Foreign News
Ukraine drone strikes throw power supplies into disarray in Russian cities
Ukraine has hit back at Russia’s attempts to disable its energy infrastructure with air strikes that succeeded in disrupting power and heating in two cities across the border.
Kyiv’s drone and missile attacks cut power and heating on Sunday in the Russian cities of Belgorod near the border and Voronezh nearly 300km (186 miles) away.
In Belgorod, local Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said missile strikes caused “serious damage” to power and heating systems supplying the city, affecting some 20,000 households.
Alexander Gusev, regional governor of Voronezh, said several drones were electronically jammed over the city – home to more than one million people – and sparked a fire at a local utility facility that was quickly extinguished.
A Russian Defence Ministry statement made no mention of either the Voronezh or Belgorod areas, reporting 44 Ukrainian drones were destroyed or intercepted by Russian forces during the night.
Local authorities in the Rostov region also reported an hours-long blackout in the city of Taganrog, home to some 240,000 people, blaming it on an emergency shutdown of a power line. Local media reported a nearby transformer substation caught fire.
Meanwhile, Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles in overnight attacks on Ukraine, targeting substations that supply two nuclear power plants and killing seven people, Ukrainian officials told Reuters news agency.
Russia’s Defence Ministry confirmed on Saturday that it launched “a massive strike with high-precision long-range air, ground and sea-based weapons” on weapons production plants and gas and energy facilities in response to Kyiv’s earlier strikes on Russia.
On Sunday, the northeastern region of Kharkiv was still struggling to recover from Russia’s attacks, which left about 100,000 people without power.
State-owned energy company Tsentrenergo said the attacks were the largest on its facilities since the start of the war in February 2022, and it halted operations at plants in the Kyiv and Kharkiv regions.
Moscow launched 69 drones at energy facilities across Ukraine overnight into Sunday, of which 34 were shot down, according to the Ukrainian air force.
Russia and Ukraine have traded almost daily assaults on each other’s energy infrastructure as United States-led diplomatic efforts to stop the nearly four-year war appear to be leading nowhere fast.
Ukrainian long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries have aimed to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue the war.
Meanwhile, Kyiv and its Western allies say Russia is trying to cripple the Ukrainian power grid and deny civilians access to heat, lights, and running water for a fourth consecutive winter in what amounts to a weaponisation of the extreme cold.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti on Sunday that he’s ready to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to discuss the war on Ukraine and mend bilateral ties.
Lavrov repeated that peace can’t be achieved without “taking Russian interests into account” – a phrase Moscow has used to signal it is standing firm in its maximalist demands for Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded Kyiv withdraw troops from the entirety of the four regions Moscow claims as part of Russia: Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine – which make up the Donbas – plus Kherson and Zaporizhia in the south.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said some Russian-occupied territories might be acknowledged as temporarily seized, but has ruled out any official recognition, saying he does not have a mandate to give away territory.
Lavrov’s move comes weeks after efforts to organise a summit between Putin and US President Donald Trump were abruptly cancelled.
[Aljazeera]
US authorities have found debris from a medical transport aircraft that went missing with six people on board.
The Federal Aviation Administration told the BBC it had lost contact with the Gulfstream G-100 plane just after 01:00 local time (05:00 GMT) on Saturday, while it was travelling from Bermuda to Boston, Massachusetts.
The search for survivors continues off the coast of Nantucket, a Massachusetts island, the US Coast Guard said.
Authorities have notified the next of kin of those on the flight, four Canadian nationals and two Bermudian nationals.
“Search crews located a debris field confirmed to be from the aircraft off the coast of Nantucket,” the US Coast Guard said in an update on Saturday night. It added that ships, helicopters and planes were involved in searches that would through continue the night.
The plane departed from Bermuda’s L.F. Wade International Airport at 23:40 local time, according to flight data from FlightAware, and was due to land at Boston’s Logan International at 01:30 EDT (05:30 GMT).
According to the tail number released by the Coast Guard, the plane belonged to Latitude Air Ambulances, a company that provides international medical flights for patients returning home.
Among those on board were two pilots and two medical staff, both Canadian, Clarence Togeretz, director of flight operations at Latitude, told CBC News.
The crew flew to Bermuda to collect a patient and their relative, who are not Canadian, Togeretz said.
FlightAware’s tracker shows the aircraft significantly dropped in altitude before its communications went dark, plummeting from around 7,300m (24,000ft) to 3,300m (11,000ft).
Radio transmissions shows trouble with communications between the air traffic controller and the pilot, the Boston Globe reported based on transmissions provided by LiveATC.net.
“You’re coming in blind? Is that what you said?,” the air traffic controller asked. “Are you declaring an emergency, or no?”
The pilot’s response was inaudible.
“You’re coming in a little weak so I didn’t hear what your response was, if you were declaring an emergency or not,” the air traffic controller said, according to the Globe.
The air traffic controller later confirmed the pilot had declared an emergency.
An area fire dispatcher asked emergency crews just after 01:00 EDT to prepare to meet a plane with an “electrical issue”.
The dispatcher later said “the aircraft has lost radio and radar”.
The Coast Guard said it would provide an update on Sunday morning local time.
[BBC]
A car has crashed into a crowd of rugby league supporters in the eastern Australian city of Newcastle, injuring 10 people, including three children.
New South Wales police said on Saturday that two of the injured – a five-year-old girl and a 67-year-old man – were in a critical condition and the other eight were in stable condition in hospital.
Police said they had arrested the 18-year-old man driving the vehicle and were investigating what happened. They said the crash was not believed to be related to “terrorism”.
The crowd had gathered to farewell the local rugby league side, the Newcastle Knights, ahead of their grand final against the Sydney Roosters on Sunday.
Newcastle Lord Mayor Gavin Morris said the driver, a rugby league fan, had lost control of his vehicle and had been taken into custody.
“He was revving the car, he was excited, he was a supporter, he was there for the joy of the moment,” Morris told the national broadcaster ABC.
“Somehow he lost control of the car … and he’s gone into the crowd,” he added.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “My thoughts are with everyone injured or involved in the horrible incident this morning in Newcastle.”
“Rugby league brings people together, and this should have been a weekend of excitement and pride for Newcastle fans,” he wrote in a social media post.
[Aljazeera]
Polls have opened in Latvia for an election taking place against the backdrop of perceived security threats from Russia and a nationwide cost-of-living squeeze.
Saturday’s vote is the first electoral test for Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs after coming to power in May this year when his predecessor resigned due to a backlash from stray drone incursions from Ukraine.
Kulbergs, whose right-wing United List party is currently polling at about 20 percent, is expected to hold onto his position, but the decline of two allies in his current coalition means he is set for a complicated negotiation over the makeup of any future government.
Polls opened at 05:00 GMT and will close at 17:00 GMT. The results are not expected to change Latvia’s pro-European and pro-Ukrainian course.
About 1.5 million people are eligible to vote in the country’s 11th parliamentary election since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Latvian politics are highly fragmented, with parties rarely seeing above 20 percent vote share and coalitions being the norm.
This year, 14 electoral lists are contesting the election, but polls indicate only seven are likely to enter parliament, with the rest expected to fail to meet the minimum 5 percent vote threshold.
Rising living costs, low wages, strains on the healthcare system and long-term population decline have all featured prominently in campaign debates.
Most parties in Latvia are pro-Ukraine; however, the populist Sovereign Power party – which says it wants Ukraine to win but argues money spent supporting Kyiv would be better spent at home – looks likely to become the country’s second-biggest party, with more than 9 percent of the vote. Most other parties have ruled out forming a coalition with Sovereign Power.
Latvia First, a pro-Ukraine and populist nationalist party currently polling at about 9 percent, could be a potential coalition partner for PM Kulbergs.
The Progressives, a pro-European social democratic party, are polling at 6 percent.
Ethnic Russians make up roughly one in four Latvian citizens, but their vote, which has traditionally been cast along identity-based lines, looks set to be made according to economic and social issues.
Latvia is the poorest of the Baltic states, and it has sharply increased its defence spending since Russia invaded Ukraine, now allocating nearly 5 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) to defence.
[Aljazeera]
Turkiye, Pakistan agree Saudi Arabia military deployment under Mecca pact
Rumesh Tharanga among nominees announced for World Athlete of the Year 2026
New Chancellor appointed to General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University
Yemen government forces claim recapturing Mocha from Houthis
Showers above 75 mm are likely at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, and Southern provinces after 1.00 pm
Govt. urged to halt ‘illegal’ presidential pardons
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
Sunday Island 27 December – Headlines
#SundayIsland 17th December – Headlines
Sunday Island – 28th March
Sunday Island Headlines – 21 March
Sunday Island – 21st February – Headlines
-
Latest News6 days agoGold winner Tharanga gets brand-new Honda Vezel from SLAAJ
-
Features6 days agoWhy Sri Lanka needs an Inclusive Civic Nationalism – urgently
-
News5 days agoUS-assisted ‘Ice’ detection: NPC to examine IGP’s move to transfer drug-busting team
-
Editorial4 days agoColombo Port drug bust: The plot thickens
-
News6 days agoCivil society activist accuses govt. of favouring Ven. Gnanasara
-
Editorial6 days agoWhen crime bosses rise above law and shrines
-
Midweek Review6 days agoDappula’s Easter Sunday ‘grand conspiracy’ claim demolished
-
Editorial5 days ago
Drug busting, transfers and trust deficit