Latest news with #SecurityConcerns
Yahoo
27-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ukrainian drones target St Petersburg as Putin attends scaled-down Navy Day
Ukrainian drones target St Petersburg as Putin attends scaled-down Navy Day By Gleb Bryanski MOSCOW (Reuters) -Ukrainian drones targeted St. Petersburg on Sunday, Russian authorities said, forcing the airport to close for five hours as Vladimir Putin marked Russia's Navy Day in the city, despite the earlier cancellation of its naval parade due to security concerns. St. Petersburg usually holds a large-scale, televised navy parade on Navy Day, which features a flotilla of warships and military vessels sailing down the Neva River and is attended by Putin. Last year, Russia suspected a Ukrainian plan to attack the city's parade, according to state television. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Sunday that this year's parade had been cancelled for security reasons, following first reports of its cancellation in early July. Putin arrived at the city's historic naval headquarters on Sunday by patrol speed boat, from where he followed drills involving more than 150 vessels and 15,000 military personnel in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans and Baltic and Caspian Seas. "Today we are marking this holiday in a working setting, we are inspecting the combat readiness of the fleet," Putin said in a video address. The Russian Defence Ministry said air defence units downed a total of 291 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones on Sunday, below a record 524 drones downed in attacks on May 7, ahead of Russia's Victory Day parade on May 9. Alexander Drozdenko, governor of the Leningrad region surrounding St. Petersburg, said that over ten drones were downed over the area, and falling debris injured a woman. At 0840 GMT on Sunday Drozdenko said that the attack was repelled. St. Petersburg's Pulkovo airport was closed during the attack, with 57 flights delayed and 22 diverted to other airports, according to a statement. Pulkovo resumed operations later on Sunday. Russian blogger Alexander Yunashev, part of an official group of reporters travelling with Peskov, said Peskov had told him their flight from Moscow to St. Petersburg had been delayed by the drone attack for 2 hours on Sunday. (Additional reporting by Anton Kolodyazhnyy; Editing by Alexandra Hudson) Solve the daily Crossword
CTV News
27-07-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Russia scales down celebrations honoring its navy as Ukraine launches more drone attacks
Russian President Vladimir Putin, third from left, stands aboard the Raptor boat during his visit to St. Petersburg on Navy Day, Russia, on Sunday, July 27, 2025. (Alexei Danichev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) Russia on Sunday scaled down the festivities honoring its navy citing security concerns as continuing Ukrainian drone attacks posed a challenge to the Kremlin. Russian authorities canceled the parades of warships in St. Petersburg, in the Kaliningrad region on the Baltic and in the far-eastern port of Vladivostok that are usually held to mark the annual Navy Day celebrations. Asked about the reason for the cancellation of the parade in St. Petersburg even as President Vladimir Putin arrived in his home city to visit the navy headquarters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that 'it's linked to the overall situation, security reasons, which are above all else.' The Russian Defense Ministry said that air defenses downed 99 Ukrainian drones over several regions overnight. Later in the day, officials reported more drones shot down near St. Petersburg. A woman was injured by drone fragments in the Lomonosov region, according to the local authorities. St. Petersburg's Pulkovo airport suspended dozens of flights early Sunday because of the drone threat. On a trip to St. Petersburg, Putin visited the historic Admiralty building to receive reports on four-day naval maneuvers that wrapped up Sunday. The July Storm exercise involved 150 warships from the Baltics to the Pacific. Putin vowed to build more warships and intensify the navy's training, adding that 'the navy's strike power and combat capability will rise to a qualitatively new level.' Reducing the scale of the Navy Day celebrations reflects Moscow's worries about Ukraine's sweeping drone attacks across the country. In a series of strikes earlier in the war now in its fourth year, Ukraine sank several Russian warships in the Blacks Sea, crippling Moscow's naval capability and forcing it to redeploy its fleet from Russia-occupied Crimea to Novorossiysk. And in an audacious June 1 attack codenamed 'Spiderweb,' Ukraine used drones to hit several Russian airbases hosting long-range bombers across Russia, from the Arctic Kola Peninsula to Siberia. The drones were launched from trucks covertly placed near the bases, taking the Russian military by surprise in a humiliating blow to the Kremlin. The raid destroyed or damaged many of the bombers that had been used by Moscow to launch aerial attacks on Ukraine, providing a major morale boost for Kyiv at a time when Kyiv's undermanned and under-gunned forces are facing Russian attacks along the 1,000-kilometre (600-mile) front line. Russia continued to batter Ukraine with drone and missile strikes Sunday. In Sumy in Ukraine's northeast, a drone attack damaged civil infrastructure objects, an administrative building and non-residential premises, leaving three people wounded. Elsewhere in the region, two men died after being blown up by a landmine and another woman was injured from a drone attack on another community in the region, the regional military administration said. The Associated Press
Arab News
03-07-2025
- Business
- Arab News
China, EU should not ‘seek confrontation,' says FM Wang Yi
BRUSSELS: China's top diplomat warned his EU counterpart against 'confrontation,' his foreign ministry said Thursday, after she urged Beijing to stop undermining Europe's security. Meeting Kaja Kallas in Brussels on Wednesday, Wang Yi said China and the European Union 'should not be regarded as opponents because of differences, nor should they seek confrontation because of disagreements,' according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement. Europe is 'facing various challenges,' Wang said, but stressed that none were caused by China 'in the past, present or future.' Ahead of their meeting, Kallas, the EU's foreign affairs chief, said China was 'not our adversary, but on security our relationship is under increasing strain.' She said Chinese firms were 'Moscow's lifeline to sustain its war against Ukraine' and accused Beijing of carrying out cyberattacks, democratic interference and unfair trade practices that 'harm European security and jobs.' China has portrayed itself as a neutral party in Russia's more than three-year war with Ukraine. But Western governments say Beijing has given Moscow crucial economic and diplomatic support. 'Enabling war in Europe while seeking closer ties with Europe is a contradiction Beijing must address,' Kallas added on Wednesday. Wang, meanwhile, sought to cast Beijing as a steady counterweight against superpower rival Washington, which has threatened to slap sweeping tariffs on imports from European nations. 'The path taken by the United States should not be used as a reflection of China,' he said. 'China is not the United States.' Beijing's foreign ministry also said the two sides had discussed Ukraine, the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, and the Iran nuclear issue. Beijing and Brussels should treat one another with 'respect,' Wang said, adding that Europe should pursue a more 'active and pragmatic' China policy. The Chinese diplomat also met European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and his Belgian counterpart Maxime Prevot on Wednesday. China and the EU should 'uphold multilateralism and free trade... and work together to address global challenges such as climate change,' Wang told von der Leyen. Wang will next travel to Germany, where he will hold talks with Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on diplomacy and security. And in France, Wang will meet minister for Europe and foreign affairs Jean-Noel Barrot, who visited China in March. The visits come about three weeks ahead of a summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and the EU's top officials in Beijing.
Bloomberg
08-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
UK Vows Due Diligence on China Embassy Amid Security Concerns
The UK government promised to assess any security concerns related to the construction of a Chinese embassy near the City of London, an issue that could potentially complicate trade talks with the US. President Donald Trump has warned Prime Minister Keir Starmer against letting China set up a mega-embassy near the country's key financial centers, after the plan was revived following personal lobbying by President Xi Jinping, the Sunday Times reported. The issue has been raised in trade negotiations between the US and UK, according to the newspaper.
