Ukraine, Russia say foiled dozens of drone attacks

Ukraine, Russia say foiled dozens of drone attacks
A municipal worker cleans a residential area which was hit by a Russian air strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine (REUTERS)
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Updated 12 October 2024
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Ukraine, Russia say foiled dozens of drone attacks

Ukraine, Russia say foiled dozens of drone attacks
  • The Krasnodar governor said on Telegram that Ukrainian drone attacks had damaged three homes and set a vehicle on fire

Kyiv,: Russia said on Saturday it had downed 47 Ukrainian drones while Kyiv reported neutralized 24 drones fired by Moscow.

The Ukrainian air force said many missiles were fired from the Russian border region of Belgorod, without specifying the number or the type.

It said Russia had fired 28 drones at Ukraine, of which 24 were destroyed in the Sumy, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Mikolayev and Kherson regions.

The Ukrainian chief of staff also said Kyiv’s forces had struck a fuel depot overnight in the eastern Russian-occupied Lugansk region, setting it on fire. It did not give any details.

Moscow did not confirm the attack. But the Russian defense ministry said its forces had downed 47 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 17 in the southeastern Krasnodar region, 16 over the Azov Sea and 12 over the border region of Lursk.

The Krasnodar governor said on Telegram that Ukrainian drone attacks had damaged three homes and set a vehicle on fire.

Russian forces have made advances across the eastern front line and targeted Ukraine’s power grid as the country faces its toughest winter since the full-scale Russian invasion started in February 2022.


Ukraine expects clarity soon on security guarantees from US and other allies

Updated 11 sec ago
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Ukraine expects clarity soon on security guarantees from US and other allies

Ukraine expects clarity soon on security guarantees from US and other allies
KYIV: Ukraine will hold intensive meetings to understand what kind of security guarantees its allies are willing to provide after receiving signals that the United States would back reinvigorated discussions seeking an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
The details are being hammered out among national security advisers and military officials and Zelensky thinks they will take clearer shape within 10 days. He then expects to be ready to hold direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time since the full-scale invasion.
The talks could also be conducted in a trilateral format alongside US President Donald Trump, Zelensky said.
“We want to have an understanding of the security guarantees architecture within seven to 10 days. And based on that understanding, we aim to hold a trilateral meeting. That was my logic,” Zelensky said, speaking to reporters Wednesday after his trip to Washington along with Europe’s top leaders.
“President Trump suggested a slightly different logic: a trilateral meeting through a bilateral one,” Zelensky said. “But then we all agreed that, in any case, we continue working on the security guarantees, establishing this approximate framework, similar to Article 5. And what we have today is political support for this.”
Article 5 is NATO’s common defense guarantee under which an attack on one member is considered an attack on them all.
A venue for the meeting is being discussed with Switzerland, Austria and Turkiye as possibilities, Zelensky added.
Kyiv still does not have clarity over what kind of support it can expect from allies. A coalition of more than 30 countries have in principle pledged to contribute to security guarantees but talks came to a standstill when the US remained ambivalent about its role.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said working on security arrangements in Ukraine without Moscow’s involvement would not work, according to state news agency RIA Novosti.
“We cannot agree with the fact that it is now proposed to resolve collective security issues without the Russian Federation. This will not work. We have already explained more than once that Russia does not overstate its interests, but we will ensure our legitimate interests firmly and harshly,” Lavrov said at a news conference Wednesday
Recent positive signals from Trump suggesting the US will support “Article 5-like” security guarantees and Ukraine’s hopes to join the European Union have reinvigorated those discussions, Zelensky said.
“Today we have a positive signal from America, from President Trump, from his team, that they will be participants in the security guarantees for Ukraine. And this opens up the possibility for other countries,” he added. “Now the general staff of key countries have already started talking about what they are ready for. And some countries that were not there will probably appear now.”
Turkiye vocalized its readiness to provide security along the Black Sea after Trump appeared open to the possibility of supporting security guarantees for Ukraine, Zelensky said.
Zelensky reiterated that Ukraine is ready to hold direct talks with Putin.
“And what if the Russians are not ready? The Europeans raised the issue. If the Russians are not ready, then we would like to see a strong reaction from the United States,” he said.
Ukraine previously has expressed hope that the US will punish Russia with more sanctions if it does not demonstrate a serious willingness to end the war.
Zelensky spoke positively about his meeting with Trump in the Oval Office on Monday alongside Europe’s top leaders. He sought to convince Trump that the battlefield situation was not as bad for Ukraine as Putin portrayed.
Zelensky pointed to errors in the US map of the front line that he said showed Russia holding more territory than it actually does.
“President Trump was interested in hearing the details. We talked a lot about Donbas, about the East, what its importance is. I noted that if our military withdraws from this territory and it is occupied, then we will open the way to Kharkiv,” Zelensky said, adding that he showed Trump roads leading to Ukraine’s industrial center in Dnipropetrovsk.
“I noted to him that there are many important aspects here. If we are simply talking about withdrawing from the east, we cannot do this,” Zelensky said, noting that he believed Trump had understood him.

New Zealand spy service warns of China interference

New Zealand spy service warns of China interference
Updated 49 min 20 sec ago
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New Zealand spy service warns of China interference

New Zealand spy service warns of China interference
  • New Zealand’s spy service warned Thursday that China is the most active power engaging in foreign interference in the country, sparking a sharp rebuke from Beijing

SYDNEY: New Zealand’s spy service warned Thursday that China is the most active power engaging in foreign interference in the country, sparking a sharp rebuke from Beijing.

New Zealand faces the “most challenging national security environment of recent times,” the country’s intelligence agency said in an annual risk assessment.

Key drivers of the deteriorating threat environment were less stable relationships between states, deepening polarization and growing grievances.

Though several states seek to manipulate New Zealand’s government and society, China remains the “most active,” the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service said.

China’s embassy in Wellington accused the agency of sowing suspicion and “poisoning the two countries’ relations.”

“The accusations sound very familiar as they rehash smears and slanders fabricated elsewhere, repackaged for the New Zealand audience,” an embassy spokesperson said.

“We have regarded, and are willing to continue to regard New Zealand as a friend and partner. But the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations depends on the joint efforts from both sides.”

New Zealand’s spy agency specifically accused China’s United Front Work Department of engaging in foreign interference to build influence outside of China.

Not all of its activity amounted to foreign interference, and some could be beneficial, it said.

“However, its activities are regularly deceptive, coercive and corruptive and come with risks for New Zealand organizations.”

The agency cautioned New Zealand businesses that under China’s national security legislation, individuals and organizations in China must comply with requests from the country’s security services.

The Indo-Pacific region is a focal point for strategic competition between powers, the security service said.

China is a “particularly assertive and powerful actor,” seeking to extend and embed its influence across the region, the report said.

“It has demonstrated both a willingness and capability to undertake intelligence activity that targets New Zealand’s national interests.”

Without naming countries, the intelligence service highlighted the routine use of “transnational repression” by foreign states, often by co-opting people to collect information about someone within their own diaspora living in New Zealand.

Looking at other risks, the agency said the most plausible extremist threat in New Zealand remained that of a lone actor, radicalized in an increasingly polarized, grievance-laden online world, who attacks without forewarning.

Young and vulnerable people were at the highest risk of radicalization, it said.

The intelligence organization said it was “almost certain” that some foreign espionage activity was going undetected.

Foreign countries were targeting critical organizations, infrastructure and technology — mostly through cyber exploitation, it said.

“It is not just intelligence officers conducting this activity,” the agency said.

“Some governments take a ‘whole of state approach’ to intelligence gathering, which includes utilising businesses, universities, think tanks, or cyber actors to act on their behalf.”

Global competition and insecurity drive most of the espionage activity against New Zealand, it said.

The service cited “multiple examples” of states seeking covert access to information on government policy positions, security partnerships, technological innovations and research.


China’s Xi pushes development, ethnic unity in rare visit to Tibet

China’s Xi pushes development, ethnic unity in rare visit to Tibet
Updated 21 August 2025
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China’s Xi pushes development, ethnic unity in rare visit to Tibet

China’s Xi pushes development, ethnic unity in rare visit to Tibet
  • Xi’s visit comes ahead of potential tensions over the succession of the 90-year-old Dalai Lama, who lives in India, where he established a Tibetan government in exile

BEIJING: President Xi Jinping attended a grand ceremony in Lhasa on Thursday during a rare visit to Tibet, where he urged “ethnic unity and religious harmony” in a region where China is accused of rights abuses.

The vast high-altitude area on the country’s western edge, established as an autonomous region in 1965 — six years after the 14th Dalai Lama fled into exile — was once a hotbed for protest against Communist Party rule.

Rights groups accuse Beijing’s leaders of suppressing Tibetan culture and imposing massive surveillance, though authorities claim their policies have fostered stability and rapid economic development in one of China’s poorest regions.

“To govern, stabilize and develop Tibet, we must first safeguard political stability, social stability, ethnic unity and religious harmony,” Xi, visiting for the first time since 2021, told a group of the region’s officials on Wednesday, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

On Thursday, party officials lauded the region’s progress and urged ethnic unity during an event to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the autonomous region.

The ceremony was held in front of the vast Potala Palace, the ancient residence of Dalai Lamas — Tibetan Buddhism’s spiritual leaders.

Wang Huning, China’s fourth-ranked leader, called for “deepening the anti-secession struggle and ensuring the consolidation and security of the border areas.”

“Any attempt to split the motherland and undermine Tibet’s stability is doomed to failure,” he said.



A giant portrait of Xi flanked a crowd numbering 20,000, according to CCTV, which included military personnel, school children and other members of Tibetan society, many in traditional Tibetan dress.

A parade followed, showcasing Tibetan dancers, floats emblazoned with official slogans, and formations of troops.

Xi’s visit comes ahead of potential tensions over the succession of the 90-year-old Dalai Lama, who lives in India, where he established a Tibetan government in exile.

In July, the Dalai Lama said the spiritual institution would continue after his death, with a successor decided “exclusively” by his office.

China’s rulers insist the next Dalai Lama must be approved by the government in Beijing, raising the prospect of two rival leaders of Tibetan Buddhism emerging.

Xi called Wednesday for “guiding Tibetan Buddhism to adapt to socialist society in accordance with the systematic Sinicization of religion.”

He made no mention of the Dalai Lama in CCTV’s coverage.

Xi also promoted the “vigorous, orderly, and efficient” completion of the massive Yarlung Tsangpo dam, which began construction in July.

The 1.2 trillion yuan ($167 billion) hydropower project, potentially the largest in the world, has prompted concerns from India and Bangladesh, which sit downstream.

India’s government said it had raised the dam this week during talks with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi in New Delhi.

They also discussed advancing talks on the two countries’ disputed border in the region, which was the site of deadly border clashes in 2020.


A wartime mass grave in Sri Lanka yields a baby bottle, children’s clothes and 141 skeletons

A wartime mass grave in Sri Lanka yields a baby bottle, children’s clothes and 141 skeletons
Updated 21 August 2025
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A wartime mass grave in Sri Lanka yields a baby bottle, children’s clothes and 141 skeletons

A wartime mass grave in Sri Lanka yields a baby bottle, children’s clothes and 141 skeletons
  • The identities of the dead and the cause and timing of their deaths are all unclear
  • Many think the victims could be civilians who disappeared during Sri Lanka’s civil war, which broke out in 1983 between government forces and ethnic Tamil rebels, who fought to create an independent homeland for the minority group

CHEMMANI: A baby bottle, a squeaky toy and a schoolbag are among items that have surfaced from a mass grave site in Sri Lanka’s formerly war-torn northern region, along with 141 human skeletons including some that appear to be of children of different ages.

The findings were made at a cremation ground in the Chemmani area near Jaffna town, the cultural heartland of the country’s ethnic Tamil minority. But hardly any burials take place here, as Hindus mostly cremate their dead according to religious customs.

Excavations have been underway since June, after workers found human remains while digging to build an electric crematorium.

A pit test over nine days discovered 19 sets of human remains. Shallow burials of about 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) in a scattered and disorganized manner, and the absence of clothing, indicated the site was a mass grave, according to a report provided to a court in June.

Since the area was secured and declared a crime scene that month, a total of 141 skeletons have been discovered within a 165-square-meter (1,776-square-foot) area. About 135 of the bodies had no clothing, and only one set of adult clothing was identified. Tests confirmed that a skeleton found with a schoolbag was that of a girl between 4 and 6 years old. Toddlers’ dresses, socks and footwear, tiny bead bangles and a baby powder tray were also recovered.

The identities of the dead and the cause and timing of their deaths are all unclear. But many think the victims could be civilians who disappeared during Sri Lanka’s civil war, which broke out in 1983 between government forces and ethnic Tamil rebels, who fought to create an independent homeland for the minority group. The war ended in 2009.

Several Tamil armed groups and an Indian peacekeeping mission were active in the region over the decades. But attention has focused on the Sri Lankan military, which had a heavy presence for over a decade in Chemmani, as the gateway to Jaffna town.

Decades-old confession heightens suspicions

A confession made by an army soldier before he was sentenced to death for rape and murder 27 years ago has strengthened suspicions about the site.

In 1998, Somaratne Rajapaksa along with four alleged accomplices from the military and police were sentenced to death for the gang rape and murder of a schoolgirl and the killing of her mother, brother and a neighbor.

The five, who weren’t hanged and remain in prison due to a moratorium on executions, have maintained that they were not involved in the rape and murder, but only disposed of the bodies under orders.

Rajapaksa told the court that he knew where up to 400 bodies were buried in Chammani.

“We cannot say exactly who the perpetrators are yet, but the finger points to the (state) army,” said Brito Fernando, an activist working with the families of people who disappeared during various armed conflicts in Sri Lanka.

The area, including the cremation ground, were under Sri Lankan military control from 1996, when it captured Jaffna from the rebels, until after the war ended in 2009. The military operated checkpoints, and anyone who entered or left the area was searched.

In 1999, Rajapaksa led police to a spot where the schoolgirl, her family and the neighbor were buried and later showed police other places where more remains were found. But the investigations were abruptly stopped.

Families want closure

Items found at the site were publicly displayed earlier this month in the hope that their owners would be identified, and many people from surrounding villages and beyond visited the site.

Amalanathan Mary Calista, whose husband has been missing since 1996 when the military arrested him in their village, said she hoped seeing proof that her husband was dead would bring a sense of closure.

“I went there hoping to see at least his clothes. There was a sarong (clothing that wraps around the waist) but it wasn’t my husband’s. He was wearing a blue sarong at the time. It was disappointing,” she said.

“I only saw the clothing of little children,” she added, as she wept.

She said her husband is among 24 people who never returned home after the military searched their village. Families had tried to block the army vehicles from taking away the detained people, but the authorities pushed them aside with guns and the vehicles sped away, she said.

“My wish is that he should be alive and return, but we can do nothing if it is not so,” she said.

“The state army arrested him. They must say that they arrested him and that he died at their hands. They also must pay us compensation,” she said.

Woman recalls military taking her brother and husband away

Sivanathan Selvamalar said she watched her younger brother being loaded into a military truck blindfolded during that same raid. Years later, in 2009, her husband was also detained at a checkpoint. He called her to tell her of his arrest and was not heard from again.

“We went to see the things, thinking they may have buried people who were arrested around this area, but we saw only the things of little children,” she said.

“We have checked all the prisons but have not found them. When we are told that more than 100 skeletons have been dug out, we fear the worst,” she added.

No children listed in missing person reports

A 2003 report by Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Commission said it investigated 281 complaints of missing persons from 1990 to 1998. Of these, three were found in prisons and later released, while the rest are still unaccounted for. The report said the military was responsible for 243 cases, while the Tamil Tiger rebels were responsible for 25. The responsibility for 10 others is unknown.

No children were listed as missing.

Nadesapillai Vithyatharan, the editor of the only newspaper in the region at the time, said several families returned to Jaffna after fleeing into rebel-held territory as the military moved in. Some reportedly went missing after being stopped at checkpoints set up to look for infiltrating rebels, he said.

Calls for DNA analysis

Although previous investigations stalled, there is hope now that victims will be identified, Fernando said. But he said the government must do more to conduct a credible investigation.

“We don’t have proper guidelines to investigate the mass graves and have no DNA bank to help with identification,” said Fernando, adding that the government should fund a DNA bank and enlist international support in the identification of victims.

“Only a proper investigation by the government can free its military from suspicion,” he said.

Any direct probe into the military would likely anger Sri Lankan nationalists. Many of the majority ethnic Sinhalese admire the military for winning the civil war.

Excavations will continue for 8 more weeks

Ground-penetrating radar in other parts of the cremation ground has shown “soil anomalies … that are indicative of comparable density of buried skeletal remains,” according to a report submitted in the Jaffna court last week.

The scanned area is three times larger than the site that has been excavated, said Ranitha Gnanarajah, a lawyer monitoring the process. Investigators have requested court approval to continue excavations for eight more weeks, she said.

Army spokesman Brig. Waruna Gamage said no one has formally accused the army of responsibility for the mass grave, and if they did they would need to show proof, he said.

“The excavations are still ongoing and it is a civil matter belonging to the police and courts,” Gamage said. “We will respect the law of the country.”

Government forces and the rebels are both accused of committing atrocities amounting to war crimes in the months leading to the end of the civil war in 2009.


This Ukrainian startup makes drones and soon, cruise missiles to strike deep inside Russia

This Ukrainian startup makes drones and soon, cruise missiles to strike deep inside Russia
Updated 21 August 2025
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This Ukrainian startup makes drones and soon, cruise missiles to strike deep inside Russia

This Ukrainian startup makes drones and soon, cruise missiles to strike deep inside Russia
  • Like most defense companies in Ukraine, Fire Point grew out of necessity after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022
  • By pooling together knowledge from construction, game design and architecture, the company’s founders came up with novel designs for drones that could fly further and strike with greater precision than most products already on the market

When a Ukrainian-made drone attacked an ammunition depot in Russia last September, it showcased Kyiv’s determination to strike deep behind enemy lines and the prowess of its defense industry.

The moment was especially gratifying for the woman in charge of manufacturing the drones that flew more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) to carry out this mission. For months after, Russia no longer had the means to keep up devastating glide bomb attacks like the one that had just targeted her native city of Kharkiv.

“Fighting in the air is our only real asymmetric advantage on the battlefield at the moment. We don’t have as much manpower or money as they have,” said Iryna Terekh, head of production at Fire Point.

Terekh spoke as she surveyed dozens of “deep-strike drones” that had recently come off the assembly line and would soon be used by Ukrainian forces to attack arms depots, oil refineries and other targets vital to the Kremlin’s war machine and economy.

Spurred by its existential fight against Russia — and limited military assistance from Western allies — Ukraine has fast become a global center for defense innovation. The goal is to match, if not outmuscle, Russia’s capabilities — and Fire Point is one of the companies leading the way.

The Associated Press was granted an exclusive look inside one of Fire Point’s dozens of covert factories. In a sprawling warehouse where rock music blared, executives showed off their signature FP-1 exploding drones that can travel up to 1,600 kilometers (994 miles). They also touted publicly for the first time a cruise missile they are developing that is capable of traveling 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles), and which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hopes will be mass-produced by the end of the year.

Even as US President Donald Trump presses for an end to the 3 1/2-year war — and dangles the prospect of US support for NATO-like security guarantees — Ukrainian defense officials say their country is determined to become more self-sufficient in deterring Russia.

“We believe our best guarantee is not relying on somebody’s will to protect us, but rather our ability to protect ourselves,” said Arsen Zhumadilov, the head of the country’s arms procurement agency.

Ukraine’s government is now purchasing about $10 billion of weapons annually from domestic manufacturers. The industry has the capacity to sell triple that amount, officials say, and they believe sales to European allies could help it reach such potential in a matter of years.

Drone innovation grew out of necessity

Like most defense companies in Ukraine, Fire Point grew out of necessity after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Despite pleas from Ukrainian military officials, Western countries were unwilling to allow Kyiv to use their allies’ longer-range weapons to strike targets deep inside Russian territory.

That’s when a group of close friends, experts from various fields, set out to mass-produce inexpensive drones that could match the potency of Iranian-made Shahed drones that Russia was firing into Ukraine with devastating consequences.

The company’s founders spoke with AP on the condition of anonymity out of concern for their safety and the security of their factories.

By pooling together knowledge from construction, game design and architecture, the company’s founders — who had no background in defense — came up with novel designs for drones that could fly further and strike with greater precision than most products already on the market. Their long-range drones had another benefit: they did not need to take off from an air field.

When Terekh — an architect — was hired in the summer of 2023, she was given a goal of producing 30 drones per month. Now the company makes roughly 100 per day, at a cost of $55,000 apiece.

The FP-1 looks more like a hastily made science project than something that would roll off the production lines of the world’s biggest defense contractors. “We removed unneeded, flashy glittery stuff,” she said.

But the FP-1 has been extremely effective on the battlefield.

With a payload of explosives weighing 60 kilograms (132 pounds), it is responsible for 60 percent of strikes deep inside Russian territory, including hits on oil refineries and weapons depots, according to Terekh. These strikes have helped to slow Russia’s advance along the 1,000 kilometer-long (620 mile-long) front line in eastern Ukraine, where army units have reported a sharp decline in artillery fire.

“I think the best drones, or among the best, are Ukrainian drones,” said Claude Chenuil, a former French military official who now works for a trade group that focuses on defense. “When the war in Ukraine ends, they will flood the market.”

Ukraine is becoming the ‘Silicon Valley’ of defense

Fire Point’s story is not entirely unique. Soon after Russia’s 2022 invasion, hundreds of defense companies sprouted almost overnight. The Ukrainian government incentivized innovation by relaxing regulations and making it easier for startups to work directly with military brigades.

Patriotic entrepreneurs in metallurgy, construction and information technology built facilities for researching and making weapons and munitions, with an emphasis on drones. The ongoing war allowed them to test out ideas almost immediately on the battlefield, and to quickly adapt to Russia’s changing tactics.

“Ukraine is in this very unique moment now where it is becoming, de facto, the Silicon Valley of defense,” said Ukrainian defense entrepreneur Yaroslav Azhnyuk. “The biggest strategic asset that we have is that we have been at war with Russia for 11 years.”

A case in point: Fire Point had initially sourced navigational equipment for its drones from a major Western firm, but before long Russia was able to disrupt their effectiveness using electronic warfare; so Fire Point developed its own software to outwit the enemy.

Because defense companies are high-value targets for Russia, many operate underground or hidden within civilian centers to evade detection. Although they are guarded by air defenses, the strategy has the disadvantage of putting civilians at risk. Many Ukrainians have died in imprecise Russian attacks that were likely targeting weapons facilities. Entrepreneurs said the alternative is to operate openly and face attacks that would set back the war effort.

Supplies of drones don’t last long

On the day AP reporters visited the Fire Point factory, there were dozens of drones awaiting delivery. They would all be gone within 72 hours, shipped to the battlefield in inconspicuous cargo trucks.

The Fire Point team receives regular feedback from army units, and the company has reinvested most profits toward innovating quickly to keep pace with other drone makers. Increasingly, those profits are being directed to develop a new, more potent weapon.

The company completed testing this year for its first cruise missile, the FP-5. Capable of traveling 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) and landing within 14 meters (45 feet) of its target, the FP-5 is one of the largest such missile in the world, delivering a payload of 1,150 kilograms (2,535 pounds), independent experts said. Because initial versions of the missile came out pink after a factory error, they called it the Flamingo — and the name has stuck.

Fire Point is producing roughly one Flamingo per day, and by October they hope to build capacity to make seven per day, Terekh said.

Even as Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials pursue ways to end the war, Terekh said she is skeptical that Russia will accept terms for a real peace. “We are preparing for a bigger, much scarier war.”