Two people injured in Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow region, governor says
Two people were injured in the Moscow region as a result of a Ukrainian drone attack overnight and on Friday, Governor Andrei Vorobyov said.
'Nine drones were shot down overnight and the day before in the skies over the region,' he said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
Separately, Russia's aviation watchdog said that the Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Zhukovsky airports in the Moscow region had temporarily suspended operations to ensure flight safety. It announced later that flights had resumed.
The defense ministry said early on Saturday that since midnight air defense units intercepted and destroyed 36 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory, including the Moscow region.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Wagner Group leaving Mali after heavy losses but Russia's Africa Corps to remain
'Mission accomplished. Private Military Company Wagner returns home,' the group announcedMali, along with neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger, has for more than a decade battled an insurgency fought by armed groups DAKAR: The Russia-backed Wagner Group said Friday it is leaving Mali after more than three and a half years of fighting Islamic extremists and insurgents in the Wagner's announcement, Russia will continue to have a mercenary presence in the West African country. The Africa Corps, Russia's state-controlled paramilitary force, said on its Telegram channel Friday that Wagner's departure would not introduce any changes and the Russian contingent will remain in Mali.'Mission accomplished. Private Military Company Wagner returns home,' the group announced via its channel on the messaging app Telegram. It said it had brought all regional capitals under control of the Malian army, pushed out armed militants and killed their along with neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger, has for more than a decade battled an insurgency fought by armed groups, including some allied with Al-Qaeda and the Daesh Western influence in the region has waned, Russia has sought to step into the vacuum, sweeping in with offers of assistance. Moscow initially expanded its military cooperation with African nations by using the Wagner Group of mercenaries. But since the group's leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was killed in a plane crash in 2023, after mounting a brief armed rebellion in Russia that challenged the rule of President Vladimir Putin, Moscow has been developing the Africa Corps as a rival force to Corps is under direct command of the Russian defense to US officials, there are around 2,000 mercenaries in Mali. It is unclear how many are with Wagner and how many are part of the Africa Ochieng, a security analyst specializing in the Sahel for Control Risks consultancy, said the Russian defense ministry had been negotiating with Mali to take on more Africa Corps fighters and for Wagner mercenaries to join Russia's state-controlled paramilitary force.'Since the death of Prigozhin, Russia has had this whole plan to then make the Wagner Group fall under the command of the Ministry of Defense. One of the steps they made was to revamp or introduce the Africa Corps, which is the way in which the Russian paramilitaries would retain a presence in areas where the Wagner group has been operating,' Ochieng has been present in Mali since late 2021 following a military coup, replacing French troops and international peacekeepers to help fight the militants. But the Malian army and Russian mercenaries struggled to curb violence in the country and have both been accused of targeting month, United Nations experts urged Malian authorities to investigate reports of alleged summary executions and forced disappearances by Wagner mercenaries and the December, Human Rights Watch accused Malian armed forces and the Wagner Group of deliberately killing at least 32 civilians over an 8-month announcement of Wagner's withdrawal comes as the Malian army and the Russian mercenaries suffered heavy losses during attacks by the Al-Qaeda linked group JNIM in recent week, JNIM fighters killed dozens of soldiers in an attack on a military base in central Lyammouri, a Sahel expert at the Morocco-based Policy Center for the New South, said the major losses might have caused the possible end of Wagner's mission.'The lack of an official and mutual announcement from both the Malian authorities and Wagner indicate possible internal dispute which led to this sudden decision. Simultaneously, this could point to a new framework for Russian presence in the country,' he Wagner with Africa Corps troops would likely shift Russia's focus in Mali from fighting alongside the Malian army to training, said Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.'Africa Corps has a lighter footprint and focuses more on training, providing equipment and doing protection services. They fight less than the 'Rambo-type' Wagner mercenaries,' Laessing said.
Arab News
3 hours ago
- Arab News
Ukrainian attack damaged 10 percent of Russia's strategic bombers, Germany says
'More than a dozen aircraft were damaged, TU-95 and TU-22 strategic bombers as well as A-50 surveillance planes,' Freuding saidUS estimates that Ukraine's audacious drone attack hit as many as 20 Russian warplanesBERLIN: A Ukrainian drone attack last weekend likely damaged around 10 percent of Russia's strategic bomber fleet and hit some of the aircraft as they were being prepared for strikes on Ukraine, a senior German military official said.'According to our assessment, more than a dozen aircraft were damaged, TU-95 and TU-22 strategic bombers as well as A-50 surveillance planes,' German Major General Christian Freuding said in a YouTube podcast reviewed by Reuters ahead of its publication later on affected A-50s, which function similarly to NATO's AWACS planes by providing aerial situational awareness, were likely non-operational when they were hit, said the general who coordinates Berlin's military aid to Kyiv and is in close touch with the Ukrainian defense ministry.'We believe that they can no longer be used for spare parts. This is a loss, as only a handful of these aircraft exist,' he said. 'As for the long-range bomber fleet, 10 percent of it has been damaged in the attack according to our assessment.'The United States estimates that Ukraine's audacious drone attack hit as many as 20 Russian warplanes, destroying around 10 of them, two US officials told Reuters, and experts say Moscow will take years to replace the affected the losses, Freuding does not see any immediate reduction of Russian strikes against Ukraine, noting that Moscow still retains 90 percent of its strategic bombers which can launch ballistic and cruise missiles in addition to dropping bombs.'But there is, of course, an indirect effect as the remaining planes will need to fly more sorties, meaning they will be worn out faster, and, most importantly, there is a huge psychological impact.'Freuding said Russia had felt safe in its vast territory, which also explained why there was little protection for the aircraft.'After this successful operation, this no longer holds true. Russia will need to ramp up the security measures.'According to Freuding, Ukraine attacked two air fields around 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Moscow, as well as the Olenya air field in the Murmansk region and the Belaya air field, with drones trained with the help of artificial intelligence.A fifth attack on the Ukrainka air field near the Chinese border failed, he bombers that were hit were part of Russia's so-called nuclear triad which enables nuclear weapons deployment by air, sea and ground, he added.
Arab News
5 hours ago
- Arab News
Russia accuses Ukraine of ‘postponing' POW swap
MOSCOW: Russia on Saturday accused Ukraine of postponing a large-scale prisoner swap and the repatriation of the bodies of dead soldiers they had agreed on during peace talks in Istanbul.'The Ukrainian side has unexpectedly postponed for an indefinite period, both the acceptance of the bodies and the exchange of prisoners of war,' Russia's top negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said on social from Moscow and Kyiv agreed on Monday to swap all wounded soldiers and those under the age of 25 who were still held as was the only concrete outcome from the talks, at which Russia has repeatedly rejected Ukrainian calls for an immediate said Russia had brought the bodies of 1,212 killed Ukrainian soldiers to the 'exchange area' — the first of 6,000 to be handed had also handed over a list to Kyiv with the names of 640 POWs to be swapped in the first than 1,000 prisoners from each side are set to be released in the largest exchange of the three-year conflict.'We urge Kyiv to strictly adhere to the timetable and all agreements reached, and begin the exchange immediately,' Medinsky did not immediately respond to the the Istanbul talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the exchange would take place this weekend, while Russia said it was ready for Saturday, Sunday or Monday.
