Is the war entering a new phase? Russia's jet-powered drones overwhelm Ukraine, killing dozens Share Russia's jet-powered drones overwhelm Ukraine, killing dozens on social media As the war drags on in Ukraine, its civilians are again suffering. Thirty-eight people were killed in the village of Myla on August 29, when a Russian drone attack struck an ammunition depot. Another 12 were killed in attacks across the country on September 1. Jet-powered drones numbered about 2,800 in August, said Ukraine Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat, compared with about 1,500 in July, several times the number launched in June. Ukraine has an interception rate of more than 90 percent against propeller-powered drones, but only 60 percent against the jet-powered variant, Ihnat said.

Is the war entering a new phase? Russian aerial strikes on Ukraine have killed at least six people and injured 26 others, while a Ukrainian drone attack hit a house in southern Russia, killing two children and injuring their parents, officials on both sides said. Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed on Saturday morning that one person was killed in a warehouse fire in the Darnytskyi district following an overnight Russian ballistic missile attack. In Donetsk region, Russian attacks left one person dead and seven wounded, including five in the front-line city of Kramatorsk, according to regional governor Vadym Filashkin, local media reported. In the Sumy region, a drone strike on a house killed one man, while six others were hurt in separate drone attacks across the region, regional officials said, according to reports.

Iraqi Kurdish PM Barzani's office targeted in drone attack The office of the prime minister of Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has been targeted in a drone attack, the region's security agency said, adding that there were no reports of casualties. The statement said the home of the head of the semi-autonomous Iraqi region's security and intelligence agency had also been targeted by drones early on Monday. "Two Hadid-110 drones targeted the private office of the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government and the residence of the Security Directorate", the Kurdistan Counter-Terrorism Service said in a statement cited by Iraq's state news agency. The statement confirmed that no casualties were reported. In a post on X, KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani condemned the attack as "illegitimate and unacceptable".

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, ...

Uncrewed ground vehicles have already been tested for defending the front line by the Ukrainian military. There's a received piece of wisdom among militaries around the world that whatever new technologies appear, in the end, foot soldiers are what matters. As British Army officer Field Marshal Archibald Wavell put it shortly after the second world war: "All battles and all wars are won in the end by the infantryman." This may now finally be changing. Robots in battle are about to reach a critical point for Ukraine. In May, it began the mass production of Legit, a low-cost robot capable of carrying a machine gun.

This week, with air raid warnings wailing in the distance, Kyiv held a funeral for two sisters. They had already lost their father who had been fighting on the front line. Their grieving mother is now the family's sole survivor. This is the human cost of the largest sustained Russian aerial assault so far - with 1,500 drones and 56 missiles fired at Ukraine within 48 hours. But the loss of life could have been even higher.

Nine people have been killed and at least 28 injured in the latest Russian drone attacks across Ukraine, local officials have said. They said the worst-hit was the central Dnipropetrovsk region, where eight people were killed and 11 injured throughout Tuesday. One casualty was reported in the eastern Donetsk region. Overall, 14 regions were attacked. On Wednesday morning, President Volodymyr Zelensky said more than 100 Russian drones were currently over Ukraine, warning of more waves of attacks throughout the day.

Could Iran be using China's BeiDou system? Drone strike hits Al-Rasheed hotel in Baghdad's Green Zone near US embassy, no casualties reported A prominent hotel in central Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone was struck by a drone, amid reports that Iraqi air defences intercepted an attack over the United States Embassy. The strike on Monday evening hit the top floor of Al-Rasheed Hotel, causing damage but no casualties, according to two Iraqi security officials cited by The Associated Press (AP) news agency. Security sources told the Reuters news agency that two Katyusha rockets had been intercepted that evening near the US Embassy in the Green Zone, which houses diplomatic missions as well as international institutions and government offices. Earlier Monday, the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah announced that Abu Ali Al-Askari, a prominent security official with the paramilitary group, had been killed, without giving details on the circumstances.

Could Ukraine hold a presidential election right now? Will Europe use frozen Russian assets to fund war? How can Ukraine rebuild China ties? 'Ukraine is running out of men, money and time' 'Trauma does not define us': Living with loss in wartime Ukraine She pauses, looking up at the photograph fixed to the gravestone. His face bears a striking resemblance to hers.

Could Ukraine hold a presidential election right now? Will Europe use frozen Russian assets to fund war? How can Ukraine rebuild China ties? 'Ukraine is running out of men, money and time' Russian drone attack kills 4 in Ukraine's Kharkiv as peace remains elusive A Russian drone attack on Ukraine's northeastern city of Kharkiv has killed at least four people and wounded six, officials have said, just hours after Washington accused Moscow of "dangerous and inexplicable escalation" of the war and as a peace deal remains distant. Kharkiv Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said Tuesday that the death toll from the attack on the outskirts of the frequently targeted city, just 30km (19 miles) from the border, had risen to four.