with the service, as Biden said, but it does put many of these jobs in jeopardy. 

    RELATED: Fact-checking Donald Trump on immigration, economy in first postdebate rally in Doral, Florida
     

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Notorious Hacker Kingpin ‘Tank’ Is Finally Going to Prison

    Notorious Hacker Kingpin ‘Tank’ Is Finally Going to Prison

    [ad_1]

    For more than a decade, Vyacheslav Igorevich Penchukov—a Ukrainian who used the online hacker name “Tank”—managed to evade cops. When FBI and Ukrainian officials raided his Donetsk apartment in 2010, the place was deserted and Penchukov had vanished. But the criminal spree came to a juddering halt at the end of 2022, when he traveled to Switzerland, was arrested, then was extradited to the United States.

    Today, at a US federal court in Lincoln, Nebraska, a judge sentenced Penchukov to two concurrent nine-year sentences, after he pleaded guilty to two charges of conspiracy to participate in racketeering and a conspiracy to commit wire fraud. United States District Judge John M. Gerrard also ordered Penchukov to pay more than $73 million, according to court records. The court also ordered three years of supervised release for each count and said they should run concurrently.

    Both charges carried a maximum sentence of up to 20 years each. According to court documents, however, the US government and Penchukov’s lawyers both requested a less severe sentence following him signing a plea agreement in February. It is unclear what the terms of the plea deal include. At the time, documents show, Penchukov could also face having to repay up to $70 million—less than the combined amount he’s ordered to pay in restitution and forfeited funds. “I understand this, but I don’t have such amounts of money,” he said in court earlier this year.

    The US prosecution of Penchukov—who has been on the FBI’s “most wanted” cyber list for more than a decade—is a rare blow against one of the most well-connected leaders of a prolific 2010s cybercrime gang. It also highlights the ongoing challenges Western law enforcement officials face when taking action against Eastern European cybercriminals—particularly those based in Russia or Ukraine, which do not have extradition agreements with the US.

    Ahead of the sentencing, the Department of Justice refused to comment on the case, and the FBI and Penchukov’s lawyers did not respond to WIRED’s requests for comment.

    When the Ukrainian pleaded guilty in February—a number of charges were dropped following him signing the plea agreement—he admitted to being one of the leaders of the Jabber Zeus hacking group, starting in 2009, that used the Zeus malware to infect computers and steal people’s bank account information. The group used the details to log in to accounts, withdraw money, and then send it to various money mules—stealing tens of millions from small US and European businesses.

    “The defendant played a crucial role, a leadership role, in this scheme by directing and coordinating the exchange of stolen banking credentials and money mules,” prosecutors said in court earlier this year. They would steal thousands from victim companies, often draining their accounts.

    Penchukov, who was also a well-known DJ in Ukraine, also admitted to a key role organizing the IcedID (also known Bokbot) malware, which collected the victim’s financial details and allowed ransomware to be deployed on systems. He was involved from November 2018 to at least February 2021, officials say. Investigators found he kept a spreadsheet detailing the $19.9 million income IcedID made in 2021.

    [ad_2]

    Matt Burgess

    Source link

  • NATO nations agree Ukraine is on

    NATO nations agree Ukraine is on

    [ad_1]

    NATO nation leaders, in a Washington summit declaration released Wednesday, said Ukraine is on an “irreversible path” to NATO membership. 

    The summit declaration, signed by all 32 NATO nations, offers some of the strongest language yet about the organization’s intent to eventually include Ukraine in its membership. 

    Ukraine and its protection are a central part of this year’s NATO summit in Washington, D.C., hosted by President Biden. The declaration, which encompasses NATO’s beliefs and goals, says Ukraine “has become increasingly interoperable and politically integrated with the alliance.”

    World Leaders Attend NATO Summit In Washington, D.C.
    UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, President Joe Biden and NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg at the 2024 NATO Summit on July 10, 2024, in Washington, D.C.

    Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images


    “We welcome the concrete progress Ukraine has made since the Vilnius Summit on its required democratic, economic, and security reforms,” the declaration says. “As Ukraine continues this vital work, we will continue to support it on its irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership.  We reaffirm that we will be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the Alliance when Allies agree and conditions are met.”

    However, the alliance’s statement did not offer a specific timeline for membership for Ukraine, which has sought to formalize its ties with Europe and the U.S. When NATO leaders convened one year ago, they affirmed that Ukraine would eventually become a member of the organization. Last year, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Ukraine had made “good progress” toward membership but needed to do more, including enacting military and democratic reforms. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was critical of last year’s statement.

    Mr. Biden, who faces a test of his fitness to be the Democratic nominee, made Ukraine a key focus of his opening speech at the summit. 

    Senate US Ukraine
    Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer escorts Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy along with Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell to a medal ceremony on Capitol Hill on July 10, 2024, in Washington, D.C.

    John McDonnell / AP


    “We know Putin won’t stop at Ukraine. But make no mistake — Ukraine can and will stop Putin,” the president said of Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Especially with our full, collective support. They have our full support.” 

    Mr. Biden insisted NATO is as important now as it ever was, citing terrorist threats and Russia’s two-year-old war with Ukraine. The president announced a donation of air defense equipment for Ukraine from the U.S., Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Italy. In the coming months, the U.S. and its partners will provide Ukraine with dozens of additional tactical air defense systems, he said. 

    Zelenskyy has been making the most of his time in Washington, meeting with leaders on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. Zelenskyy has met with House Speaker Mike Johnson as well as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, as he continues to request more funding and supplies to defend his country against Russia’s invasion.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Deepfake targets Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenksa with false claim she bought Bugatti

    Deepfake targets Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenksa with false claim she bought Bugatti

    [ad_1]

    A new deepfake video that falsely claims the first lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, purchased a $4.8 million Bugatti sports car has racked up millions of views on social media, CBS News has found. The video is part of a Russian disinformation campaign aimed at degrading Western support for Ukraine, researchers said. 

    CBS News determined the video was created using artificial intelligence. It shows a man claiming to be a French luxury car dealership employee sharing “exclusive” information about the fabricated sale. The man doesn’t move his neck, rarely blinks and his head barely moves — telltale signs of being manipulated using AI.

    Screenshot of a deepfake targeting the first lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska.

    CBS News


    The video was amplified by Russian disinformation networks across social media platforms, racking up over 20 million views on X, Telegram and TikTok. X and Telegram did not respond to a request for comment. A TikTok spokesperson told CBS News their policies do not allow misinformation that may cause harm and the company removes content that violates these guidelines.

    While it’s not clear who created the video, an early version of it appeared in an article on a French website called Verite Cachee — or in English, Hidden Truth — on July 1. Researchers from threat intelligence company Recorded Future linked the website to a Russian disinformation network they call CopyCop, which uses sham news websites and AI tools to publish false claims as part of influence campaigns. 

    The article included a fabricated invoice purporting to be from Bugatti to dupe readers further. Bugatti Paris — which is operated by Autofficina Parigi, a Car Lovers Group company — said it had filed a criminal complaint against people who shared the video and forged the invoice. Car Lovers Group said the invoice is not theirs, and it contains errors that show it’s fabricated, including the lack of required legal details and an incorrect price for the vehicle. 

    Russian disinformation networks have spread similar false claims about Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his family in the past year, including a false claim that he bought two luxury yachts for millions of dollars, and a false claim that Zelenska bought over $1 million worth of jewelry at Cartier in New York City.

    Clément Briens, a senior threat intelligence analyst for cybersecurity company Recorded Future, told CBS News that false stories about corruption are created to undermine Western support for Ukraine and “erode trust in the leaders, their institutions, and international alliances.”

    The falsehoods play into existing concerns and documented reports about corruption in Ukraine, researchers say.

    Darren Linvill, a Russian disinformation expert and professor at Clemson University in South Carolina, said the false claims are “framed for a very particular audience that wants to hear and is ready to hear that and repeat it.”

    Linvill said the narratives have managed to gain traction online, despite being debunked — likely because of the cost and status of the brand used by the network. “I think Bugatti has something to do with it,” he said.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Rescuers still searching for survivors at a Ukrainian children’s hospital after Russian strike

    Rescuers still searching for survivors at a Ukrainian children’s hospital after Russian strike

    [ad_1]

    Rescuers still searching for survivors at a Ukrainian children’s hospital after Russian strike – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    Rescue workers in Ukraine’s capital city are still picking through the rubble of a children’s hospital that officials say was hit in a deadly Russian strike Monday. BBC News Ukraine correspondent James Waterhouse joined CBS News with more from Kyiv.

    Be the first to know

    Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.


    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • How Disinformation From a Russian AI Spam Farm Ended up on Top of Google Search Results

    How Disinformation From a Russian AI Spam Farm Ended up on Top of Google Search Results

    [ad_1]

    In the space of 24 hours, a piece of Russian disinformation about Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s wife buying a Bugatti car with American aid money traveled at warp speed across the internet. Though it originated from an unknown French website, it quickly became a trending topic on X and the top result on Google.

    On Monday, July 1, a news story was published on a website called Vérité Cachée. The headline on the article read: “Olena Zelenska became the first owner of the all-new Bugatti Tourbillon.” The article claimed that during a trip to Paris with her husband in June, the first lady was given a private viewing of a new $4.8 million supercar from Bugatti and immediately placed an order. It also included a video of a man that claimed to work at the dealership.

    But the video, like the website itself, was completely fake.

    Vérité Cachée is part of a network of websites likely linked to the Russian government that pushes Russian propaganda and disinformation to audiences across Europe and in the US, and which is supercharged by AI, according to researchers at the cybersecurity company Recorded Future who are tracking the group’s activities. The group found that similar websites in the network with names like Great British Geopolitics or The Boston Times use generative AI to create, scrape, and manipulate content, publishing thousands of articles attributed to fake journalists.

    Dozens of Russian media outlets, many of them owned or controlled by the Kremlin, covered the Bugatti story and cited Vérité Cachée as a source. Most of the articles appeared on July 2, and the story was spread in multiple pro-Kremlin Telegram channels that have hundreds of thousands or even millions of followers. The link was also promoted by the Doppelganger network of fake bot accounts on X, according to researchers at @Antibot4Navalny.

    At that point, Bugatti had issued a statement debunking the story. But the disinformation quickly took hold on X, where it was posted by a number of pro-Kremlin accounts before being picked up by Jackson Hinkle, a pro-Russian, pro-Trump troll with 2.6 million followers. Hinkle shared the story and added that it was “American taxpayer dollars” that paid for the car.

    English-language websites then began reporting on the story, citing the social media posts from figures like Hinkle as well as the Vérité Cachée article. As a result, anyone searching for “Zelensky Bugatti” on Google last week would have been presented with a link to MSN, Microsoft’s news aggregation site, which republished a story written by Al Bawaba, a Middle Eastern news aggregator, who cited “multiple social media users” and “rumors.”

    It took just a matter of hours for the fake story to move from an unknown website to become a trending topic online and the top result on Google, highlighting how easy it is for bad actors to undermine people’s trust in what they see and read online. Google and Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    [ad_2]

    David Gilbert

    Source link

  • Ukraine says at least 31 people killed, children’s hospital hit in major Russian missile attack

    Ukraine says at least 31 people killed, children’s hospital hit in major Russian missile attack

    [ad_1]

    Kyiv, Ukraine — Russia launched dozens of missiles at cities across Ukraine on Monday in an attack that killed at least 31 people and smashed into a children’s hospital in Kyiv, officials said. The rare day-time Russian barrage came as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due in Warsaw, the Polish government said, before he flies to a NATO summit in Washington.

    Explosions rang out and black smoke could be seen rising from the centre of Kyiv, AFP journalists reported.

    Pictures distributed by officials from the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital in Kyiv showed people digging through mounds of rubble, black smoke billowing over a gutted building and medical staff wearing blood-stained scrubs. Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said two people died at the hospital as a result of the strike, including a 30-year-old doctor, and another 16 were wounded, seven of them children.

    Klitschko said people’s voices were heard from underneath the rubble as rescuers continued digging through the debris. 

    Rescuers work at Ohmatdyt Children's Hospital that was damaged during a Russian missile strikes, in Kyiv
    People watch as rescuers work at Ohmatdyt Children’s Hospital that was damaged during a Russian missile strikes, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 8, 2024.

    Gleb Garanich/REUTERS


    “Russian terrorists once again massively attacked Ukraine with missiles. Different cities: Kyiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Sloviansk, Kramatorsk,” Zelenskyy said, listing major civilians hubs in the south and east of the country.

    “More than 40 missiles of various types. Residential buildings, infrastructure and a children’s hospital were damaged,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media.

    The Ukrainian Air Force said the attack included Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missiles, one of the most advanced weapons in the Russian arsenal. Hypersonic missiles can fly at far greater than the speed of sound, making them very difficult to detect and intersect using the missile defense systems available today. Russia has used Kinzhals in previous attacks on Ukraine since it launched its full-scale invasion, but is thought to use the weapons sparingly as they are in limited supply. 

    Russian forces have repeatedly targeted the capital with massive barrages since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and the last major attack on Kyiv with drones and missiles was last month. In addition to the continuous aerial bombardment of Ukraine’s cities and power infrastructure, Russia has also pushed its territorial gains in recent months, making incremental advances along the front line that stretches from Ukraine’s northern to southern borders.

    Rescuers work at a site of a building damaged during a Russian missile strikes, in Kyiv
    Rescuers work around a wing of the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital in Kyiv, Ukraine, after the building was severely damaged during a Russian missile strike, July 8, 2024.

    Gleb Garanich/REUTERS


    The Security Services of Ukraine (SBU) said its initial assessment found that Moscow had struck the Kyiv children’s hospital with a KH-101 strategic cruise missile, while Andriy Yermak, senior advisor to Zelenksyy, said the projectile “contains dozens of microelectronics manufactured in NATO countries.”  

    Russian officials acknowledged the massive missile strike on Monday but denied, as they always do, targeting any civilian infrastructure. The Defense Ministry in Moscow, in statements reported by the country’s state-run media, said the strike was a response to attempts by Ukrainian forces “to strike Russian energy and economic facilities,” and it claimed it had hit Ukrainian “military industry facilities in Ukraine and aviation bases of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”

    The Russian defense ministry said, without offering evidence, that the images of destruction in Kyiv were “due to the fall of a Ukrainian air defense missile.”

    United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine Denise Brown harshly condemned Monday’s wave of Russian strikes, saying in reference to the hospital that was hit: “It is unconscionable that children are killed and injured in this war.”

    Missile Attack In Kyiv
    A child is treated after the Russian army launched a rocket attack on the “Ohmatdyt” children’s clinic on July 8, 2024, in Kyiv, Ukraine.

    Vlada Liberova/Libkos/Getty


    Ukraine’s air force said it had shot down 30 of the 38 missiles launched by Russia in Monday’s deadly attack.  

    In Zelenskyy’s hometown Kryvyi Rih, which has been repeatedly targed by Russian bombardments, the strikes killed at least 10 and wounded over 30, the mayor said.

    “In Dnipro, a high-rise building and an enterprise were damaged. A service station was damaged. There are wounded,” the Dnipropetrovsk governor Sergiy Lysak added.

    In the eastern Donetsk region, where Russian forces have taken a string of villages in recent weeks, the regional governor said three people were killed in Pokrovsk — a town that had a pre-war population of around 60,000 people.

    There was no immedate comment on the strikes from the Kremlin but it insists its forces do not target civilian infrastructure.

    Rescuers work at Ohmatdyt Children's Hospital that was damaged during a Russian missile strikes, in Kyiv
    Rescuers work at Ohmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv, Ukraine, soon after officials said the facility was severely damaged by a wave of Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian cities, July 8, 2024.

    Gleb Garanich/REUTERS


    “This shelling targeted civilians, hit infrastructure, and the whole world should see today the consequences of terror, which can only be responded to by force,” the head of the presidential administration in Kyiv, Andriy Yermak, wrote on social media, following the attack.

    Zelenskyy and other officials in Kyiv have been urging Ukraine’s allies to send more air defence systems, including Patriots, to the war-battered country to help fend off fatal Russian aerial bombardments.

    “Russia cannot claim ignorance of where its missiles are flying and must be held fully accountable for all its crimes,” Zelensky said in another post on social media.

    CBS News’ Anhelina Shamlii contributed to this report.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Major blow for Putin as Ukraine kamikaze drones set Russian oil depots ablaze

    Major blow for Putin as Ukraine kamikaze drones set Russian oil depots ablaze

    [ad_1]

    UKRAINE set two major Russian oil depots ablaze with kamikaze drones.

    Columns of smoke were seen rising into the sky on Friday night as the facilities were hit in Russia’s Krasnodar area.

    3

    Ukraine set two major Russian oil depots ablaze with kamikaze dronesCredit: East2West
    Columns of smoke were seen rising into the sky in Russia’s Krasnodar area

    3

    Columns of smoke were seen rising into the sky in Russia’s Krasnodar areaCredit: East2West

    Russian regional headquarters said fuel storage tanks had been set alight.

    They also said separate drones were shot down in the Black Sea’s Yeysk.

    Reports said the Ukrainians had also damaged a communications tower.

    Putin boasts two palaces in Krasnodar region – an official residence in Sochi, and a private £1 billion clifftop residence at Gelendzhik likened to the lair of a James Bond villain.

    It comes as Kyiv pursues repeated attacks on Russian oil depots, seeking to disrupt Vladimir Putin’s war machine.

    Ukraine’s Sumy province came under fire the same night, with a Russian drone supplied by Iran damaging a power station and cutting off electricity and water.

    The Ukrainian Air Force reported they shot down 24 of the 27 Shahed-type drones.

    Ukraine previously blitzed a Russian airfield in the Krasnodar region.

    While dozens of Russian tanks and armoured vehicles were blown up in a valley of death near Vuhledar city, eastern Ukraine last week.

    Ukraine's drone strikes come as an embarrassing blow to Russian president Vladimir Putin

    3

    Ukraine’s drone strikes come as an embarrassing blow to Russian president Vladimir PutinCredit: AFP
    Footage show Putin’s ‘field of death’ as Russian troops are forced to use motorbikes after running out of military vehicles

    [ad_2]

    Dan Coombs

    Source link

  • Ukraine’s first lady didn’t purchase $4 million car in Paris

    Ukraine’s first lady didn’t purchase $4 million car in Paris

    [ad_1]

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met in Paris in early June with U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, seeking their continued support for his country’s war against Russia.

    Some social media users, however, said Ukraine has other designs for some of the aid money coming its way: a luxury French sports car for the first lady.

    “President Zelenskyy’s wife orders 4 million dollar Bugatti. Thank you American taxpayers,” read sticker text on a photo of an invoice shared in a July 1 Instagram post.

    The invoice shown in the Instagram post is to “Mrs. Olena Zelenska” for a preorder of a Bugatti Tourbillon with a total price of nearly $4.5 million.

    The Tourbillon is a new car by the luxury automaker that will cost more than $4 million and won’t be delivered to customers until 2026. But the invoice in the Instagram post isn’t real. 

    Nicole Auger, a Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. spokesperson, told PolitiFact in an email that “Mrs. Zelenska is not a Bugatti customer.” Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, part of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, said in a thread on X that the claim is Russian disinformation that started in a French publication, Verite Cachee — which translated to English means “Hidden Truth.”

    (Instagram post)

    Ever since the U.S. began sending financial aid to Ukraine after the February 2022 Russian invasion, social media has been rife with claims that Zelenskyy and Zelenska have been using American tax dollars to fund a lavish lifestyle.

    Among previous claims PolitiFact has debunked: Zelenskyy used American  tax dollars to buy two yachts for $75 million (False); his net worth is $596 million (False); and that he bought a $35 million home in Florida (False).

    Auger said Bugatti normally doesn’t disclose information about its customers, but it knew about reports that Zelenska bought one of its vehicles. This time, she said, Bugatti is making “an exception because it is a false report.”

    Bugatti Paris, the official Bugatti partner in France, said in a statement posted July 1 on Instagram that the invoice was bogus and contained multiple errors, including the car’s price, according to Meta’s translation of the post. 

    The statement was from the Car Lovers Group, which owns Autofficina Parigi, the company that operates the Bugatti Paris dealership. The Car Lovers Group issued the same statement in a press release posted July 1 on its website. It said the company has filed a criminal complaint.

    The statement referred to a video from a supposed Bugatti employee that was included in the Verite Cachee article and also shared separately in other social media posts. Analysts told CNN that the video has the markings of a deepfake, such as cuts in the video and strange mouth movements. The Center for Countering Disinformation also suggested it was generated with artificial intelligence.

    The Verite Cachee website was created June 22 and many of the site’s headlines are incomplete, with words such as “Here is a short title for the article,” according to a Google translation.

    One article on the website about the Russia-Ukraine war appears to leave instructions on how to write the article with a pro-Russian slant.

    “Here are some things to keep in mind for context. Republicans, Trump, DeSantis, and Russia are good, while Democrats, Biden, the war in Ukraine, big business, and pharma are bad. Feel free to add additional information on the topic as needed,” the article’s first paragraph said.

    The Center for Countering Disinformation said “Russian propagandists launched this fake before the NATO summit in order to discredit Ukraine’s top leadership in the international arena.” The NATO summit begins July 9 in Washington, D.C.

    An Olena Zelenska Foundation spokesperson referred us to the X thread posted by the Center for Countering Disinformation.

    The claim that Ukraine’s first lady bought a $4 million sports car while visiting Paris with her husband is False.

    PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this fact-check.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • What GOP attack on Biden omits about Ukraine aid

    What GOP attack on Biden omits about Ukraine aid

    [ad_1]

    Former President Donald Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “the greatest salesman” who repeatedly gets billions of dollars from the United States.

    “It never ends,” Trump said at a June 15 campaign rally in Michigan.

    On June 16 on CNN’s “State of the Union,” host Jake Tapper asked Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., about Trump’s recent comments on Ukraine. 

    Cotton praised Trump’s position on Ukraine and criticized Democrats. 

    “The weapons that Ukraine used in the early days of this war to fend off the Russian invasion are the weapons that Donald Trump sent, that Barack Obama and Joe Biden had refused to send,” Cotton said.

    Cotton spokesperson Patrick McCann told PolitiFact that Cotton was referring to Javelins, antiarmor missiles provided by the Trump administration. In 2014, Obama rejected a request by Ukraine for those weapons. Biden was Obama’s vice president.

    Trump reversed Obama’s policy; in 2018, the Trump administration approved a plan to sell Ukraine Javelin missiles for $47 million.

    “As you can see, it is clear that this form of lethal aid was both important and provided by the Trump administration and not the Obama-Biden one,” McCann said.

    However, Cotton’s comments don’t tell the full story about military aid to Ukraine under Obama, Trump and Biden. 

    Cotton’s “comment is correct in the sense that Obama never approved transfer of lethal weaponry but Trump did,” said Michael O’Hanlon, senior fellow in the foreign policy program of the Brookings Institution, a think tank. “I would not implicate Biden heavily in the policy of the Obama years; he was just one voice at the table then. He did far more than his former boss ever did for Ukraine, and far more (from February 2022 onward) than Trump ever did, either.”

    As the president during Russia’s invasion, Biden has signed off on Ukrainian aid that included Javelins.

    Obama rejected Ukraine’s request for lethal aid in 2014, Trump provided it 

    Experts on Ukraine military assistance said that the Obama administration rejected Ukraine’s 2014 request for lethal aid.

    The decision came as Russian forces invaded the eastern territory of Crimea in 2014 and pro-Russia President Viktor Yanukovych fled Ukraine. U.S. officials were concerned that providing Javelins to Ukraine would escalate their conflict with Russia. 

    “In this sense, Cotton’s claim has some truth to it,” said Brendan Green, associate professor at the University of Cincinnati’s School of Public and International Affairs.

    However, Obama’s White House approved other aid. In total, from 2014 to 2016, the United States committed more than $600 million in security assistance to Ukraine. Under Obama, the federal government started the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which sent other kinds of U.S. military equipment to the country. From federal fiscal years 2016 to 2019, which overlap with Obama and Trump, Congress appropriated $850 million.

    Trump also withheld aid when trying to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rivals. During a July 2019 phone call, Zelenskyy told Trump he was almost ready to buy more Javelins from the U.S. Trump replied by asking for “a favor,” which was to collect dirt on Biden, a potential 2020 presidential race opponent at the time. 

    In January 2020, the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office concluded that Trump abused his power by telling Zelenskyy the U.S. would provide Ukraine with security assistance and he would grant Zelenskyy a White House meeting only if Zelenskyy announced investigations into Trump’s political rivals. The House impeached Trump for this matter in 2019; the Senate acquitted him in 2020.

    Biden administration has supported billions in aid for Ukraine

    Cotton said that Trump provided “the weapons that Ukraine used in the early days of this war.” Russia’s invasion started in February 2022 when Biden was president.

    During the Biden administration, the U.S. has provided extensive military aid to Ukraine, including weapons. Some of that military aid was sent before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and some followed the invasion.

    Every new president inherits the spending that was approved under the previous president. In Biden’s case, when he took office in January 2021, he was working with the last spending approved by Trump; this ran through September 2021. 

    But the Biden administration went beyond this Trump-enacted spending and used the Presidential Drawdown Authority to send aid to Ukraine multiple times. That authority allows the president to provide military assistance during crisis situations. The State Department secretary exercised authority delegated by the president to direct 44 “drawdowns” since August 2021, according to a June statement from the department.

    In March 2021, the Defense Department announced a $125 million package for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative that included equipment. On Sept. 1, 2021 the federal government announced a new $60 million security assistance package. 

    A Congressional Research Service report said that in federal fiscal year 2021, State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development allocations to Ukraine totaled about $464 million, including $115 million in the Foreign Military Financing program. 

    In January 2022, Biden authorized the State Department to allow transfer of  U.S.-provided equipment already in the hands of allies, Defense One reported based on information it received from the National Security Council.

    The State Department in January 2022 also cleared three NATO allies to rush antiarmor missiles and other U.S.-made weapons to Ukraine, Politico reported. The Biden administration also began shipping $200 million worth of antiarmor missiles, ammunition and other equipment to Ukraine, Politico wrote.

    In February 2022, shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Biden authorized $350 million of military assistance from Defense Department inventories, including antiarmor, small arms, munitions and body armor. It was the third time Biden expedited emergency security assistance for Ukraine’s defense in the months leading up to the invasion using the Presidential Drawdown Authority, the Defense Department said.  

    We wrote after the war’s first year that Congress had approved four separate measures that allocated money to benefit Ukraine, totaling $113 billion. About $50 billion was for direct military aid.

    Lance Janda, a military historian at Cameron University, said that the aid to Ukraine since 2022 “has included all of the really significant lethal weapon systems sent by the U.S., including artillery, anti-tank missiles, anti-aircraft missiles, tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and rocket systems. And much of that aid was opposed by Republicans in Congress and by former President Trump.”

    Ultimately, both the Trump and Biden administrations sent Ukraine “weapon systems that helped during the 2022 invasion,” Janda said.

    Steven Pifer, U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from 1998 to 2000, agreed that Cotton has a point that the Obama administration did not provide the Javelin antiarmor missiles to Ukraine and that the Trump administration provided a limited number of Javelin missiles.

    “However, he is incorrect as regards the Biden administration,” Pifer said, noting Biden’s provision of sophisticated weapons including rocket systems, fighting vehicles and missiles.

    “Since the war, Biden has sent the Ukrainians just about everything and the kitchen sink,” Green said.

    Our ruling

    Cotton said, “The weapons that Ukraine used in the early days of this war to fend off the Russian invasion are the weapons that Donald Trump sent, that Barack Obama and Joe Biden had refused to send.”

    The Obama administration in 2014, while Biden was vice president, did reject Ukraine’s request for lethal Javelin missiles, although it supplied other aid. Trump reversed that policy and approved a plan to sell Javelins. 

    Cotton stretches this claim by tying Obama’s policy to Biden, who as president has built on Trump’s assistance and more. Biden’s administration shipped $200 million worth of antiarmor missiles, ammunition and other equipment to Ukraine before Russia’s invasion. The Biden administration also authorized $350 million of military assistance from Defense Department inventories, including antiarmor, small arms, munitions and body armor immediately after the invasion.

    We rate this statement Half True.

    RELATED: Cluster munitions, Ukraine and President Joe Biden: What to know

    RELATED: All of our fact-checks about Ukraine

    [ad_2]

    Source link