Kiev’s UAVs targeted fuel and energy facilities in Samara Region, Vyacheslav Fedorischev has said
Four people were killed and one more injured in a Ukrainian drone attack on Samara Region in south-western Russia, local governor Vyacheslav Fedorischev has said.
The UAVs targeted fuel and energy facilities in the region early on Saturday, Fedorischev wrote on Russia’s Max messaging platform.
Later in the day, the governor issued another post, saying: “It is with deep sorrow that I report that four people were killed as a result of the overnight attack by enemy drones.”
The region’s best doctors have been treating a person who was wounded in the raid, he said.
The authorities remain in contact with the families of the victims, who will be provided with all necessary assistance, Fedorischev stressed.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Saturday that the country’s air defenses have destroyed 149 Ukrainian drones in the country’s airspace overnight, including 15 in Samara Region.
Kiev has stepped up its use of long-range drones to strike deep inside Russia in recent months as battlefield conditions continue to worsen for Ukrainian troops. The attacks have targeted energy infrastructure and residential areas, resulting in dozens of civilian deaths and injuries as well as the destruction of property. Russian officials have accused Ukraine of deliberately targeting civilians, calling such tactics acts of terrorism.
Moscow has conducted its own long-range strikes with drones and missiles in response. The Russian Defense Ministry maintains that it only targets military-related sites such as Ukrainian troop concentrations, weapons depots and fuel storage facilities.
Members of the bloc should target Russian military aircraft as Türkiye did in 2015, Lithuanian MOD chief Dovile Sakaliene has said
NATO should shoot down Russian warplanes, Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene has said. Her comments came after Estonia, Lithuania’s neighbor, accused Russia of violating its airspace – something that Moscow has denied.
“We need to mean business,” Sakaliene said in a post on X, claiming that Russia “tested” the bloc’s borders “for a reason.”
Türkiye “set an example 10 years ago,” the minister added, referring to an incident in which the Turkish Air Force downed a Russian bomber over Syria, where Moscow was aiding the government of then President Bashar Assad against extremist groups.
Estonia – a Baltic state and a NATO member – claimed earlier this week that three Russian military aircraft violated its airspace for 12 minutes, in what it called an “unprecedented brazen” incursion. The Russian Defense Ministry denied the accusation, saying that its jets flew over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea, more than 3km from Estonia’s Vaindloo Island, “without violating Estonian airspace,” as part of a routine flight.
Tallinn also requested urgent consultations with its fellow NATO members under Article 4 of the bloc’s treaty. The incident took place just weeks after Poland – another NATO member – accused Russia of sending at least 19 drones into its airspace, a claim Moscow denied as well. The bloc responded by increasing air patrols over Poland.
Back in 2015, the Turkish Air Force brought down a Russian Su-24 bomber taking part in an anti-terrorist mission in Syria. The aircraft crashed in militant-held territory, and one of the pilots was killed on the ground after ejecting.
The shootdown led to the worst deterioration of Turkish-Russian relations in recent history, with Moscow slapping sanctions on Ankara that affected trade and tourism. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan personally apologized in 2016, and Moscow fully lifted the restrictions three years later.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova ridiculed Sakaliene’s statement by saying the minister only “demonstrated competence in her own phobias” and wished for her to “become accomplished” in her professional field, referring to the minister’s background in legal psychology.
Kiev’s heavy-handed mobilization tactics have driven a large-scale exodus of potential conscripts
Authorities in Poland have detained two Ukrainian train drivers and the two passengers they had tried to smuggle into the country illegally.
The railway workers have been accused of participating in a human trafficking operation, according to a statement from the Polish Border Guard.
Kiev has turned to increasingly aggressive conscription tactics, and has faced widespread criticism for its treatment of military-age men attempting to evade military service.
According to a statement released on Thursday, the train operators, both employees of Ukraine’s state railway, were caught hiding the young men inside the locomotive compartment of a train which had arrived in the southeastern Polish border city of Przemysl. Investigators allege that the smugglers had received at least $10,000 per person for the illicit crossing.
The operators have been charged with participating in a criminal group engaged in organizing illegal border crossings. They have denied the accusations.
The two Ukrainian nationals who were smuggled into Poland were charged with entering the country illegally using deception and acting in cooperation with others. They have admitted their guilt, and informed authorities that they had turned to the scheme in order to avoid being drafted.
Ukraine introduced general mobilization shortly after the escalation of the conflict with Russia in February 2022, banning most men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country. In 2024, Kiev lowered the draft age from 27 to 25 and imposed harsher recruitment rules in order to offset mounting battlefield losses.
The conscription campaign has triggered growing unrest. Viral videos circulating on Ukrainian social media have shown military recruiters chasing young men in the streets and forcing them into unmarked vehicles. Violent confrontations between draft officers and civilians have become increasingly frequent.
According to Igor Matviychuk, head of border control at Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service, more than 100 people attempt to flee the country each day to avoid conscription.
Patriot air defense systems and some other weapons are in short supply, unnamed officials have told the outlet
The US has ‘quietly’ paused sales of certain weapons to its European allies, The Atlantic has reported. The Trump administration is seeking to stockpile arms as part of its ‘America First’ agenda.
Washington has provided Kiev with over $67 billion in arms and military assistance since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. Most of the deliveries were made under the administration of former US President Joe Biden.
The Pentagon has now identified some weapons as being in short supply and is moving to block new requests for those systems from NATO countries, the outlet said in an article on Friday.
The unnamed current and former US administration officials who spoke to The Atlantic could not say how long the hold will last or name the exact hardware on the list.
According to the report, the first evidence of a shift in policy was the Pentagon’s recent decision not to go ahead with the sale of “a multibillion-dollar” Patriot air-defense system to Denmark, despite US and French negotiators previously pressuring Copenhagen to make the purchase.
US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby said during a call earlier this month that “he did not believe in the value of certain foreign military sales,” two administration officials told the outlet.
The sources claimed that Colby also “did not like” the idea of selling Patriots to Denmark because they are in short supply and should remain in the US.
The Atlantic warned that a prolonged pause in weapons sales to Western Europe “risks creating new rifts with allies, weakening their defenses at a time when Russia poses an imminent threat, and diminishing US military influence across the continent.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated in early September that “the constant hysteria about Russia allegedly planning to attack Europe… is either a provocation or sheer incompetence.”
“Russia has never had, does not have, and never will have any desire to attack anyone,” Putin said. As for the Ukraine conflict, it was provoked by the West, and Moscow is only defending itself, he stressed.
Kneecap has vowed court action over the politician’s statements following a ban on the group entering Canada
Irish rap trio Kneecap is planning legal action against a Canadian MP after Ottawa banned them from the country due to alleged anti-Israel views, the musicians have announced.
It is the latest example of restrictions imposed by the Western governments on musicians over pro-Palestinian stances. Over the past year, a number of artists have been denied entry to various countries or faced cancellations linked to their political views.
“Our government will not tolerate the advocating of political violence, terrorism or anti-Semitism and hate more broadly,” Canadian MP Vince Gasparro said in a video posted to X on Friday, confirming that the group had been prohibited from entering.
Kneecap, which had four shows scheduled for October in Toronto and Vancouver, dismissed the allegations, saying the band’s lawyers would initiate legal action over the X post.
In a statement on Instagram, the band called Gasparro’s accusations “wholly untrue and deeply malicious,” insisting that no member of the band had “been convicted of any crime in any country ever.”
“When we beat you in court, which we will,” Kneecap wrote, “we will donate every cent to assist some of the thousands of child amputees in Gaza.”
Kneecap has previously stated that they do not support Hamas or Hezbollah. One of the group’s members, Liam Og O hAnnaidh, is currently facing a charge in the UK for allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag at a rally in 2024. He denies the accusation and the case has been adjourned until September 26.
This is not the first time artists have faced institutional pressure over their pro-Palestine statements. In April, American singer Kehlani had a show at Cornell University cancelled due to her pro-Palestine views. In May, Irish post-punk group Murder Capital was dropped from venues in Germany after displaying a Palestinian flag on stage. In July, the US revoked the visas of members of English punk rap duo Bob Vylan following pro-Gaza remarks at Glastonbury Music Festival in the UK.
Israel’s actions in Gaza are “criminally insane,” the Pink Floyd co-founder has told RT
The US, UK and other Western nations that continue to supply weapons to West Jerusalem are equally responsible for the Israeli “genocide” in Gaza, Roger Waters, British rock legend and co-founder of the band Pink Floyd, has said.
In September of last year, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution that called on Israel to withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories and for all states to take effective action against violations of international law by West Jerusalem. However, attacks continue; the IDF launched an operation to take control of Gaza City earlier this month.
Waters joined a large crowd which gathered outside UN headquarters in New York for the anniversary of the vote on Thursday, calling for an arms embargo against Israel and action to halt the “genocide” of Palestinians.
There, he told RT that the conduct of Israel in Gaza was “criminally insane. Genocide is just ultimately the worst crime that any of us have ever dreamt of, and they are doing it in front of our eyes.”
“And it is not just the Israelis, it is [British Prime minister] Keir Starmer, the UK government, the American [government], the French, the Germans,” he stressed.
The musician insisted that “we must free Palestine, the country, from the river to the sea and we have to do it now. It will be too late.”
A UN commission of inquiry reported on Tuesday that Israel is “responsible for genocide in Gaza,” citing killings, serious physical and mental harm, the deliberate imposition of life-threatening conditions, and measures aimed at preventing births.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry rejected the report as “fake,” accusing its authors of being “proxies” of the Palestinian armed group Hamas and calling for the “immediate abolition” of the panel.
West Jerusalem launched its military operation in Gaza in October 2023 in response to a deadly assault on southern Israel in which Hamas killed about 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages. Over 65,000 Palestinians have since been killed and more than 166,000 others injured in the enclave, according to local health authorities.
President Donald Trump said that the Bagram airfield should not have been abandoned to the Taliban
US President Donald Trump has said he wants to regain control of Bagram Air Base in northeastern Afghanistan.
American troops hastily evacuated the base in July 2021, a month before Taliban militants seized Kabul, toppling the UN-backed government and ending the 20-year US occupation of the country.
“We should have never given it up,” Trump told reporters at the Oval Office on Friday. He added that during his trip to the UK the previous day, the US was negotiating the issue with the new Afghan government. “We want that base back,” he said.
“One of the reasons we want the base is, as you know, it’s an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons,” he said Thursday during a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Photos and videos of the looted base and abandoned military equipment became symbols of the failure of the US war in Afghanistan.
Although Trump had negotiated the transition of defense responsibilities to local authorities during his first term, he blamed the fall of Kabul to the Taliban on former US President Joe Biden, calling the chaotic departure of the last American soldiers “a disgrace.”
Zakir Jalaly, an Afghan Foreign Ministry official, wrote on X on Thursday that the people of Afghanistan would reject the return of American troops.
“Afghanistan and the US need to engage with one another, and can have economic and political relations based on mutual respect, without the US maintaining any military presence in any part of Afghanistan,” he said.
Following the US withdrawal, the originally Soviet-built airfield came under the control of Afghanistan’s Taliban-led defense ministry. Trump has repeatedly alleged that the Chinese are using the base, but this claim has been rejected by Kabul and lacks credible evidence.
The US president has reportedly refused to sign off on a defense package worth more than $400 million
US President Donald Trump has refused to approve a weapons package for Taiwan, the Washington Post reported on Friday, citing five people familiar with the matter.
The Post linked the decision to Trump’s efforts to negotiate a trade deal with Beijing and his potential meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, which is expected to take place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in South Korea next month.
The weapons deal, reportedly worth more than $400 million, had been described as “more lethal” than previous deliveries. According to the Post, Trump’s team believes Taiwan should purchase its own weapons, reflecting the president’s “transactional” approach to foreign policy. A White House official told the outlet that the decision has not yet been finalized.
Beijing, which considers the self-governing island an inalienable part of its territory, strongly opposes any foreign military aid to Taipei. Xi has said China seeks peaceful reunification but reserves the right to use force.
In December, the Chinese Foreign Ministry warned Taipei that “relying on the US to seek independence and using military means to pursue independence is a path to self-destruction.”
The Taiwanese Defense Ministry declined to comment on the report but said that “Taiwan and the US maintain a close security cooperation mechanism, with all exchange programs carried out on schedule to build a comprehensive defense system.”
Washington has approved several arms sales to Taiwan in recent years, including the delivery of NASAMS air-defense missile systems.
The hostilities are being “funded by NATO,” the American president said
US President Donald Trump has said that his country is profiting from the Ukraine conflict, contrasting his approach with the unconditional military aid provided to Kiev by the previous administration.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday, Trump praised the deal he signed in July under which the US sells weapons to fellow NATO members, which then deliver them to Ukraine.
“We’re not spending any more on the war. You know, we’re being paid for everything we’ve sent, unlike Biden. He gave them $350 billion, and it was shocking,” Trump said, stressing that “the war is being funded by NATO.”
“In fact, I don’t want to make money on that war, but we are actually making money on that war because they are buying our equipment, as you know,” the president added.
Trump has frequently criticized former US President Joe Biden for approving large military aid packages for Kiev and described Vladimir Zelensky as “the greatest salesman on earth.” He also insisted that NATO members in Europe should bear the primary burden of supporting Ukraine.
The US president reopened direct negotiations with Russia earlier this year but recently acknowledged that mediating an end to the conflict has been more difficult than he initially anticipated.
Moscow has maintained that no amount of Western weapons could deter its army from victory, arguing that the NATO countries are de facto participants in the conflict.
Moscow denies its fighter jets crossed the NATO state’s border
The Russian Defense Ministry has denied that its warplanes entered Estonia’s airspace on Friday.
The Baltic EU and NATO state had claimed that three aircraft violated its airspace for 12 minutes in what it called an “unprecedented brazen” incursion.
In a brief statement on Saturday, the Defense Ministry said three MiG-31s were conducting a routine flight from Karelia Region, east of Finland, to an airfield in Kaliningrad Region, a Russian exclave bordering Poland and Lithuania.
The jets flew over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea, more than 3 kilometers from Estonia’s Vaindloo island, “without violating Estonian airspace,” the MOD said.
“The flight was carried out in strict accordance with international airspace regulations and without crossing the borders of other countries,” the ministry added.
Estonia has requested urgent consultations with its fellow NATO members, activating Article 4 of the alliance’s treaty. “NATO’s response to any provocation must be united and strong. We consider it essential to consult with our allies to ensure shared situational awareness and to agree on our next joint steps,” Prime Minister Kristen Michal said.
On September 9, Poland accused Russia of sending at least 19 drones into its airspace, a claim Moscow has denied. NATO responded by deploying additional aircraft to patrol Polish skies.
