missile
Nine dead as Russia and Ukraine trade drone and missile salvos
Is the war entering a new phase? Russian drones and missiles killed four people in Ukraine overnight, while Ukrainian attacks on Russia and Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine killed five. Three people were killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region overnight, including two at an "industrial enterprise" in the city of Kryvyi Rih, regional officials said on Sunday. Russia has escalated attacks in recent weeks, taking advantage of Ukraine's critical shortage of munitions for its Patriot air defence system, which has rendered it largely unable to intercept ballistic missiles flying at several times the speed of sound. NATO countries pledged at their summit in Ankara last week to provide more Patriot munitions to Ukraine, and President Donald Trump said he was willing to give Kyiv a license to manufacture the US missiles domestically.
Trump grants Kyiv Patriots licences: What's next in the Russia-Ukraine war?
Is the war entering a new phase? Patriot missile interceptors are the most coveted Western-made weapon Ukraine needs - right now and every night when Russia attacks. Frequent Russian strikes depleted Ukraine's stock of the pricey United States-made interceptors - and US President Donald Trump has now offered hope, giving Kyiv a licence to make them. We'll show them how to do it, it's very complex actually. But it's - you'll figure out the complexity quickly," Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a NATO summit in Turkiye on Wednesday. "This way, you can't complain that we're not giving them enough." Trump has not specified when the production might start - and said that Washington would hold on to its own stash. Ukraine said it will attempt to master domestic production as soon as possible. In the short-term perspective, Ukraine "perhaps, gets nothing," according to Nikolay Mitrokhin, a researcher with Germany's Bremen University.
Zelensky to press Nato for air defence systems after intense Russian strikes
Ukraine's president plans to use the Nato meeting in Turkey to urge Kyiv's allies to deliver the air defence systems it urgently needs to protect it from escalating Russian attacks. Volodymyr Zelensky's call for help rings with extra intensity after Russian missiles rained down on the Ukrainian capital twice in less than a week, crashing into blocks of flats and killing more than 50 civilians. The summit in Ankara will also be a chance for Zelensky to hold a crucial meeting with Donald Trump and press home his case that Russia's brutal attacks are a show of weakness, not strength, and that Vladimir Putin should be pressured into talks towards a dignified peace. The latest strikes on Ukraine come as it has been stepping up its own long-range drone attacks against Russia, hitting oil refineries and military targets there and causing significant fuel shortages and power cuts. To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Russian social media accounts are full of videos of people queuing for hours to buy petrol and fighting over what little they're allowed.
Russia's triumphant tone shifts as Ukraine deploys 'asymmetrical tactics'
Is the war entering a new phase? The overpriced gas Anatoly has been buying in recent weeks in Moscow will ruin his white Kia's engine. "It's low-quality," the taxi driver told Al Jazeera withholding his last name for security purposes. "The engine already sounds like a sick heart The government allows a'temporary decrease in quality,' but what am I to do when I need new spare parts" that are barely available because of Western sanctions, he asked rhetorically. They don't knock, they kick the door," said the 49-year-old with a three-day stubble and bloodshot eyes. Russia's top military brass has not commented on Ukraine's assaults. But even the Kremlin's most outspoken supporters have changed their once-triumphant tune. "We have to get ready for hardships and self-sacrifice," Vladimir Solovyov, a popular talk show host on the Rossiya 1 television network, said in mid-June. Solovyov has a penchant for aggressive, loud monologues and military-style attire. He once urged the Kremlin to "erase" Ukrainian cities with nuclear strikes and said that Kyiv and its Western allies "serve the prince of darkness." Military bloggers are even more pessimistic because of their proximity to the frontline. One of them, Prizrak Novorossii (The Ghost of New Russia), wrote on Telegram in late June that the Kremlin should conduct a massive mobilisation campaign because Russians already "foresee big changes and possible cataclysms because of, to put it mildly, the unfavourable dynamics of hostilities." The reason is simple - outmanned Ukrainians use "an asymmetrical tactic of long-range drone strikes with technological solutions that Russia is only catching up on," he wrote. "So, the question isn't about whether or not to have mobilisation, but about how to conduct it," the blogger concluded, adding that recent events "inspire little optimism." 'I'm afraid my son will be drafted' "I'm afraid my son will be drafted, but we don't have money to send him abroad," Kseniya, a mother of two from the western city of Tula, told Al Jazeera. She withheld her last name and personal details for security purposes. "We've been told a thousand times that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin brought stability, and instead, we see total chaos.
Frank Gardner: Key points from government's defence spending plan
The government has published its long-delayed defence investment plan (DIP) that outlines how much money it will spend on the UK's armed forces. An additional £15bn will go on defence - a total of £270bn over the next four years - and will include spending on the nuclear deterrent and new combat aircraft. But the extra money is less than the £28bn reportedly sought by defence chiefs, and both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have criticised the plan as underfunded. Here are the key points included in the 81-page plan, and what they may mean. Ministers say that is the largest increase since the Cold War in the 1980s.
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.
Japan, Philippines to discuss surface-to-ship missile exports
A Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Type-88 surface-to-ship missile is fired during the Balikatan exercises at Culili Point Sand Dunes in Paoay, Ilocos Norte province, Philippines, on May 6. | REUTERS Singapore - Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and his Philippine counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro, affirmed Sunday that talks will be launched on the export of surface-to-ship missiles from Japan to the Southeast Asian nation. Koizumi revealed this in talks with reporters after holding a meeting with the Philippine defense chief in Singapore earlier in the day. Type-88 surface-to-ship guided missiles of Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force are expected to be up for consideration. The Philippine side is believed to have shown an interest in procuring the missiles as the Self-Defense Forces used them in the Balikatan multilateral exercises conducted in Manila between April and May. The SDF, which had taken part in the annual exercises organized by the United States and the Philippines as an observer since 2012, joined the drills on a full scale for the first time this year following the entry into force of the Japan-Philippine reciprocal access agreement in September 2025. The possible procurement of Type-88 missiles is expected to help reinforce the deterrent and response capabilities of the Philippines, which is in a territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea.
From AI to interceptors, Ukraine is trying to drone-proof its skies
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.
Russian drone hits Chinese ship off Ukraine before Putin visits Xi Jinping
What are Russia's gains from the Iran war? 'We are not losers; we are winners' Russian drones have hit two ships in the Black Sea approaching ports in Ukraine's Odesa region, including a Chinese-owned cargo vessel, one day before Russian President Vladimir Putin heads to Beijing to meet Xi Jinping. Ukraine's seaports authority said the strikes hit two civilian vessels on Monday, one under a Marshall Islands flag and the other under Guinea-Bissau's flag, both of which were heading to ports in the region. It posted a photograph of the ship showing its name with one of its sides partially charred. Russia has regularly attacked civilian vessels in the port area of Odesa, a vital maritime hub for Ukrainian agricultural exports, since it invaded Ukraine four years ago . Monday's attack comes just before Putin's two-day trip to Beijing, where he is to have talks with Chinese President Xi.