Drones
U.S. says Russia response to Ukraine drone attack not over, expects more strikes
The United States believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin's threatened retaliation against Ukraine over its drone attack last weekend has not happened yet in earnest and is likely to be a significant, multi-pronged strike, U.S. officials said. The timing of the full Russian response was unclear, with one source saying it was expected within days. A second U.S. official said the retaliation was likely to include different kinds of air capabilities, including missiles and drones. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity. They did not detail Russia's expected targets nor elaborate on intelligence matters.
Ukraine denies postponing prisoner swaps as Russian strike on Kharkiv kills four
Ukraine denied Russian allegations on Saturday that it had indefinitely postponed prisoner swaps, accusing Moscow of "playing dirty games" after overnight Russian missile and bomb strikes on Kharkiv left three people dead and 22 injured. Later on Saturday, Russian aircraft carried out another bombing raid on Kharkiv, killing one civilian and injuring more than 40, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called "another brutal murder". Separately, Russian officials said a Ukrainian drone attack in the Moscow region wounded two people.
Four killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine as Moscow continues to retaliate for Kyiv's drone strike
Fox News' Alex Hogan reports on one of the largest Russian attacks on Ukraine since the war began. At least four people were killed in eastern Ukraine and more than two dozen were injured, including a baby and a 14-year-old, after Russia launched drone-and-missile and bomb attacks Saturday, Ukraine officials said. Russia launched 215 missiles and drones on Kharkiv, the war-torn nation's second-largest city, in the early hours of Saturday, killing three people and wounding more than 40 others, Ukrainian officials said. Later in the day, Russia dropped bombs on Kharkiv's city center, killing at least one more person and injuring five. "What the Russians want is the complete destruction of life," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday after the attacks.
Hamas and the media
Throughout the various ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, western news outlets have repeatedly blamed their failure on Hamas. This week, we hear a perspective that rarely features in the coverage – the group's own – on the negotiations and the media narratives that surround them. Ukrainian drone strikes on multiple Russian airfields have further escalated the conflict, as peace talks come up short. After decades of increased connectivity, screen time and addictive algorithms, more and more young people are logging off. The Listening Post's Ryan Kohls looks at the community-based movements reevaluating their relationships with digital technology.
Deadly drone wars are already here and the US is horribly unprepared
Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg discusses the latest with the Ukraine and Russia war after a deadly Russian attack on'America Reports.' The massive Ukrainian drone strike on Russia has strong implications for the future of all warfare. The sophisticated operation taught us that the use of low-cost, highly scalable, lethal drone technology is here to stay. Our leaders must pay attention, because the Ukraine-Russia war is a blueprint for not only how we will fight future wars but how we will have to defend ourselves from a more sophisticated and capable enemy than ever before. America's defense leaders need to start reflecting on the realities of modern warfare and fully understand that, as a country, we are not ready.
At least 3 killed in Russia's 'most powerful' attack on Ukraine's Kharkiv
At least five people have been killed and more than 20 wounded as Russia launched a barrage of missiles, drones and bombs across Ukraine, officials said. The Ukrainian air force said on Saturday that Russia struck with 215 missiles and drones overnight, and Ukrainian air defences shot down and neutralised 87 drones and seven missiles. At least three people were killed and 17 others, including two children, were wounded in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said, describing the assault as "the most powerful" on the city since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. He reported 48 Iranian-made drones, two missiles and four guided bombs were fired before dawn at the city of 1.4 million people, located just 50km (30 miles) from the Russian border. "Drones are still circling above," Terekhov wrote on Telegram at 4:40am (01:40 GMT), as air raid sirens wailed across the city. Residential buildings and civilian infrastructure were heavily damaged.
Biggest drone strike hits Ukraine's second city
Biggest drone strike yet on Ukraine's second city 24 minutes agoShareSaveJaroslav LukivBBC NewsShareSaveKharkiv Regional AdministrationUkraine's emergencies workers search for survivors at one of Kharkiv's damaged residential buildings At least two people have been killed and another 17 injured in the biggest Russian drone attack on Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv, the mayor says. Ihor Terekhov says that overnight Russia launched 48 drones, as well as two missiles and four gliding bombs. "We have a lot of damage," he says, adding that three high-rising residential buildings were hit. Footage has emerged showing several storeys of one such building on fire. Six people were killed and 80 injured across Ukraine the previous night, when Russia attacked the country with more than 400 drones and nearly 40 missiles.
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,199
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Russia had "responded" to Kyiv's audacious drone attack that destroyed Russian heavy bombers at airfields in Siberia last weekend by attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. Russia's Ministry of Defence said its forces had carried out the strikes, which targeted military and military-related targets in response to what it called Ukrainian "terrorist acts" against Russia. Western military aviation experts told the Reuters news agency that Russia will take years to replace the nuclear-capable bomber planes that were hit in Ukrainian drone strikes on airfields in Siberia. Russia's National Guard said it killed a man as he tried to prepare a drone attack on a military site in Russia's Ryazan region, southeast of Moscow. Russian air defence units intercepted and destroyed 82 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory, including the Moscow region, Russia's Defence Ministry said early on Saturday.
Government drones used in 'runaway spying operation' to peek into backyards in Sonoma County, lawsuit says
Three residents filed a lawsuit this week against Sonoma County seeking to block code enforcement from using drones to take aerial images of their homes in what the American Civil Liberties Union is calling a "runaway spying operation." The lawsuit, filed by the ACLU Wednesday on behalf of the three residents, alleges that the county began using drones with high-powered cameras and zoom lenses in 2019 to track illegal cannabis cultivation, but in the years since, officials have used the devices more than 700 times to find other code violations on private property without first seeking a warrant. "For too long, Sonoma County code enforcement has used high-powered drones to warrantlessly sift through people's private affairs and initiate charges that upend lives and livelihoods. All the while, the county has hidden these unlawful searches from the people they have spied on, the community, and the media," Matt Cagle, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU Foundation of Northern California, said in a statement. A spokesperson for Sonoma County said the county is reviewing the complaint and takes "the allegations very seriously."
Trump signs orders to bolster U.S. drone defenses and boost supersonic flight
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday signed executive orders to bolster defenses against threatening drones and to boost electric air taxis and supersonic commercial aircraft, the White House said. In the three executive orders, Trump sought to enable routine use of drones beyond the visual sight of operators -- a key step to enabling commercial drone deliveries -- and reduce U.S. reliance on Chinese drone companies as well as advance testing electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. The order should boost eVTOL firms including Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation. Trump is establishing a federal task force to ensure U.S. control over American skies, expand restrictions over sensitive sites, expand federal use of technology to detect drones in real time and provide assistance to state and local law enforcement.