Latest news with #missileattack
NHK
a day ago
- Politics
- NHK
Russia launches heavy strikes on Ukraine
Russia launched a heavy assault on Ukraine with missiles and drones from Sunday night into Monday morning. Officials in Kyiv reported the strikes killed one person and injured nine others. Ukrainian air force officials said Russia launched more than 20 missiles and nearly 430 drones. They saw drone damage and debris in 15 locations. The attack also damaged a subway station in the capital. Locals who work nearby said they remain anxious about attacks. One woman said she does not put much hope in a peace deal before the 50-day deadline that US President Donald Trump has given Moscow. She added: "Nothing will happen. If there is 50 days, places like train stations could be gone." A shop owner said he must repair his store again, "It is the third time this year to have damage." Ukraine proposed holding a new round of direct ceasefire talks with Russia, and Moscow responded positively. But Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said both sides' draft memorandums on a peace treaty are "diametrically opposed," and he noted that a large amount of diplomatic work remains to be done. He also mentioned that Russian President Vladimir Putin is prepared to meet Trump, if they both visit China at the same time. Putin's trip is planned for late August to early September.
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,244
Here is how things stand on Tuesday, July 22: Fighting A large-scale Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv killed two people and wounded 15, including a 12-year-old, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. The attack caused widespread damage, including when a drone hit the entrance to a subway station in Kyiv's Shevchenkivskyi district, where people had taken cover. Ukraine's Air Force said Russia launched 426 drones and 24 missiles in the overnight attack, making it one of Russia's largest aerial assaults in months. A Russian drone attack on Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region injured 11 people, including a five-year-old boy, Governor Oleh Hryhorov said on Telegram. Ukraine's Air Force said it downed or jammed 224 Russian drones and missiles, while another 203 drones disappeared from radars. The Russian Ministry of Defence said that Russian air defence systems downed 132 Ukrainian drones on Monday. The governor of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia region, Yevgeny Balitsky, said that fragments of Ukrainian drones fell on a kindergarten and a fire station in the region's port city of Berdyansk but there were no casualties. Military aid Norway is ready to help fund the deployment of US Patriot missile systems for Ukraine's air defences, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store told reporters at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin. The Netherlands will also make a 'substantial contribution' to the delivery of Patriot air defence systems to Ukraine, the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported on Monday, quoting the country's Minister of Defence Ruben Brekelmans. Zelenskyy wrote on X that 'a decision by French companies to begin manufacturing drones in Ukraine' is 'highly valuable'. Ukrainian Minister for Defence Denys Shmyhal said the country needs $6bn to close this year's defence procurement gap, in an online meeting with Western allies. The Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting of high-level military donors to Kyiv was led by the United Kingdom's defence secretary, John Healey, and his German counterpart, Boris Pistorius. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and NATO leader Mark Rutte were among the attendees. Politics and diplomacy New talks between Russia and Ukraine will take place in Turkiye on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said in his daily public address, with more details to be released on Tuesday. 'A lot of diplomatic work lies ahead,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters earlier on Monday, commenting on the prospects for a breakthrough with Kyiv on ending the war. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot emphasised France's support to Ukraine in a surprise visit to Kyiv. Ukraine's security services detained an official from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine on accusations of spying for Russia. Italy's Royal Palace of Caserta cancelled a concert by Russian conductor Valery Gergiev, a vocal backer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, after uproar from Ukraine and its supporters.
Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,242
This is how things stand on Sunday, July 20: Fighting Russian forces launched a missile attack on Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, killing two people and damaging 'an outpatient clinic, a school and a cultural institution', according to the central region's governor, Serhiy Lysak. Another Russian missile attack on the Black Sea port of Odesa killed at least one person overnight and wounded six others, including six children, officials said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces launched 'more than 300 strike drones and over 30 missiles' against Ukrainian cities during the overnight attack. The attacks also damaged critical infrastructure in the Sumy region, 'leaving several thousand families without electricity', the Ukrainian president added. In Russia, the Mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, said early on Sunday that Russian air defences downed at least 15 Ukrainian drones heading for the capital. Russia's Ministry of Defence said early on Sunday that its air defence units destroyed 40 Ukrainian drones, including 21 over the Bryansk region, on the Ukrainian border. This came hours after the ministry said its air defence units shot down six missiles and 349 drones over Russian territory on Saturday. Earlier, Russia had to suspend trains for about four hours overnight in the southern Rostov region when it came under a Ukrainian drone attack, which injured one railway worker. The acting governor of the Rostov region, on Ukraine's eastern border, said Ukrainian drones had also caused fires and knocked down power lines. Politics and diplomacy Zelenskyy said Ukraine sent Russia a proposal offering a new round of peace talks to take place next week, after negotiations stalled last month. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accused Russia of deporting Ukrainians to Georgia and leaving them stranded there without proper documents, hundreds of miles from their home. He said Ukraine has brought back 43 people so far, but more people remain in 'difficult conditions' at the border. Earlier, Volunteers Tbilisi, an aid group, said at least 56 Ukrainians, mostly prisoners who completed their sentences and were subsequently ordered to leave Russia, were being held in 'inhumane' conditions in a basement near the Russian-Georgian border. India said it did not support 'unilateral sanctions' by the European Union, after Brussels imposed penalties on Russia that included a Rosneft oil refinery in the western Indian state of Gujarat.
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘Preparation is our only option': sirens wail as Taiwan simulates China attack in city streets
Usually people in Taipei walk quite slowly. Notoriously so. But at 1.27pm on Thursday some were almost sprinting through the busy shopping district of Ximen. They knew they had three minutes to get where they needed to be without being stuck in the nearest underground bunker for the half an hour. At 1.30pm exactly, deafening sirens wailed across the city, and a text hit every mobile phone warning that 'the enemy has launched a missile attack toward northern Taiwan'. Cars and buses pulled over in Ximen, and everyone was ushered into the nearby metro station. Mr Liu, 70, was not quite fast enough to get to his meeting and was pacing the station entrance looking at his watch. Nevertheless he said he supported the drills because they helped people 'feel safe' and taught them what to do if one day the real thing – a Chinese airstrike – hit the city. The annual drills have become increasingly significant in recent years, as China's leader, Xi Jinping, forges ahead with his plans to annex Taiwan as Chinese territory, by force if his current strategy of intimidation and coercion fails. The wars in Ukraine and the Middle East also make the drills feel less hypothetical. This year the drill has been incorporated into much larger civilian urban resilience exercises, in partner with local governments and private companies such as supermarket chains. They are also being held concurrently with Han Kuang, Taiwan's annual military exercises, which themselves have doubled in length and ballooned in size. The exercises – a key demonstration of Taiwan's defensive preparations against the threat of invasion by China – are normally confined to military bases, offshore islands, or cordoned-off beaches. But this year they have come much closer to the people, with urban warfare simulations in the city streets and inter-county bridges, repelling assaults on airports, and installing newly bought Himars multiple launch rocket systems on the riverside bike path. More than 20,000 reservists are involved in the force's largest ever mobilisation, and about 52,000 of a planned 4 million people have been trained as disaster relief volunteers, the deputy interior minister, Maa Shyh-yuan, said this week. There are also proposed budget measures to better resource local village authorities. The Guardian has previously reported the government is exploring plans to have convenience stores serve as wartime hubs, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported this week that taxi drivers were among civilian groups being trained for a wartime volunteer police force. It is a 'big strategic shift', said TH Schee, a Taiwan-based civil defence expert. 'They used to just say 'we will defeat the enemies on the beach'.' Since taking office in May last year, Taiwan's president, Lai Ching-te, has continued his predecessor's boosting of the armed forces, sharpened laws and language against Chinese aggression, and prioritised civilian defence and resilience. 'The better prepared Taiwan is for geopolitical shifts and external threats, the safer it will be,' Lai said on Thursday, while inspecting a field hospital simulation at a city high school. The increased incorporation of civilians has been welcomed by some non-government groups that have been lobbying for it for years. 'It also sends a message to the public: war is not as distant as we might think,' said Ying-Yu Lin, an expert in strategic studies at Tamkang University in Taiwan. There are still some concerns. It is thought the estimated 100,000 air raid shelters marked on public safety maps and apps include all known underground spaces such as car parks or basements, which do not necessarily have adequate ventilation or power supply. And some feel there is not a lot of instruction for people beyond telling them to get underground. 'We should be learning this from a young age,' said Mr Chen, 55, at Taipei main station's shelter. 'Like – how to protect yourself on the spot, or how people are supposed to maintain order inside buildings. But none of that was happening today.' China's ruling Communist party is obviously watching. It has labelled the drills 'futile' provocations, and has increased the already elevated number of warplane and ship incursions into Taiwan's air defence zone. In the Ximen station, Mr Chen, an elderly resident of a neighbouring county, said the Taiwan government was doing a good job and he was glad to practise the air raid drills, but fears 'Mr Xi Jinping will not be happy'. At the high school, Lai said the exercises 'were not a provocation'. 'In the face of military and political pressure from major powers, preparation is our only option.'
Al Mayadeen
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Mayadeen
Iran says targeted US Qatar air base under Op. Annunciation of Victory
Explosions were reported over the Qatari capital, Doha, on Monday, shortly after a Western diplomat revealed that a credible Iranian threat had been issued against the US-operated Al Udeid air base. According to a Reuters witness, loud blasts were heard in the Qatari capital. #WATCH | More footage showing Iranian missiles in Qatari airspace.#Qatar #Iran #US after, Iran's Tasnim news agency said the country's armed forces launched an operation dubbed "Annunciation of Victory" against US bases in Iraq and Qatar, in retaliation for the American aggression against key Iranian nuclear facilities. The Iranian Armed Forces announced that they targeted Al Udeid with a "devastating and powerful" missile attack. Qatar claimed it had successfully intercepted an Iranian missile attack on Al Udeid base. "The Ministry of Defense announced that Qatari air defenses successfully intercepted a missile attack targeting Al Udeid Air Base," it said in a statement, adding that "the incident did not result in any deaths or injuries". Doha condemned the Iranian operation, labeling it as a "flagrant violation" of its sovereignty. "We express the State of Qatar's strong condemnation of the attack on Al Udeid Air Base by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and consider it a flagrant violation of the State of Qatar's sovereignty and airspace, as well as of international law," foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said in a statement. Qatar also said it reserves the right to respond directly and in accordance with international law. Additionally, military sources told Reuters that air defense systems have been activated at the American Al-Asad air base in Iraq over fears of potential Iranian strikes. The sources added that maximum alert was declared on the base, followed by orders to shelter in bunkers. Earlier, an informed source told Reuters that Iran coordinated its strikes on US bases in Qatar, prompting airspace closure. Qatar had announced the temporary closure of its airspace to ensure the safety of residents and visitors. The announcement followed an alert from the US embassy advising Americans to shelter in place "out of an abundance of caution." Qatar's Foreign Minister later confirmed on X that airspace was closed due to regional developments but did not elaborate. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) regarding the closure of airspace over Al Udeid air base. Iran has threatened retaliation after US forces dropped 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs on underground Iranian nuclear installations over the weekend. Al Udeid air base, located in Qatar, serves as the largest US military installation in the Middle East. Hosting about 10,000 troops, it functions as the forward headquarters for US Central Command. Two US officials had told Reuters that Iranian retaliation could target American forces in the region within the next 48 hours.
