US believes Russia response to Ukraine drone attack not over yet, expects multi-pronged strike
The timing of the full Russian response was unclear, with one source saying it was expected within days. A second US official said the retaliation was likely to include different kinds of air capabilities, including missiles and drones.
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Straits Times
19 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Pussy Riot co-founder back in prison cell
Nadya Tolokonnikova is staging a two-week piece of performance art aimed at raising awareness about the dangers of authoritarianism and oppression. PHOTO: AFP Los Angeles - Nadya Tolokonnikova, the co-founder of the feminist art collective Pussy Riot, is back in a prison cell - but this time, she has gone willingly. At the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the Russian activist is staging 'Police State' - a two-week piece of performance art aimed at raising awareness about the dangers of authoritarianism and oppression. Tolokonnikova - who spent nearly two years in a Russian penal colony for performing a protest song against Vladimir Putin in a Moscow church in 2012 - knows a bit about the topic. Through the installation, which opened on June 5 and runs through June 14, she says she hopes to teach visitors about what she believes to be the advent of a new means of control - technology. While she is in the mock cell, during all museum opening hours, she will eat, use the toilet, sew clothes as she once did in her real cell and create 'soundscapes'. Visitors can observe her through holes in the cell or on security camera footage. 'People don't treat authoritarianism seriously,' Tolokonnikova told AFP. Seated in a makeshift Russian prison cell, wearing a green tracksuit, the 35-year-old activist says in several countries, the concept of a 'police state' is expanding. 'As someone who lived under authoritarian rule for over 25 years, I know how real it is and how it starts, step by step, on the arrest of one person. You think, 'Well, it's not about me',' she explained. 'And then next thing we know, the entire country is under the military boot.' 'We all have to contribute' For Tolokonnikova, US President Donald Trump's return to the White House in January has sparked an 'erosion of the system of checks and balances', which she deemed 'very dangerous'. She says the artistic community, and society in general, should do more to counter governmental abuses of power, wherever they may occur, and stop 'outsourcing politics and political action'. 'I feel like it's as if there is someone else who's going to save us from everything. That's not what works really. We all have to contribute.' Pussy Riot co-founder Nadya Tolokonnikova hopes to teach visitors about what she believes to be the advent of a new means of control - technology. PHOTO: AFP Some who visited the installation said they agreed with Tolokonnikova that society had become too passive. 'I feel like Americans don't want to believe that we could be in danger of losing our freedoms,' said Ms Jimmie Akin, a graphic designer who said she was worried about the policy changes since Mr Trump took office. 'People need to wake up.' Sewing machine and Navalny For 29-year-old Hannah Tyler, 'Police State' was a bit of a shock to the system. 'We're living in a country where we aren't facing the same extreme oppression that she did in Russia, but getting close to it. I felt inspired to take more action than I have been,' Ms Tyler said. Visitors can observe Tolokonnikova through holes in the cell or on security camera footage. PHOTO: AFP Tolokonnikova's installation has some symbolic features. She has books and artworks made by Russian, US and Belarusian prisoners, as well as a drawing by the brother of late Russian dissident Alexei Navalny. A sewing machine recalls the manual labour of her incarceration. Words of protest are carved into the walls. For Ms Alex Sloane, the museum's associate curator, the installation shows how 'increased surveillance and government overreach' are becoming more and more widespread, and 'freedoms are at risk.' 'We should do all that we can to make sure' that such circumstances are kept at bay, Ms Sloane said. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Herald Scotland
25 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Cheap, fast, explosive: Stopping Ukraine-style drone swarms
Neither the Pentagon, nor the militaries of other developed countries, has figured out how to defend against swarms of small drones packed with explosives, according to the military official, who has been briefed on counter-drone efforts but was not authorized to speak publicly. More: Russia's 'Pearl Harbor': What to know about Ukraine's audacious drone strike We're not even close, the official said. No one is. The threat from drones to military isn't just overseas. Last year, the military tallied 350 drone incursions on domestic bases, according to U.S. Northern Command. Most of those were probably hobbyists who strayed into restricted airspace, the defense official said. Some, however, could have been from foreign adversaries spying on the military. And some wonder if they could have carried explosives. More: Ukraine drone attack shows familiar-looking drones can be terrifying weapons How does the Pentagon, which spends nearly a trillion dollars a year on defense, have such a vulnerability? What's being done to address it, and how future of drone warfare plays out gains greater and greater urgency for lawmakers and military planners as technology improves almost daily. For the better part of two decades, the Pentagon had unmatched superiority in drone technology. Early in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Predator and later Reaper drones armed with Hellfire missiles allowed pilots in dark bases in the Nevada desert to attack militant targets in the Middle East. A Reaper costs about $28 million, according to the Congressional Research Service. For a fraction of that cost today, a small drone can be weaponized and flown to its target and deliver devastating effects, too. "At a cost of a mere tens of thousands of dollars, Ukraine inflicted billions in damage, potentially setting back Russia's bomber capabilities for years," Army Secretary Dan Driscoll testified to Congress this week. "The world saw in near-real time how readily available technology can disrupt established power dynamics." Ukraine has been at the forefront of militarized drone development. By necessity, it needs a cheap alternative to thwart Russia, a country with a far larger military force that has advantages in conventional weapons like warplanes, tanks and artillery. Ukraine deployed first-person view, or FPV drones, in its attack on the Russian airfields. FPV drones allow a pilot with a headset to steer the aircraft to its target. That technology has proliferated and gotten relatively cheap in recent years. You can buy an FPV drone on Amazon for under $700. The Ukrainian military has refined technology for small drones and improves nearly weekly to offset Russian countermeasures, the defense official said. Fatal attack The Pentagon is painfully aware of the threat. In January 2024 militants in Jordan launched a drone attack on an outpost in the desert as soldiers slept in their quarters. Three died when the drone slammed into their building. Realizing the urgency of the threat, the Pentagon began funneling hundreds of millions of dollars into counter-drone weaponry. That includes electronic jamming devices that can sever the link between the operator and the drone, rendering it harmless. Small missiles can be fired at drones at a distance, and shotgun-type weapons can be used for those closer in, the official said. Even nets can be used to snag drones in the air before they reach their target. Defending against a swarm of small drones is a tough problem, the official said. There's no simple solution. On Capitol Hill, Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican chairman of the Armed Services Committee, assured Army officials that Congress is prepared to spend billions on drone defense. Before senators and Army officials retreated to discuss the drone threat in secret, Driscoll raised another alarm about the threat. "We are not doing enough," he said. "The current status quo is not sufficient."
NDTV
30 minutes ago
- NDTV
Birds Build Nests Using Fibre Optics Found In FPV Drones In Ukraine
In a scene straight out of a post-apocalyptic dystopian movie, a bird's nest constructed using fibre optic cable from the armed drones has been found in Ukraine. The picture of the nest has been circulating on social media, highlighting how much debris from fibre-guided FPVs was now littered across the Ukrainian and Russian landscape, since the war broke out three years ago. The 12th Azov Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine discovered the novel-looking nest near the front line in Toretsk, Donetsk region. It is almost entirely made up of fibre optic, with birds using it as they would use grass, hair or fur. "Birds were the first after people to use the remains of fibre optic for their own needs. This is just one of dozens of manifestations of how nature survives in the flames of war," the brigade's message said, as per Ukrainian News. In recent months, FPV drones, controlled via fibre optic cable, have been used aggressively by both parties to gain an advantage over the territories. The use of fibre optics allows the operator of an FPV drone to perform tasks despite electronic warfare (EW) equipment. According to Ukraine's Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, 15 companies now make fibre drones in the country. The rapid progress has been made possible due to the help of former US Marine Troy Smothers, who took his fibre drone design to Ukraine to demonstrate the technology and develop the local industry. Ukrainian drones inflict damage Last week, Ukraine launched a major drone attack against Russian military airbases, located thousands of kilometres from the front line. Code-named 'Spider's web', Ukraine used 117 drones and a corresponding number of drone operators who managed to destroy Russian bombers and other important air assets. The airbases in the eastern Siberian city of Belaya, Olenya, in the Arctic near Finland, and Ivanovo and Dyagilevo - both east of Moscow, were the major targets of the attack. Images and videos of the incident circulating on social media showed the Ukrainian drone operators taking their time and eliminating the Russian aircraft using the drones.
