Drones
Fully autonomous drones have killed human soldiers for the first time
Fully autonomous drones with no human oversight have killed soldiers on the battlefield for the first time. This is according to a senior figure in the Ukrainian defence industry, marking a watershed moment in warfare. The one-off test involved 10 AI-controlled "Terminator" drones on the front line of the Ukraine war. "We tried it," says drone-maker Alexander Kokhanovskyy, who supplied the technology and spoke to at a press event hosted by the Ukrainian embassy. We never implemented it [more widely]." The test took place two years ago and involved quadcopter drones that were programmed to fly towards the front line, cover between 3 and 5 kilometres over around 10 minutes and then engage "Terminator mode", in which an AI model searches for and intercepts targets. "We just launch it and we know everything will be dead - everything that will be found there in this particular area will be dead," says Kokhanovskyy. "There is no connection to the drone at all, you cannot see the video, ...
Ukraine says missiles hit military plant deep inside Russia
Ukrainian forces have carried out a missile attack deep inside Russia, hitting a major military plant overnight, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. He said FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles struck the drone and missile plant in the city of Cheboksary, in the Chuvash Republic, more than 900km (560 miles) from the front line. Local officials said three people were injured in a missile attack on the city. Ukraine also said it had hit the Moscow-occupied port of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov, a Russian oil refinery in Samara and a shadow fleet oil tanker in the Black Sea. In recent months, Ukraine's military has intensified its drone strikes on key facilities across Russia.
Baltic states fear Russia-Ukraine war spillover after drone incursions
Recent incidents heighten anxieties that hybrid warfare tactics could trigger military confrontation with Russia. Lithuanian armed special forces and members of the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union take part in a military exercise in central Lithuania [File: Nils Adler/Al Jazeera] A member of the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union joins in military exercises in central Lithuania [File: Nils Adler/Al Jazeera] Along the forests and marshlands that separate the Baltic states from Russia and Belarus, workers are digging anti-tank ditches, pouring concrete bunkers and erecting rows of dragon's teeth - jagged concrete obstacles designed to slow and channel advancing armour - to buy precious time in the event of an attack. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 reignited old fears in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, where memories of Soviet rule remain close to the surface. In the years since, those fears have been channelled into preparation. Defence budgets have surged, military exercises have intensified, and new fortifications have emerged even as daily life largely continues as normal.
Ukrainian drones strike Sevastopol museum and key Russian oil refineries
Ukrainian drones have struck a historic museum in Russia-annexed Sevastopol in Crimea, igniting a roof fire, as Russian authorities slashed nighttime train schedules amid intensifying air attacks across the peninsula and deep into Russia. Sevastopol's Russian-installed governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev, announced the damage on Telegram early on Wednesday. "This building is not just a museum, it is a symbol of resilience, which has repeatedly taken the blows of the enemy." Razvozhayev said that during World War II's Siege of Sevastopol, "the Panorama building was subjected to massed bombing by German aviation". He declared: "The enemy will pay for this sacrilege!"
Gwyneth Paltrow Just Goopified Drone Warfare
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The rebels at the front line of Myanmar's civil war
In the five years since Myanmar's military chief led a coup to overthrow the democratically elected government, civil war has torn the country apart. Thousands have been killed and millions displaced by the conflict between the military and an alliance of ethnic and rebel groups. More than two years ago, the rebels made a series of sweeping gains, but things have taken a turn for the worse for them. Forced conscription and increased drone power has put the military on the offensive in most parts of the country. The BBC's Quentin Sommerville travelled to Myanmar without the permission of the authorities - the only way to report from rebel-held territory.
Russian attacks kill 5 in Ukraine as Zelenskyy hails talks with US envoys
A pregnant woman and two others were killed in Russian strikes on Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region, while two people were killed in Donetsk, Ukrainian officials have said. The overnight missile attacks on the town of Chuhuiv also injured six people and caused damage to residential buildings and shops, the regional prosecutor's office said on Tuesday. Photos shared online by officials show a burning building and burnt-out cars. Two people were killed in Bilozerske and Druzhkivka on Monday, Vadym Filashkin, head of the Donetsk state administration, said on Facebook, with 11 others injured in Sloviansk and Shabelkivka. The strikes come after Ukraine intensified its long-range drone strikes on Russian oil facilities, prompting fuel shortages, while Russia conducted large air attacks on the country.
Ukrainian drone attacks hit multiple Russian targets, including refinery
Ukrainian drones have struck energy and industrial targets across several Russian regions, Russian authorities say, in an escalating campaign of strikes against infrastructure. In Saratov, a region on the Volga River with several oil refineries that has come under regular Ukrainian attack in recent years, Governor Roman Busargin said on Sunday on Telegram that "civil infrastructure" had been damaged in the overnight strikes. In the Kirov region, northeast of Moscow and about 1,300km (800 miles) from Ukraine, Governor Alexander Sokolov said drones had hit a facility in the Urzhumsky district. The Ukrainian army confirmed the attack, saying it had also hit the Lazarevo oil-pumping station in the region. Governors in the Rostov, Voronezh and Belgorod regions, all of which border Ukraine, also reported strikes, and three civilians were injured in Belgorod.
Drone hits nuclear facility as Kyiv and Moscow trade strikes
Rescuers work at the site of an apartment building hit by a Russian drone strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on Saturday. Ukraine and Russia traded aerial attacks on Saturday as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held what he called a special meeting on next steps with top aides. A Ukrainian drone struck the machine room building of one of power units at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine on Saturday afternoon, causing unspecified damage, Interfax reported, citing Rosatom Chief Executive Officer Alexey Likhachev. Core equipment wasn't damaged, he said. Ukraine's southern military command denied any strikes, saying its military personnel "act exclusively within the framework of international humanitarian law and are aware of the consequences of any actions against nuclear facilities." In a post on Facebook late Saturday, it added, "It is the Russian Federation that has illegally kept the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant under military control since March 2022, turning a civilian nuclear facility into an element of military infrastructure."