Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia, says he expects the Senate to take up a national security package, including aid to Ukraine, soon after senators finalize an agreement on immigration changes.
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Members of a self-exiled Russian rock group known for opposing Moscow’s war in Ukraine face possible deportation home after being arrested in Thailand for breaking immigration rules.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Saturday accused them of sponsoring terrorism by publicly supporting Ukraine, raising concerns they may face criminal charges in Russia. The Russian consul in Phuket said that they’ll be sent to Bangkok for deportation based on their citizenship.
With four members of the Bi-2 band holding Israeli passports — including one who is also an Australian citizen — the issue has become a diplomatic headache for Thai authorities and will likely alarm Kremlin opponents who fled abroad. Russian artists critical of the government have encountered increasing difficulties in performing overseas, with opponents of President Vladimir Putin alleging a campaign to intimidate and silence them.
Since his invasion of Ukraine, Putin has waged an unprecedented crackdown on dissent, jailing or driving his critics into exile. An estimated 1 million Russians left the country in 2022 and 2023, including some prominent anti-war cultural figures, in the largest brain drain since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Five of the seven Bi-2 members who were detained on Jan. 24 on the Thai resort island of Phuket for holding two concerts without a work visa are Russian citizens. Their manager said Sunday they’re already on their way to the Thai capital by bus. The musicians fear they’ve been targeted for their anti-war stance, according to their defense team.
Performers Complain
Maxim Galkin, a comedian now based in Israel, said he was barred from entering the Indonesian island of Bali for a planned show on Saturday despite having received a work visa two days before. Galkin, whose shows in Thailand were recently canceled by owners of the venues, said on Instagram that passport officers in Bali showed him a letter from the Russian government requesting Indonesia keep him out of the country.
Galkin was fined 100,000 dirhams ($27,225) by the United Arab Emirates over a performance in Dubai in which he proclaimed support for Ukraine, according to the Mash Telegram channel. Russian rap musician Alisher Morgenshtern has said on social media that the Arab country has imposed an entry ban on him.
Moscow has declared the lead singer of Bi-2, Galkin and Morgenshtern as “foreign agents.”
The Thai foreign ministry didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment. When asked about the case, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Haiat said Israel “is trying to help” its citizens under arrest in Phuket. Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it’s providing consular assistance to an Australian citizen detained in Thailand.
The challenges faced by Bi-2 are the result of concerted action by Russia and send a worrying signal, according to Dmitry Gudkov, a Kremlin opponent and former lawmaker who has taken refuge in Cyprus.
“The authorities want to frighten everyone living abroad to show that they can go after anyone, anywhere,” he said.
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Ukrainian authorities uncovered a corrupt arms procurement deal worth nearly €36.4 million, the Ukrainian security service announced late Saturday.
Former and current “high-ranking officials” in Kyiv’s defense ministry were involved in the plot, dating to 2022, to steal funds meant for procuring 100,000 mortar rounds, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said in a statement.
The scheme reflects Ukraine’s ongoing struggle to combat corruption as it tries to fight off Moscow’s invasion and apply to join the EU and NATO.
According to the SBU, the defense ministry paid for the weapons order in August 2022, transferring the funds to supplier Lviv Arsenal. Instead of delivering the weapons, however, the company “took the received funds into the shadows, transferring them to the accounts of another affiliated structure in the Balkans,” according to the statement.
The SBU said it seized the stolen funds and notified five people of suspicion, including the former and current heads of the department responsible for military equipment at the defense ministry. One suspect is in custody after being detained while trying to leave Ukraine, the SBU said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has compared corruption to treason. Yet his move to hand graft-fighting authority to the SBU — a unit under his direct control — rather than existing corruption watchdogs has sparked controversy and fears that sensitive cases could be covered up.
Ukraine has promised to reply to the Moscow charge that it killed its own people on board the Russian plane – but only after it had examined all the evidence.
But OSINT sources and analysts pointed to striking inconsistencies in the Russian claims.
(Reuters) – Ukraine’s SBU security service said on Saturday it had uncovered a corruption scheme in the purchase of arms by the country’s military totalling the equivalent of about $40 million.
The announcement of mass procurement fraud, confirmed by Ukraine’s Defence Ministry, will have a huge resonance in a country beleaguered by Russia’s nearly two-year-old invasion.
The fight to root out endemic corruption remains a major issue as Ukraine presses its bid to secure membership in the European Union.
The SBU said an investigation had “exposed officials of the Ministry of Defence and managers of arms supplier Lviv Arsenal, who stole nearly 1.5 billion hryvnias in the purchase of shells.”
“According to the investigation, former and current high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Defence and heads of affiliated companies are involved in the embezzlement.”
The embezzlement, it said, involved the purchase of 100,000 mortar shells for the military.
The SBU said a contract for the shells was clinched with Lviv Arsenal in August 2022 – six months into the war – and payment was made in advance, with some funds transferred abroad.
But no arms were ever provided, the statement said, with some funds then moved to other foreign accounts.
The statement said five individuals had been served “notices of suspicion” – the first stage in Ukrainian legal proceedings – both in the ministry and the arms supplier. One suspect, it said, was detained while trying to cross the Ukrainian border.
Corruption within the military has been a particularly sensitive issue in Ukraine as it tries to maintain wartime public morale and present its case to join the 27-nation EU.
Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov was dismissed last September over various corruption cases despite enjoying a solid reputation in representing Ukraine in its discussions with Western allies.
Although he was not alleged to have engaged personally in corruption, several cases hit the military under his stewardship, one for supplying troops with food, another over procuring suitable clothing for servicemen.
(Reporting by Ron Popeski and Maria Starkova; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
ARTIFICIAL Intelligence has predicted the chilling factors that could spark an apocalyptic World War Three – changing the world as we know it.
ChatGPT revealed eight horrific scenarios that could force world leaders to wage wars across the globe – leading to the deaths of millions.
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AI has revealed the eight horrific scenarios that could lead to World War ThreeCredit: Getty
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Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has put everyone at risk of a third World WarCredit: Getty
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Xi Jinping’s territorial disputes in the South China Sea could potentially lead to a massive international conflictCredit: AFP
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An Israeli army tank rolling alongside the border with the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas warCredit: AFP
The Sun gave ChatGPT a prompt and asked what could possibly lead to a third global war.
The AI – which runs on advanced machine learning – predicted eight different factors which could cause the situation to spiral out of control.
ChatGPT started its predictions by saying: “It’s important to note that this is purely speculative, and real-world events are influenced by numerous unpredictable variables.”
The clever bot added: “The goal should always be to promote peaceful resolutions and international cooperation to prevent the outbreak of global conflicts.
“In reality, the international community generally works towards diplomatic solutions and conflict prevention.”
It then, however, offered a fascinating list of factors that could contribute to the outbreak of a global conflict.
ChatGPT wrote: “In a hypothetical scenario, World War 3 could potentially start due to a combination of complex geopolitical, economic, and social factors.”
TERRITORIAL DISPUTES
The wars in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as the rising tensions in Korea and China are often described as territorial disputes at their core.
Over the years they have become more and more complex – but the fight over land both sides claim is theirs has grown bloody.
ChatGPT believes if these disputes over land continue to escalate it could tip the scales just enough to spark another world war – or even several around the globe.
China’s illegal claim over Taiwan is one such instance that could see sparks fly.
The communist regime could launch a full-blown invasion to absorb Taiwan into the Chinese mainland.
According to the ChatGPT, the rise of nationalist or populist leaders promoting aggressive foreign policies might contribute to increased tensions and breakdowns in peaceful communication.
Nationalism contributed to the major alliances in the 20th century that played a role in World War One – France and Russia felt insecure about the rise of Germany and teamed up, while the Ottoman Empire felt intimidated by Russia and ended up siding with Germany.
In the current climate, America – the world superpower – feels threatened by the rise of China, fearing it could become the next great power of the world.
This has resulted in hostile relations between the two nations which could, in a worst case scenario, turn into a major war.
Similarly, Russian insecurity around NATO – a military alliance of very powerful countries around the globe – could be dangerous.
In the increasing hostile situation, America and Europe will see themselves as allies working against regimes like North Korea, China and Russia.
ChatGPT argues that populist leaders could undermine international institutions and alliances, weakening the mechanisms in place for diplomatic resolutions and cooperation.
This can result in a lack of effective communication and collaboration, increasing the chances of misunderstandings and conflicts.
FAILED DIPLOMACY
ChatGPT says repeated failures in diplomatic efforts to resolve international conflicts could erode trust between nations and create a hostile environment.
Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine occurred despite the West’s diplomatic efforts to stop it.
And Israel’s unprecedented attack against Hamas in Gaza escalated even after repeated efforts of international players trying to tackle the situation diplomatically.
Failed diplomacy in more vulnerable situations that involve greater risks could lead to major cross-border conflicts with millions dying across the globe.
TECHNOLOGICAL ARMS RACE
A race for advanced military tech, such as artificial intelligence, autonomous weapons, or advanced weaponry, could lead to another arms race.
If a country thinks another’s technological advancements pose a potential threat, it could respond by increasing its own military capabilities, inadvertently escalating tensions.
The Nuclear Arms Race in the 20th century between the US and the USSR sparked the Cold War – and an apocalyptic conflict between the two superpowers almost became a reality.
ChatGPT also believes that fears of falling behind in technology might lead nations to attack each other out of fear.
PROXY WARS
Ongoing regional conflicts where major powers are working as sponsors could escalate into broader wars, pulling more nations into the fray, the AI has warned.
According to ChatGPT, stakeholders could leverage proxy groups and other sponsors to cause major war flashpoints.
Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, Iran has been fostering terrorism to create conflict in the Middle East through its proxy groups such as Hezbollah and the Houthis.
This forced major world powers such as the UK and the US to join the conflict, increasing fears that the regional situation could turn into an all-out war.
RESOURCE SCARCITY
ChatGPT suggests that intense competition for essential resources, such as water, oil, or rare minerals, could also be very dangerous.
According to the AI chatbot, conflicts over natural resources arise when different nations can’t agree about who they belong to, where they should be sent, how to protect them and how to use them.
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) reports that at least 40 per cent of all intrastate conflicts (conflicts between countries) in the past 60 years have had a link to natural resources.
And the AI believes it could trigger major cross-border conflicts in the future.
ECONOMIC TURMOIL
A severe global economic crisis would also create instability and trigger political unrest, potentially leading to conflicts as nations struggle to secure their interests, the AI bot claims.
The chatbot also argues that the prolonged economic crisis in the era of globalisation could be enough reason for nations to resort to military operations.
According to the World Economic Forum, the next big international economic crisis, such as a global recession, could well spark World War Three.
CYBER WARFARE
ChatGPT believes that escalating cyber attacks could lead to widespread distrust and retaliation among nations, escalating into a full-scale war.
At times like these when generative AI could be easily leveraged to create widespread propaganda, cyber warfare remains one the biggest threat to world peace.
Nations engaged in ongoing conflicts could deploy intense propaganda against the rival state and could severely escalate the situation, which could attract other ally nations and turn into a major global war.
What makes cyber warfare even more dangerous is that such digital attacks don’t have to be state-sponsored – and even players not involved in conflicts could leverage propaganda warfare to spark tensions between other countries.
The ‘real’ danger of WW3 starting
WITH several ongoing world conflicts, the looming threat of nuclear warfare has sparked fears that WW3 could soon be a reality if we aren’t careful.
Watching Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev’s visually confident, intellectually insecure documentaryPorcelain War is like listening to a recitation from a brilliant poet while somebody sitting next to you is whispering what the poems are actually about. And the person sitting next to you explaining what the poet is trying to say is… twist… also the poet!
There’s a great deal of beauty in Porcelain War and there’s a potent artistry behind it, but I’ve never watched a documentary with so many running visual metaphors and so little faith that the audience will be able to grasp them. It’s a bit stunning and a bit insulting all at once. That it often tends more toward the former explains its top award in the U.S. Documentary Competition at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
Porcelain War
The Bottom Line
Visually confident but intellectually insecure.
Venue: Sundance Film Festival (U.S. Documentary Competition) Directors: Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev
1 hour 28 minutes
The documentary is the story of Slava (the co-director) and Anya, partners in life and in art. He makes porcelain objects — snails, reptiles, owls — and she covers their white surfaces with intricate and whimsical paintings. They live in Crimea, surrounded by artists and friends, but when the Russians attack, rather than fleeing their homeland, they go from the country into Kharkiv, a city just 25 miles from the Russian border.
In Kharkiv, Anya and Slava continue to make their art, placing their porcelain figures amid the rubble, while Slava is simultaneously serving as a weapons instructor for a military squad of civilians now forced to take up arms against the invading Russians. The artist couple is also accompanied by their bouncy dog Frodo, a terrier of some sort, and A VERY GOOD DOG.
The third (or fourth, if you count Frodo, which you truly must) member of their little society of artists in extremis is their longtime friend Andrey Stefanov, a painter who has turned his attentions to photography during the war, when he isn’t lost in thought about his wife and daughters, who fled to Lithuania.
The responsibility of the artist to continue to produce art in the darkest moments and the capacity of art to add beauty and levity in that darkness are just a few of the undercurrents in Porcelain War.
Art is, as the documentary makes clear and then repeats, in and of itself a rebellious act and an act of creation to ward off destruction. It’s hard to dispute this contention, and the directors and Stefanov, the documentary’s primary cinematographer, do a moving job of capturing the contrasts between the bucolic countryside and the rubble left in urban centers by Russian bombing.
The documentary shifts back and forth, often in hard cuts, from activities like a mushroom-hunting trip in the forest (or just Frodo leaping through sun-drenched fields) to the harsher realities of war. Except that both are reality, as we can see when one of their porcelain owls is placed on a decimated city wall or when Frodo very nearly happens upon a mine on one of their walks.
But can war — at least from a defensive posture when what you’re protecting is your generational homeland and all you hold dear — be an act of creation and art? This is the complicated thesis that Porcelain War dances around while never necessarily committing to it.
The necessity of fighting back against the Russians is never in doubt for the furniture salesmen and dairy farmers Slava is training. And once rebellion is happening anyway, we see Anya painting one of their bomb-equipped drones.
That drones have become a crucial piece of documentary vernacular in the past decade is made clear in several shots in which the filmmaking drone is filming the war-making drones in action. That one is making art and the other is contributing to carnage (however righteous) is a conversation Porcelain War instigates without directly addressing. Perhaps the filmmakers are hoping to avoid questions of whether or not they explicitly view this as Ukrainian propaganda or just as a story.
And you know that if the filmmakers felt comfortable making the topic explicit, they would, because the documentary is so very explicit in spelling things out at so many points. Like if you, dear reader, hear porcelain described as “fragile, yet everlasting” in a documentary about Ukraine, I’m betting there’s a connection you would be able to make without Slava’s voiceover coming out and saying, “Ukraine is like porcelain, easy to break, but impossible to destroy.”
Everything in Porcelain War is a metaphor, including little Frodo, of whom Slava says, “Everyone says that he is gentle, but courageous,” before Anya adds, “a small embodiment of the Ukrainian spirit.” Over and over again, the documentary does this, planting a seed that might be perceptive or poignant or just witty and then denying the viewer the chance to make a not-too-large leap.
Comparably to another Sundance prize winner, Angela Patton and Natalie Rae’s Daughters, Porcelain War suggests that having a co-director who is also a featured subject in your documentary may be good for intimacy, but isn’t always ideal for dramatic clarity. Expecting Slava Leontyev the Director to agree that probably 75 percent of Slava Leontyev the Subject’s voiceover — thoroughly poetic and thoroughly duplicative — could be cut is a big ask.
It’s my sense that in the absence of that voiceover, none of the documentary’s themes would be lost or weakened. It would be so much easier to marvel at Stefanov’s photography, to have your heart break at the tragic juxtapositions made by the editors, to celebrate the animation that flows out of Anya’s tiny paintings, to wait breathlessly through a harrowing sequence shot on a military body-cam. Or just to get carried along by the score from Ukrainian quartet DakhaBrakha as Frodo frolics obliviously on the edge of war.
He claimed the Russian army detected two missile launches from Ukraine-controlled areas that hit the plane.
“Most likely, it was American Patriot systems or European, probably French,” Putin said. POLITICO could not independently verify his claims.
Putin refuted theories of “friendly fire” for the downing of the aircraft. “There are friend-or-foe systems, and no matter how many times the operator presses the button, our air defense systems would not have engaged,” Putin said.
“We only regret about our pilots,” he added.
Russia’s Investigative Committee reported collecting the remains and documents of deceased Ukrainian servicemen. Russia has sole access to the crash site.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday called for an international investigation into the crash. Kyiv said it couldn’t confirm the plane carried Ukrainian POWs. Ukrainian media initially reported that the Ukrainian Armed Forces downed the plane.
UKRAINE is set to unveil its latest underwater robot drone that will target Putin’s Black Sea fleet in a bid to turn the tide of the war.
Project FURY, which stands for First Ukrainian Robotic Navy, will be presented at Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense’s “Offensive of Machines” Hackathon.
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An artist’s impression of a new deadly underwater drone set to be unveiled by Ukraine
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Ukraine has caused major damage in the Black Sea thanks to its unmanned surface vehicle dubbed “Sea Baby”Credit: EAST2WEST
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The “Sea Baby” was used to blow up Putin’s Crimean Bridge in July last yearCredit: EAST2WEST
The stealth AUV(Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) is still in development but will make its first public appearance on Sunday.
The drone will be used as a platform for a range of missions and will be able to carry mines, torpedoes, or submarine-launched missiles, according to submarine expert H I Sutton.
It’s possible that the AUV could also be fitted with a range of sensors to carry out intelligence missions.
While its specifications are currently under wraps, Project FURY will partner with an experienced AUV manufacturer in the West to weaponise an already existing platform.
Ukraine has seen a lot of success launching Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) putting them one step ahead of the Kremlin’s Black Sea Fleet.
The £335,000 Marichka is said to be immune to Russian radio-electronic warfare systems, meaning the pricey weapon is “invisible to the enemy”.
But after numerous attacks, Russia is getting better at countering USV attacks, and without innovation, Vlad’s troops could regain superiority, warns H I Sutton.
Ukraine’s Vice Admiral Oleksii Neizhpapa said: “Some of our tricks and tactics that were worked out in 2022 and 2023 will not work in 2024.
“Therefore, you need to change tactics, change the technical characteristics of everything you do.”
USVs are vulnerable to aircraft and an underwater unmanned drone could be the answer – but what sets Project FURY apart is that it’s not a completely new drone.
While AUVs are more expensive they are reusable and stealth and have the added advantage of surprise as well as needing no personnel to run.
AUVs will be harder to counter and can carry out missions that are not possible with USVs, warns the sub expert.
Ukraine is not the first country to look at developing unmanned underwater drones.
In December, Boeing unveiled its Extra-Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle dubbed Orca – measuring 52ft long and 8ft wide.
The Kronos submarine was also developed by a team of Ukrainian engineers at UAE company Highlands Systems to carry out rescue missions – but it can also carry six Black Scorpion torpedoes.
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Another artist’s impression has revealed what the new Project FURY could look likeCredit: Naval News
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The “Sea Baby” can carry up to 850kg of explosives and is made from its body is made from a material invisible to radars
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Ukraine also has the Marichka underwater kamikaze drone in its arsenal – capable of carrying 1,000lbs of explosivesCredit: East2West
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan today signed into law Sweden’s accession to NATO.
“Welcome Türkiye’s approval of the ratification of Sweden’s NATO accession,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson tweeted. “With this, a key milestone has been reached in Sweden’s path towards NATO membership.”
All NATO members, except Hungary, have ratified Sweden’s application to join the military alliance, prompted by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
Shortly before Erdoğan’s move, U.S. Ambassador to Ankara Jeff Flake said he expected the rapid sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey.
KYIV, Ukraine, January 25, 2024 (Newswire.com)
– In a crucial effort to support Ukraine’s wounded, the R.T. Weatherman Foundation is proud to announce the successful delivery of over $1.5 million in trauma orthopedic medical supplies to six hospitals across Ukraine. This substantial contribution marks a significant step in aiding both soldiers on the frontlines and civilians affected by the ongoing conflict.
This large-scale donation includes advanced medical equipment and supplies specifically designed for the treatment of complex soft tissue and bone injuries. The aim is to facilitate limb salvage and recovery, offering hope and practical help to those suffering from severe trauma.
The hospitals benefiting from this donation are strategically located in regions where the need is most acute. The R.T. Weatherman Foundation worked closely with local authorities and medical experts to ensure the supplies were distributed efficiently and to the areas where they would make the most impact.
“We are deeply committed to providing tangible support in times of crisis,” said Dr. Meaghan Mobbs, President of the R.T. Weatherman Foundation. “Our mission is to fill critical gaps, and through this donation, we aim to alleviate some of the suffering caused by this conflict. We believe that no effort is too big or small when it comes to saving lives and limbs.”
The R.T. Weatherman Foundation extends its gratitude to partners and the donors whose generous contributions have made this initiative possible. Their ongoing support is crucial in enabling the foundation to respond swiftly and effectively in crisis situations.
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to humanitarian aid,” said Bess Weatherman, co-founder of the R.T. Weatherman Foundation. “And we continue to stand with the people of Ukraine. It is our hope that this contribution will not only provide immediate relief but will also encourage other donors to follow this lead.”
For more information about the R.T. Weatherman Foundation and its initiatives, or to support its efforts, please visit weathermanfoundation.org.
About R.T. Weatherman Foundation:
The R.T. Weatherman Foundation is a non-profit organization which supports the future of democracy, values every life as our own, and meets critical unmet needs.
A Russian plane carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war crashed in Russia’s western Belgorod region, Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported Wednesday, citing the Ministry of Defense. Six crew members and three people accompanying the POWs were also on board, RIA reported. Everyone on board the plane was killed, Belgorod regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said, according to The Associated Press.
It was not immediately clear what caused the plane to crash. In a morning briefing, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said he did not have enough information to comment. Ukrainian officials warned against sharing information that had not been verified, the AP reported.
“We emphasize that the enemy is actively conducting information special operations against Ukraine aimed at destabilizing Ukrainian society,” Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said in a statement on social media.
An image taken from video obtained by Reuters shows a fireball erupting near the town of Yablonovo, in Russia’s western Belgorod region, reportedly from the scene of a military plane crash.
Obtained by Reuters
Unverified video on social media appeared to show a plane falling from the sky and then a huge ball of flames erupting where it looked like the plane hit the ground. A small puff of smoke was visible in the sky where the plane had been spotted before crashing.
RIA, citing Russia’s Ministry of Defense, said the Ukrainian POWs were being transported to the border region for a prisoner swap. The ministry said a special military commission was on its way to the site of the crash.
There have been a number of Russian military plane crashes recently, which some say is due to an increased number of flights amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, according to the AP.
Haley Ott is cbsnews.com’s foreign reporter, based in the CBS News London bureau. Haley joined the cbsnews.com team in 2018, prior to which she worked for outlets including Al Jazeera, Monocle, and Vice News.
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At least 18 people have been killed and more than 130 injured after Russia hit Ukraine’s biggest cities with waves of missiles.
Speaking in a sombre evening address, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia had launched some 40 missiles of varying types.
More than 200 sites were hit, including 139 homes, with many deaths in “an ordinary high-rise apartment building”, Zelenskyy said. “Ordinary people lived there.”
He promised a strong response.
“The Russian war will inevitably be brought back home, back to where this evil came from, where it must be quelled,” he said.
The northeastern city of Kharkiv suffered three waves of attacks. There were also attacks on the capital Kyiv and in central Ukraine while the southern region of Kherson was subject to constant shelling.
Oleksandra Terekhovich ran into the corridor of her home in Kharkiv when she heard the first explosion. The second blast hit the building next door, shattering her windows and door, she said.
“There are no more tears. Our country has been going through what has been happening for two years now. We live with horror inside of us,” she told the AFP news agency.
Sappers load an unexploded missile warhead onto a truck after the Russian aerial attack on Kyiv [Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo]
The relentless Russian bombardment has kept Ukrainians on edge while the 1,500km (930 mile) front line, where soldiers are engaged in trench and artillery warfare, has barely moved.
Analysts say Russia stockpiled missiles at the end of last year in preparation for the latest campaign that a US official said was an attempt to probe the weaknesses in Ukraine’s air defences.
Kharkiv regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said more than 100 high-rise apartment blocks had been damaged in the first two attacks on the city, with Russia using S-300, Kh-32 and hypersonic Iskander missiles. An attack later on Tuesday evening also hit a residential building and other infrastructure, causing more injuries.
The city’s mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said people were trapped in the rubble with temperatures at -7C (19.4F).
‘All these buildings were on fire’
In Kyiv, emergency services said the destruction spread across four districts.
At one site, rescuers tended to dazed and groaning residents as workers swept away debris and broken glass.
“There was a very loud bang, and my mother was already running outside, shouting that we need to leave. We all went to the corridor,” 21-year-old Daniel Boliukh told the Reuters news agency.
“Then, we went on the balcony to have a look and saw all these buildings were on fire.”
Emergency services said apartment buildings as well as medical and educational institutions were damaged in the capital. Some of the damage occurred next to the United Nations office, resident coordinator Denise Brown said in a statement.
Pavlohrad, an industrial city in the eastern Dnipro region, also came under attack. One person was killed and two schools and eight high-rise buildings were damaged, according to the presidential office.
Ukrainian officials said the country was targeted with a variety of Russian missiles including S-300, Kh-32 and hypersonic Iskander missiles [Sofiia Gatilova/Reuters]
Ukraine’s General Staff said the country’s armed forces had destroyed 22 of the missiles with nearly 20 shot down over Kyiv, the city’s military administration said.
The recent Russian attacks represent “an alarming reversal” of a trend last year, which saw a drop in civilian casualties from Kremlin attacks, according to the UN.
More than 10,000 civilians have been killed and nearly 20,000 injured since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the UN said.
The Kremlin denied it targeted civilians in Wednesday’s bombardment.
The Russian defence ministry said the raids had struck companies producing missiles, explosives and ammunition.
For the first time since Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin established the international group to support Ukraine in April 2022, the United States will host the monthly gathering of about 50 countries out of money, unable to send the ammunition and missiles that Ukraine needs to fend off Russia’s invasion.
While waiting for Congress to pass a budget and potentially approve more money for Ukraine’s fight, the U.S. will be looking to allies to keep bridging the gap.
Tuesday’s meeting will focus on longer-term needs, deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters.
“Even though we aren’t able to provide our security assistance right now, our partners are continuing to do that,” Singh said.
On Tuesday in Brussels, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced a new $1.2 billion joint contract to buy more than 222,000 rounds of 155 mm ammunition. The rounds are some of the most heavily used munitions in this conflict, and the contract will be used to backfill allies that have pushed their own reserves to Kyiv.
While the conflict between Israel and Hamas has dominated headlines since October, Russia’s bloody onslaught of Ukraine has continued.
Russia on Tuesday launched a barrage of more than 40 ballistic, cruise, anti-aircraft and guided missiles into Ukraine’s two biggest cities, damaging apartment buildings and killing at least five people. The assault came a day after Moscow shunned any deal backed by Kyiv and its Western allies to end the almost two-year war.
Ukraine’s air defenses were able to intercept at least 21 of the missiles, however the attacks injured at least 20 people in four districts of Kyiv, the capital.
Additional air defense systems and munitions for them remain a top need of Ukraine, Singh said Monday.
The Pentagon announced its last security assistance for Ukraine on Dec. 27, a $250 million package that included 155 mm rounds, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and other high-demand items drawn from existing U.S. stockpiles.
The U.S. has not been able to provide additional munitions since then because the money for replenishing those stockpiles has run out and Congress has yet to approve more funds.
More than $110 billion in aid for both Ukraine and Israel is stalled over disagreements between Congress and the White House over other policy priorities, including additional security for the U.S.-Mexico border.
The meeting will be virtual because Austin is still recuperating at home from complications of treatment for prostate cancer.
The U.S. has provided Ukraine more than $44.2 billion in security assistance since Russia invaded in February 2022. About $23.6 billion of that was pulled from existing military stockpiles and almost $19 billion was sent in the form of longer-term military contracts, for items that will take months to procure. So even though funds have run out, some previously purchased weapons will continue to flow in. An additional $1.7 billion has been provided by the U.S. State Department in the form of foreign military financing.
The U.S. and approximately 30 international partners are also continuing to train Ukrainian forces, and to date have trained a total of 118,000 Ukrainians at locations around the world, said Col. Marty O’Donnell, spokesman for U.S. Army Europe and Africa.
The United States has trained approximately 18,000 of those fighters, including approximately 16,300 soldiers in Germany. About 1,500 additional fighters are currently going through training.
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KYIV — A documentary made by three of the last journalists to escape Mariupol as Russian forces destroyed the city in spring 2022 has been nominated for an Academy Award.
The documentary “20 Days In Mariupol,” made by Mstyslav Chernov, Evgeniy Maloletka and Vasilisa Stepanenko and co-produced by Michelle Mizner and Raney Aronson-Rath of the Associated Press, was nominated in the Best Documentary Feature Film category at this year’s upcoming Oscars.
The documentary tells the story of the first days of the Russian invasion of Mariupol, which is now fully controlled by Kremlin forces after a merciless assault that left tens of thousands of people dead.
While Russia has blamed Ukraine for the city’s destruction, “20 Days In Mariupol” is a unique chronicle of what actually happened in the early days of Moscow’s full-scale invasion. Ukrainian citizens survived in basements, their food and water supplies cut off, while Kremlin troops bombed hospitals, theaters, and other civilian infrastructure.
The 96th Academy Awards ceremony will be held on March 10 in Los Angeles. Last year, a film about imprisoned Russian dissident Alexei Navalny won in the documentary category.
AT LEAST 27 people are feared dead after a deadly blast struck a market in the Russia-controlled Ukrainian city of Donetsk.
Around 25 more are also thought to have been injured after a shell struck the city in eastern Ukraine.
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At least 27 people were killed during a strike on a market place in the Russian-controlled city of DonetskCredit: EPA
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Photographs taken at the scene showed people crying – some of whom has lost relativesCredit: AFP
Denis Pushilin, the Russian-appointed mayor of the region blamed Ukraine for the strike, though Ukrainian forces have vociferously denied any responsibility.
Reuters photographs and video taken at the scene showed people crying, some of whom said they had lost relatives, and bodies lying on blood-soaked snow near one of the city’s markets.
Pushilin announced a day of mourning on Monday in the Donetsk People’s Republic, the name given to the part of the region Russia says it has annexed.
In his nightly video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, did not address the attack but said that in a single day, Russia had shelled more than 100 cities, towns and villages in nine regions in Ukraine, and that the attacks in Donetsk region had been “particularly severe.”
Ukraine’s forces in the Tavria, or southern zone, said in a Facebook post that soldiers under its command were not responsible.
“Donetsk is Ukraine!” it said. “Russia will have to answer for taking lives of Ukrainians.”
Pushilin said 18 of the injured were hospitalised and seven being treated as outpatients.
In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry called the attack “a barbaric act of terrorism” by Ukraine that was carried out “with the use of weapons supplied by the West”.
“The Russian side categorically condemns this treacherous strike against the civilian population,” a ministry statement said.
Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost two years ago, has voiced outrage in the past when Ukrainian attacks have killed civilians in Donetsk and other areas.
Russia’s own campaign of air strikes and heavy shelling, however, has killed thousands of Ukrainian civilians.
The governor of the Ukrainian-controlled part of the region, Vadym Filashkin, said Russian attacks killed at least two people at two locations west of the city of Donetsk on Sunday.
At Kurakhove, about 28 miles from Donetsk, shelling killed a 31-year-old man and injured another person, while a 62-year-old man was killed and a 70-year-old man injured at Krasnohorivka between Donetsk and Kurakhove, he said.
“I call on everyone who remains in Donetsk: evacuate!” Filashkin said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
Donetsk is one of four regions in Ukraine’s east and south that Russia claimed to have annexed in late 2022 in a move condemned as illegal by most countries at the U.N. General Assembly.
Russia does not fully control any of the four regions.
In three other incidents in the region, Pushilin said, a man born in 1979 was killed and another born in 1957 wounded by shelling, and another four people were injured.
Separately on Sunday, Russia’s defence ministry said Russian forces had taken control of the village of Krokhmalne in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region.
A Ukrainian military spokesperson confirmed that Kyiv’s forces had withdrawn from the area but said the lost territory was tiny and of no consequence for the overall military situation
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Bodies could be seen lying on blood-soaked snow near one of the city’s marketsCredit: EPA
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20 more people are expected to have been injured during the shellingCredit: Getty
A WEALTHY Russian couple are feared dead after a jet slammed into a mountain in Afghanistan.
The wife of millionaire entrepreneur Anatoly Evsyukov had become seriously ill on a luxury holiday in Thailand and was being flown back to Russia for treatment on the chartered aircraft.
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Russian millionaire Anatoly Evsyukov is believed to be one of the victims of the fatal airplane crash in AfghanistanCredit: East2West
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He was accompanied by his wife Anna Evsyukova, who fell ill whilst on Holiday in ThailandCredit: East2West
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The suspected site of Falcon plane crash in Afghanistan that left six deadCredit: East2West
Evsyukov had been decorated by Vladimir Putin’s regional governor for “valiant” work building the economy in Rostov region.
He accompanied his wife Anna Evsyukova on the flight after she developed a mystery infection and needed ventilator treatment.
Evsyukov chartered a medical evacuation plane to move her from a hospital in Pattaya to fly back to Moscow.
The plane left Thailand on Saturday and refuelled in India.
“Over Afghanistan, the pilots reported problems with the engines and fuel,” said Shot media in Russia.
“The plane crashed into the mountains [in Afghanistan].”
Their son Vitali, 41, was not permitted on the small executive air ambulance as only one accompanying passenger was allowed.
He flew on a scheduled flight to Moscow, learning of the horrific crash after he landed.
Another victim, Arkady Grachev, was reported to be the ex-husband of Ekaterina Agapova, the head of the company which owned the plane.
The couple shared a child and were business partners.
The Falcon 10 plane registered in Russia crashed into the mountains in Afghanistan, said reports on Sunday.
Russian state and independent media highlighted footage purporting to show the crash site.
Two Russian passengers – one male, one female – were aboard the plane, along with four crew members, it was reported.
It is feared that all six have been killed.
The aircraft is believed to have been operating as an air ambulance, it is believed.
Two of the crew were paramedics.
Those on board were named by AviaSpotter Telegram channel as Anatoly Evsyukov and Anna Evsyukova, along with the crew named as Dmitry Belyakov, Arkady Grachev, Igor Syvorotkin and Pavel Popov.
One version said the crew had alerted air traffic control that they were running low on fuel and both engines subsequently failed.
The aircraft is registered in Russia, according to the country’s Federal Air Transport Agency.
It was said to belong to ATLETIK-GRUPP LLC, based in Lyubertsy, Moscow region, and a private individual.
It crashed in the mountainous Badakhshan province in northeastern Afghanistan.
Shot media in Russia said the plane reported a fuel problem at 7.05pm local time on Saturday and was seeking to land in Tajikistan on an unscheduled stop.
One engine failed at 7.19pm and the other ten minutes later.
The plane disappeared from radar at about 7.30pm local time, 35 miles from Kulob airport in Tajikistan.
The plane was operating a charter ambulance flight on the route Gaya (India) – Tashkent (Uzbekistan) – Zhukovsky (Moscow, Russia), according to the owning company.
The head of the firm Ekaterina Agapova said: “Nothing is known yet, now I’m trying to understand the situation and understand what happened. There is no confirmed data yet.”
The footage purportedly shows smoke rising from the site at least 12 hours after the crash, which would have been in darkness.
This has caused multiple emergency landings due to lack of spare parts and maintenance involving Western suppliers.
However it is unclear that the sanctions would have been imposed on an air ambulance.
This is reported to be the ninth incident with a Russian plane since the beginning of the year and the eighth to occur during a flight in the last nine days.
India’s civil aviation authority said that the plane crash was not a scheduled commercial flight or an Indian chartered aircraft and that “more details are awaited.”
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The Falcon 10 air ambulance jet was reportedly ‘running out of fuel’Credit: East2West
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Anatoly Evsyukov (right) with son Vitali, 41, who was not allowed on the stricken jetCredit: East2West
KYIV, Ukraine — At least 25 people were killed Sunday by shelling at a market on the outskirts of the city of Donetsk in Russian-occupied Ukraine, local officials reported Sunday.
A further 20 people were injured in the strike on the suburb of Tekstilshchik, including two children, said Denis Pushilin, head of the Russian-installed authorities in Donetsk. He said that the shells had been fired by the Ukrainian military.
Kyiv has not commented on the event and the claims could not be independently verified by The Associated Press.
Emergency services continue to work on the scene, Pushilin said.
Also Sunday, fire broke out at a chemical transport terminal at Russia’s Ust-Luga port following two explosions, regional officials said. Local media reported that the port had been attacked by Ukrainian drones, causing a gas tank to explode.
The blaze was at a site run by Russia’s second-largest natural gas producer, Novatek, 165 kilometers southwest of St. Petersburg.
In a press statement to Russian media outlet RBC, the company said that the fire was the result of an “external influence.” It also said that it had paused operations at the port.
Yuri Zapalatsky, the head of Russia’s Kingisepp district, where the port is based, said in a statement that there were no casualties, but that the area had been placed on high alert.
News outlet Fontanka reported that two drones had been detected flying towards St Petersburg Sunday morning, but that they were redirected towards the Kingisepp district. The Associated Press could not independently verify the reports.
The Russian Ministry of Defense did not report any drone activity in the Kingisepp area in its daily briefing. It said that four Ukrainian drones had been downed in Russia’s Smolensk region, and that two more had been shot down in the Oryol and Tula regions.
Russian officials previously confirmed that a Ukrainian drone had been downed on the outskirts of St. Petersburg on Thursday.
London — A victim of Russia’s war in Ukraine is finding a new home in Scotland. Yampil, an Asiatic black bear, survived an unbearable ordeal.
“He has been through a lot,” said Adam Welsh, head of education at Five Sisters Zoo in West Calder, Scotland. “He’s been in the middle of a war zone, and he’s experienced some really horrible things.”
Ukrainian troops seized a bombed-out zoo in the midst of fighting in 2022, rescuing Yampil in the nick of time. He is named after the village in eastern Ukraine where he was saved.
Nearly all the zoo’s other 200 animals died from starvation. Others were killed by bullets or shrapnel.
“We weren’t entirely sure if he’d be kind of experiencing something similar to the likes of PTSD,” Welsh said.
Yampil was skin and bones when he was taken to Belgium to recuperate. He was given more than the bear-necessities: some sweet treats.
“Bears love it,” said Frederik Thoelen, a biologist at the Nature Help Center in Belgium. “If there is one thing that bears love, then it’s definitely things with sugar.”
Yampil is now a healthy 440 pounds and getting his bearings in his new Scottish surroundings.
“He seems to be actually quite sleepy right now, so he’s been spending a lot of time indoors,” Welsh said.
With no signs yet of post-traumatic stress disorder, zoo keepers are hopeful the 12-year-old will have only peaceful years ahead.
Ian Lee is a CBS News correspondent based in London, where he reports for CBS News, CBS Newspath and CBS News Streaming Network. Lee, who joined CBS News in March 2019, is a multi-award-winning journalist, whose work covering major international stories has earned him some of journalism’s top honors, including an Emmy, Peabody and the Investigative Reporters and Editors’ Tom Renner award.
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A 66-year-old man was arrested in Los Angeles on Wednesday in connection with an alleged years-long scheme to export sensitive technology illegally from the United States to a business tied to the Russian military, according to federal prosecutors.
Kahn is the owner of Senesys Inc., a California-based company, and Sensor Design Assn., a New York-based company. The ventures are involved in developing security software and testing silicon wafers for military aviation electronics and space equipment, court documents say.
Federal prosecutors allege that the two companies are actually the same entity, and that from 2017 through 2023 they shipped more than 290,000 microelectronics and other items out of the U.S.
Kahn worked with a Russian semiconductor company called Joint Stock Company Research and Development Center Elvees, which was sanctioned by the U.S. government in February 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Elvees played a critical role in assisting the Russian military, court documents say.
Between 2012 and 2022, financial records show, Kahn’s business received more than $37 million from Elvees and related entities, including more than $2.1 million in 2021 and 2022, prosecutors allege.
Kahn is charged with conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act, which regulates the export of goods, technology and software that have potential military use.
Prosecutors allege that in 2019, Kahn exported U.S.-made microcontrollers to Elvees in Russia, and in 2022 he exported other equipment through a Hong Kong-based shipping company without the necessary licenses from the U.S. government. According to prosecutors, that equipment included network interface controllers and a radio frequency transmitter, whose exports are limited for national security and anti-terrorism reasons.
Prosecutors accused Kahn in court papers of a number of other acts to support Elvees, including:
Arranging for Elvees to continue receiving semiconductors manufactured in Taiwan after Russia’s invasion.
Illegally shipping the items from Taiwan to the U.S. and then to Russian after the Taiwanese company refused to ship the Elvees-designed semiconductors directly to Russia.
Shipping thousands of microchips based on an Elvees design from a manufacturer in Taiwan through a New York-based shipper to a Hong Kong-based shipping company, and then to mainland China.
“Mr. Kahn stands accused of repeatedly exporting sensitive technology to Russia before, during, and after Russia launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine,” Assistant Atty. Gen. Matthew Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division said in a statement. “Violations of U.S. sanctions and export control laws that aid Russia and other hostile powers endanger our nation’s security and will be met with the full force of the Justice Department.”
Kahn could face a maximum of 20 years in prison if found guilty, according to prosecutors. He was scheduled to appear in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom Thursday.
It was not immediately clear if Kahn had any legal representation.
