Ukraine war briefing: Russia launches attacks on Kyiv and Odesa a day after massive drone bombardment
Kyiv and the port city of Odesa came under 'massive' drone attacks from Russia early Tuesday, Ukrainian officials said. An AFP journalist in central Kyiv heard at least a dozen of explosions and gunfire, as air defences tried to down the drones. Buildings and cars in several districts were burning and debris fell near a school. Russian strikes on Odesa hit maternity and medical facilities that had been evacuated, local officials said, reporting no casualties there.
The attack came a day after Russia launched almost 500 drones at Ukraine in the biggest overnight drone bombardment of the three-year war, according to the Ukrainian air force, as the Kremlin presses ahead with its summer offensive. In addition to the 479 drones, 20 missiles of various types were fired at different parts of Ukraine from Sunday to Monday, according to the air force, which said the barrage targeted mainly central and western areas.
A recent escalation in aerial attacks has coincided with a renewed Russian battlefield push along eastern and northeastern parts of the roughly 1,000-km, (620-mile) frontline. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late on Sunday that in some of those areas, 'the situation is very difficult.' He provided no details.
Amid direct peace talks that have yet to deliver progress on stopping the fighting, Russia and Ukraine swapped another batch of prisoners of war Monday. Those who were swapped included wounded soldiers, as well as those under 25, Zelenskyy said. 'The process is quite complicated, there are many sensitive details, negotiations continue virtually every day,' he added.
The exchange was the result of direct talks between the two sides in Istanbul on 2 June that resulted in an agreement to exchange at least 1,200 PoW on each side and to repatriate thousands of bodies of those killed in Russia's war in Ukraine. Neither side said how many prisoners had been swapped on Monday.
Russia's civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia said early on Tuesday it temporarily halted flights at all four major airports serving Moscow to ensure safety, after the defence ministry said Ukraine was carrying out a drone attack on Russia.
Russia is determined to test the resolve of the Nato alliance, including by extending its confrontation with the West beyond the borders of Ukraine, Germany's foreign intelligence chief told the Table Media news organisation. Bruno Kahl, the head of the Federal Intelligence Service, said his agency had clear intelligence indications that Russian officials believed the collective defence obligations enshrined in the Nato treaty no longer had practical force. 'We are quite certain, and we have intelligence showing it, that Ukraine is only a step on the journey westward,' Kahl told Table Media in a podcast interview.
'That doesn't mean we expect tank armies to roll westwards,' he added. 'But we see that Nato's collective defence promise is to be tested.'
Germany, already the second-largest provider of armaments and financial support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, has pledged to step up its support further under the new government of chancellor Friedrich Merz, promising to help Ukraine develop new missiles that could strike deep into Russian territory.
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Reuters
31 minutes ago
- Reuters
Ukraine's drone attacks temporarily halt flights in Moscow, across Russia
June 10 (Reuters) - Ukraine's overnight drone strikes have forced a temporary suspension of flights in all airports serving Moscow and the country's second-largest city St. Petersburg, but caused no damage, Russian officials reported on Tuesday. Russian air defence units destroyed a total of 102 Ukrainian drones overnight, the Russian defence ministry - which reports only how many were downed, not the number Ukraine launched - said on the Telegram messaging app. Nearly half of the drones were destroyed over the Bryansk region that borders Ukraine, the ministry said. Three drones were downed over the Moscow region and two over the Leningrad region, of which St. Petersburg is the regional capital. Russia's civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia temporarily halted flights at all four major airports serving Moscow and St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport, as well as at airports in nine other cities to ensure safety, it said on Telegram. Flights in Moscow and some other cities were restored by Tuesday morning, but restrictions were still in place in St. Petersburg at 0430 GMT. Regional governors, who wrote about the attacks on Telegram, did not report any damage caused by the attacks.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Russia skirts Western sanctions to ramp up its military footprint in Africa
Even as it pounds Ukraine, Russia is expanding its military footprint in Africa, delivering sophisticated weaponry to sub-Saharan conflict zones where a Kremlin-controlled armed force is on the rise. Skirting sanctions imposed by Western nations, Moscow is using cargo ships to send tanks, armored vehicles, artillery and other high-value equipment to West Africa, The Associated Press has found. Relying on satellite imagery and radio signals, AP tracked a convoy of Russian-flagged cargo ships as they made a nearly one-month journey from the Baltic Sea. The ships carried howitzers, radio jamming equipment and other military hardware, according to military officials in Europe who closely monitored them. The deliveries could strengthen Russia's fledgling Africa Corps as Moscow competes with the United States, Europe and China for greater influence across the continent. The two-year-old Africa Corps, which has links to a covert branch of Russia's army, is ascendant at a time when U.S. and European troops have been withdrawing from the region, forced out by sub-Saharan nations turning to Russia for security. Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have been battling fighters linked with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group for more than a decade. At first, mercenary groups with an arms-length relationship to the Kremlin entered the fray in Africa. But increasingly, Russia is deploying its military might, and intelligence services, more directly. 'We intend to expand our cooperation with African countries in all spheres, with an emphasis on economic cooperation and investments,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. 'This cooperation includes sensitive areas linked to defense and security.' From the ports, Russian weapons are trucked to Mali Russia's 8,800-ton Baltic Leader and 5,800-ton Patria are among hundreds of ships that Western nations have sanctioned to choke off resources for Russia's war in Ukraine. The ships docked and unloaded in Conakry, Guinea, in late May, AP satellite images showed. Other ships made deliveries to the same port in January. They delivered tanks, armored vehicles and other hardware that was then trucked overland to neighboring Mali, according to European military officials and a Malian blogger's video of the long convoy. The military officials spoke to AP about Russian operations on condition of anonymity. The AP verified the blogger's video, geolocating it to the RN5 highway leading into Bamako, the Malian capital. After the latest delivery in Conakry, trucks carrying Russian-made armored vehicles, howitzers and other equipment were again spotted on the overland route to Mali. Malian broadcaster ORTM confirmed that the West African nation's army took delivery of new military equipment. AP analysis of its video and images filmed by the Malian blogger in the same spot as the January delivery identified a broad array of Russian-made hardware, including 152 mm artillery guns and other smaller canons. AP also identified a wheeled, BTR-80 armored troop carrier with radio-jamming equipment, as well as Spartak armored vehicles and other armored carriers, some mounted with guns. The shipment also included at least two semi-inflatable small boats, one with a Russian flag painted on its hull, as well as tanker trucks, some marked 'inflammable' in Russian on their sides. The military officials who spoke to AP said they believe Russia has earmarked the most potent equipment — notably the artillery and jamming equipment — for its Africa Corps, not Malian armed forces. Africa Corps appears to have been given air power, too, with satellites spotting at least one Su-24 fighter-bomber at a Bamako air base in recent months. Moscow's notorious secret unit For years, French forces supported counterinsurgency operations in Mali and neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger. But France pulled out its troops after coups in Mali in 2020 and 2021, in Burkina Faso in 2022 and Niger in 2023. Russian mercenaries stepped into the vacuum. Wagner Group, the most notable, deployed to Sudan in 2017 and expanded to other African countries, often in exchange for mining concessions. It earned a reputation for brutality, accused by Western countries and U.N. experts of human rights abuses, including in Central African Republic, Libya and Mali. Of 33 African countries in which Russian military contractors were active, the majority were Wagner-controlled, according to U.S. government-sponsored research by RAND. But after Wagner forces mutinied in Russia in 2023 and their leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was killed two months later in a suspicious plane crash, Moscow tightened its grip. Russian military operations in Africa were restructured, with the Kremlin taking greater control through Africa Corps. It is overseen by the commander of Unit 29155, one of the most notorious branches of Russia's shadowy GRU military intelligence service, according to the European Union. Unit 29155 has been accused of covertly attacking Western interests for years, including through sabotage and assassination attempts. The EU in December targeted Unit 29155 Maj. Gen. Andrey Averyanov with sanctions, alleging that he is in charge of Africa Corps operations. 'In many African countries, Russian forces provide security to military juntas that have overthrown legitimate democratic governments, gravely worsening the stability, security and democracy of the countries,' the EU sanctions ruling said. These operations are financed by exploiting the continent's natural resources, the ruling added. The Russian Ministry of Defense didn't immediately respond to questions about Averyanov's role in Africa Corps. Africa Corps recruitment Researchers and military officials say the flow of weapons from Russia appears to be speeding Africa Corps' ascendancy over Wagner, helping it win over mercenaries that have remained loyal to the group. Africa Corps is also is recruiting in Russia, offering payments of up to 2.1 million rubles ($26,500), and even plots of land, for signing a contract with the Ministry of Defense, plus more on deployment. Within days of the latest equipment delivery, Wagner announced its withdrawal from Mali, declaring 'mission accomplished" in a Telegram post. Africa Corps said in a separate post that it would remain. The changeover from Wagner to Africa Corps in Mali could be a forerunner for other similar transitions elsewhere on the continent, said Julia Stanyard, a researcher of Russian mercenary activity in Africa. 'Bringing in this sort of brand-new sophisticated weaponry, and new armored vehicles and that sort of thing, is quite a bit of a shift,' said Stanyard, of the Switzerland-based Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. Armed groups in Mali have inflicted heavy losses on Malian troops and Russian mercenaries. The al-Qaida linked group JNIM killed dozens of soldiers in an attack this month on a military base. Insurgents also killed dozens of Wagner mercenaries in northern Mali last July. Some of the latest hardware could have been shipped over specifically in response to such attacks, military officials said. They said the jamming equipment, for example, could help defend against booby traps detonated using phone signals. Russian escort's red flags The latest convoy attracted attention because a Russian Navy warship, the Boykiy, escorted the ships after they set off in April from Russia's Kaliningrad region on the Baltic. Last October, in what's considered a hostile act, the Boykiy's radar systems locked onto a French Navy maritime surveillance plane on patrol against suspected Russian efforts to sabotage underwater cables, according to military officials. The convoy included a third sanctioned Russian cargo ship, the Siyanie Severa. It continued onward as Baltic Leader and Patria unloaded in Conakry, docking in Bata, Equatorial Guinea. Satellite imagery from May 29 shows trucks lined up on the dock as the ship unloaded. The AP could not verify whether the cargo included weapons or the ultimate destination for the shipment, though Wagner has maintained a strong presence in the nearby Central African Republic. ___ Leicester reported from Paris and Biesecker from Washington. Beatrice Dupuy and Rachel Leathe in New York contributed.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Major hack exposes 86 million AT&T customer records with Social Security numbers... see if you're at risk
A massive breach of personal data from more than 86 million AT&T customers has been leaked on the dark web, with fully decrypted Social Security numbers included. The stolen data was posted to a Russian cybercrime forum on June 3. The files contain full names, birthdates, phone numbers, email addresses, home addresses, and 44 million Social Security Numbers in plain text. The breach appears linked to a large-scale cyberattack that exploited vulnerabilities in Snowflake, a US-based cloud storage platform used by major companies to manage sensitive data. Hackers reportedly accessed AT&T's data by infiltrating accounts that lacked multi-factor authentication, a basic security feature that requires more than a password to log in. To check if your data was exposed in the breach, visit the cybersecurity firm's website at Enter your information to see if any of your accounts were affected. Security researchers are urging customers to monitor their credit reports and take immediate steps to protect themselves. Law enforcement is actively investigating. The files are being widely shared across cybercrime forums, repackaged into three cleanly formatted CSV files that make them easier to access and exploit. AT&T said the hack impacted 86 million former and current customers. It said the Russian hacking group ShinyHunters was behind the breach. Around 73m customers included in the hack had their data originally stolen in 2019 and were notified at the time. However, the group appears to have accessed more records since then. 'After analysis by our internal teams as well as external data consultants, we are confident this is repackaged data previously released on the dark web,' said AT&T in a statement. 'Affected customers were notified at that time. We have notified law enforcement of this latest development,' the spokesperson added. Cybersecurity researchers at Hackread, who first analyzed the files, found matching customer names, email addresses, physical addresses, and phone numbers across both the previous leak and the latest dataset. Security researchers are urging customers to monitor their credit reports and take immediate steps to protect themselves. Law enforcement is actively investigating ShinyHunters, the group linked to both AT&T breaches, is also behind the recent Ticketmaster breach that compromised data on 560 million people. Their growing list of high-profile leaks has prompted US lawmakers to demand answers. Senators Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut) and Josh Hawley (Missouri) have called on both AT&T and Snowflake to explain repeated failures to protect customer data. Experts say the exposure of decrypted SSNs and birthdates is especially damaging, as it enables criminals to open credit lines, impersonate victims, or apply for government services using stolen identities. 'The original breach of sensitive records from AT&T was enough to worry their customers, now it poses a significant risk to their identities,' said Thomas Richards, Infrastructure Security Practice Director at Black Duck. AT&T paid a $370,000 ransom last year, in an attempt to have stolen customer data deleted. The payment, made in Bitcoin, was routed through an intermediary known as 'Reddington.' AT&T reportedly received a video showing the files being deleted, but experts say there's no way to confirm the data wasn't copied or shared before that.
