As Russia intensifies attacks, Ukraine air defenses under strain

As Russia intensifies attacks, Ukraine air defenses under strain
A woman carries her dog following a Russian attack on a residential building in Kyiv, Ukraine. (AP)
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Updated 30 May 2025
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As Russia intensifies attacks, Ukraine air defenses under strain

As Russia intensifies attacks, Ukraine air defenses under strain
  • Despite peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow, Russia has launched the heaviest assaults on Ukraine since the start of war with more than 900 drones and 90 missiles over last weekend alone

KYIV: A wave of massive Russian aerial attacks has stretched Ukraine’s air defenses, raising fears about Kyiv’s reliance on Western systems to protect its skies in the fourth year of Russia’s invasion.
As the two sides open peace talks and Kyiv pushes for an immediate ceasefire, Moscow has launched its heaviest air assaults of the war, pummelling Ukraine with more than 900 drones and 90 missiles in a three-day barrage last weekend.
Ukraine downed over 80 percent of the incoming projectiles, but more than a dozen people were killed.
Experts worry how long the country can fend off the nightly attacks if Russia maintains — or escalates — its strikes.
“Ukraine’s air defenses are stretched thin and cannot guarantee protection for all cities against persistent and sophisticated Russian attacks,” military analyst Franz-Stefan Gady told AFP.
Russia’s drone and missile attacks have become more complex — and harder to thwart — throughout the war.
Kyiv’s air force says around 40 percent of drones launched recently are decoys — cheaper dummy craft that mimic attack drones and are designed to exhaust and confuse air defenses.
Russia increasingly sets drones to fly at a higher altitude — above 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) — and then dive down onto targets.
“At that altitude, they’re more visible to our radars but unreachable for small arms, heavy machine guns and mobile fire teams,” air force spokesman Yuriy Ignat told RBK Ukraine.
In addressing the threat, Ukraine is trying to strike a balance between pressing the West to deliver new systems and not wanting to concern a war-weary public at home.
“There’s no need to panic,” a Ukraine military source told AFP.
“We’re using all air defense systems that are available in Ukraine now, plus helicopters and aircraft. We are fighting somehow,” they said.

Moscow has the capacity to fire 300 to 500 drones a day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier this week.
“By scaling up the use of Shaheds, they are forcing us to resort to expensive options,” military analyst Sergiy Zgurets said, referring to the Iranian-designed drones that are packed with explosives to detonate as they crash into buildings.
“This is a war of attrition that must be based on economic grounds — we must shoot down Shaheds with less sophisticated alternatives,” he said.
Ukraine uses several tools to protect its skies — from advanced Western fighter jets and air defense batteries like the US-made Patriot anti-missile system, to small mobile air defense teams armed with guns.
New technology has also become vital, such as the electronic jamming of drones to make them drop from the sky.
Increasingly, interceptors are being deployed — smaller, cheaper drones that take on enemy drones mid-air.
“We are already using them. The question now is when we will be able to scale up,” Zelensky said of the interceptors.
He too sees the issue as one of economics.
“The question is no longer about production capacity... It is a financial issue,” he told journalists.

Beyond drones, Russia is also deploying super-fast ballistic missiles, which are much more difficult to intercept.
“The biggest vulnerability lies in defending against ballistic missiles,” said analyst Gady.
A midday strike last month on the northeastern city of Sumy killed at least 35 people, while a hit near a children’s playground in Zelensky’s home city of Kryvyi Rig left 19 dead, including nine children.
To fend off ballistic missile attacks, Ukraine relies on a small number of Patriot systems.
They are concentrated around Kyiv, leaving other areas more exposed than the relatively better-protected capital.
Gady said the current supply of missiles for them is “sufficient” given the level of Russian strikes at the moment.
“But it is generally insufficient when compared to Russian ballistic missile production.”
Ukraine also faces potential shortages given delays in US output, according to Zgurets, creating “gaps” in Ukraine’s “fight against enemy hypersonic targets and ballistics.”
Deliveries of other key Western systems are expected over the next 18 months, but uncertainty is high given President Donald Trump’s criticism of aid for Ukraine.
US packages approved under predecessor Joe Biden are trickling in, but Trump has not announced any fresh support.
“Delivering air defense systems to us means real protection for people — here and now,” Zelensky said in a recent call for Western backing.
On a visit to Berlin on Wednesday, he said: “Defending our cities requires constant support with air defense systems.”


Russia downs 73 Ukrainian drones, including three flying to Moscow

Russia downs 73 Ukrainian drones, including three flying to Moscow
Updated 9 sec ago
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Russia downs 73 Ukrainian drones, including three flying to Moscow

Russia downs 73 Ukrainian drones, including three flying to Moscow
  • Most of the drones were downed over Russia’s southwestern regions, including 31 over the Bryansk region that borders Ukraine
Russian air defenses destroyed 73 Ukrainian drones overnight, including three heading for Moscow, Russia’s defense ministry said on Friday.
Most of the drones were downed over Russia’s southwestern regions, including 31 over the Bryansk region that borders Ukraine, the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, writing on Telegram, made no mention of casualties or damage, but said emergency services were examining the area where drone fragments fell to the ground. The federal aviation agency, Rosaviatsia, briefly ordered the suspension of operations at two airports near the capital, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky, but services were later resumed.
Operations were halted well after midnight at a third Moscow airport, Vnukovo before being reinstated by the morning. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine about the attacks. Kyiv says that its strikes inside Russia are necessary to destroy infrastructure key to Moscow’s efforts in its war against Ukraine, now in its fourth year.

‘Tears of bitterness’: funeral of Kenya hawker killed in rally

‘Tears of bitterness’: funeral of Kenya hawker killed in rally
Updated 17 min 43 sec ago
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‘Tears of bitterness’: funeral of Kenya hawker killed in rally

‘Tears of bitterness’: funeral of Kenya hawker killed in rally
  • Boniface Kariuki was shot at point-blank range by an officer in riot gear during a rally against police brutality
  • On that day, the 22-year-old mask vendor was not protesting
KANGEMA, Kenya: Before the white coffin containing Kenyan hawker Boniface Kariuki was carried into a vehicle for his final journey home, his mother screamed in grief – yet another parent to lose a child in deadly demonstrations roiling the east African nation.
On a recent Friday, hundreds of mourners streamed into a field near Kariuki’s home, roughly 100 kilometers from Nairobi, to witness his burial and vent their anger and grief.
The 22-year-old mask vendor was shot at point-blank range by an officer in riot gear during a rally against police brutality in June, and later died in a Nairobi hospital.
That day, Kariuki was not protesting.
The incident was captured on film and shared widely across social media, with mourners placing a still image of the moment just before he was shot on top of his coffin, which was also draped in a Kenyan flag.
His death has thrust the long-standing issue of police brutality in the country back into the spotlight and galvanized anger toward a government many Kenyans see as corrupt and unaccountable.
“Our grief cannot be understood. We shall miss you constantly,” his younger sister Gladys Wangare said.
“Your constant smile, genuine concern about our family. Life will never be the same again. Your place will remain empty,” she added.
As the coffin traveled to his hometown of Kangema, villagers gathered to see the entourage, with riot police eyeing the calm crowds from junctions.
Kariuki’s friend and fellow hawker Edwin Kagia, 24, described him as a hardworking, humble and “good guy” who was always cracking jokes.
“I used to hear that police kill people, but I could not imagine it would happen to my brother,” he said.
“We are in sorrow.”
Waves of protests have swept Kenya since June 2024, when proposed tax rises triggered widespread anger.
The increasingly violent rallies – often dominated by young men and paid thugs – have been met with a harsh police response, with rights groups saying at least 50 people have died in recent protests.
While President William Ruto has condemned the violence, promising those responsible would be held accountable, he has also backed the police – telling officers to shoot would-be looters “in the leg.”
At the funeral, Kariuki’s friend Kagia condemned the president’s remarks, urging him to apologize.
“The head of state uttering such statements de-filters the unity of the nation,” he said.
It came after the country’s top prosecutor said his office had “approved a murder charge against a police officer who allegedly murdered a mask vendor in Nairobi.”
Despite the arrest, people at the funeral remained skeptical and upset.
“Whoever did all this, let him actually not know any peace on this earth,” said Emily Wanjira, a spokesperson for the family.
“We are crying tears of bitterness.”

At least 4 dead and 1,300 evacuated after heavy rain in South Korea

At least 4 dead and 1,300 evacuated after heavy rain in South Korea
Updated 18 July 2025
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At least 4 dead and 1,300 evacuated after heavy rain in South Korea

At least 4 dead and 1,300 evacuated after heavy rain in South Korea
  • The Interior and Safety Ministry says a collapsed overpass retaining wall in Osan killed one person on Wednesday
  • Parts of South Chungcheong province have seen up to 420 millimeters of rain

SEOUL: Two days of heavy downpours in South Korea have killed at least four people and forced more than 1,300 others to evacuate, officials said Thursday.
One person was killed when their car was buried by soil and concrete after a retaining wall of an overpass collapsed in Osan, just south of Seoul, during heavy rain on Wednesday, the Interior and Safety Ministry said.
Three other people were separately found dead Thursday in a submerged car, a stream, and a flooded basement in southern regions. Ministry officials said they were still investigating whether those deaths were directly caused by heavy rain.
The heavy rain has forced the evacuation of 1,382 people from their homes, the ministry said in a statement, adding 46 flights have been canceled.
Parts of southern South Chungcheong province have received up to 420 millimeters (16.5 inches) of rain since Wednesday, according to the ministry.


Russian forces take control of three Ukrainian villages across multiple regions, defense ministry says

Russian forces take control of three Ukrainian villages across multiple regions, defense ministry says
Updated 18 July 2025
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Russian forces take control of three Ukrainian villages across multiple regions, defense ministry says

Russian forces take control of three Ukrainian villages across multiple regions, defense ministry says
  • Russian forces are engaged in a slow advance westward and Moscow announces the capture of new villages almost every day
  • Moscow controls a little less than 20 percent of Ukrainian territory, a move that Kyiv and most Western countries reject as illegal

MOSCOW: Russian troops have taken control of three villages in three different parts of the frontline running through Ukraine, the Defense Ministry said on Thursday.
Official Ukrainian reports of activity along the 1,000-km (600-mile) front disputed part of the Russian account, particularly concerning a key village in the southeast.
Reuters could not independently verify battlefield reports from either side.
The Russian Defense Ministry report named the three captured settlements as Kamianske in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, Dehtiarne in northeastern Kharkiv region, and Popiv Yar in Donetsk region, the main theater of Russian operations.
Russian forces are engaged in a slow advance westward, mainly through Donetsk region, and Moscow announces the capture of new villages almost every day.
Ukrainian military spokesperson Vladyslav Voloshyn told the liga.net media outlet that holding Kamianske, southeast of the region’s main town of Zaporizhzhia, was important to keep that city safe from attack.
But Kamianske had been all but flattened by long periods of fighting, he said. Ukrainian forces had moved out of it and successfully attacked Russian troops whenever small groups periodically ventured into it.
“The Russians cannot go into the village and hold it,” Voloshyn was quoted as saying. “There is not a single dwelling left intact, not a single wall left standing, nothing to hold, nothing to enable you to take cover.”
There was no acknowledgement from Ukraine that Popiv Yar had changed hands — the village lies northeast of Pokrovsk, for months a focal point of Russian attacks in Donetsk region.
For at least a week, it has remained in the “grey zone” of uncertain control as reported by DeepState, a Ukrainian military blog based on open source accounts of the fighting. There was no news from Ukrainian officials of the situation at Dehtiarne.
On Wednesday, Russia’s military announced the capture of the village of Novohatske, southwest of Pokrovsk. Another Ukrainian military spokesperson, Viktor Trehubov, told public broadcaster Suspilne on Thursday that the village was in Russian hands.
Moscow controls a little less than 20 percent of Ukrainian territory and says it has incorporated four regions — Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson into Russia, a move that Kyiv and most Western countries reject as illegal.
In 2014, Russia seized and annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula, also a claim widely disputed internationally


Nationwide protests begin against Trump’s immigration crackdown and health care cuts

Nationwide protests begin against Trump’s immigration crackdown and health care cuts
Updated 18 July 2025
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Nationwide protests begin against Trump’s immigration crackdown and health care cuts

Nationwide protests begin against Trump’s immigration crackdown and health care cuts
  • Protest actions held Thursday in more than 1,600 locations around the country
  • Major protests planned in Atlanta and St. Louis, Oakland in California, and Annapolis in Maryland

CHICAGO: Protests and events against President Donald Trump’s controversial policies that include mass deportations and cuts to Medicaid and other safety nets for poor people have started Thursday at more than 1,600 locations around the country.
The “Good Trouble Lives On” national day of action honors the late congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis. Protests were being held along streets, at court houses and other public spaces. Organizers have called for them to be peaceful.
“We are navigating one of the most terrifying moments in our nation’s history,” Public Citizen co-president Lisa Gilbert said during an online news conference Tuesday. “We are all grappling with a rise of authoritarianism and lawlessness within our administration ... as the rights, freedoms and expectations of our very democracy are being challenged.”
Public Citizen is a nonprofit with a stated mission of taking on corporate power. It is a member of a coalition of groups behind Thursday’s protests.
Major protests were planned in Atlanta and St. Louis, as well as Oakland, California, and Annapolis, Maryland.
Honoring Lewis’ legacy
Lewis first was elected to Congress in 1986. He died in 2020 at the age of 80 following an advanced pancreatic cancer diagnosis.
He was the youngest and last survivor of the Big Six civil rights activists, a group led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. In 1965, a 25-year-old Lewis led some 600 protesters in the Bloody Sunday march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. Lewis was beaten by police, suffering a skull fracture.
Within days, King led more marches in the state, and President Lyndon Johnson pressed Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act that later became law.
“Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and redeem the soul of America,” Lewis said in 2020 while commemorating the 1965 voting rights marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
Chicago will be the flagship city for Thursday’s protests as demonstrators are expected to rally downtown in the afternoon.
Betty Magness, executive vice president of the League of Women Voters Chicago and one of the organizers of Chicago’s event, said the rally will also include a candlelight vigil to honor Lewis.
Much of the rest of the rally will have a livelier tone, Magness said, adding “we have a DJ who’s gonna rock us with boots on the ground.”
Protesting Trump’s policies
Pushback against Trump so far in his second term has centered on deportations and immigration enforcement tactics
Earlier this month, protesters engaged in a tense standoff as federal authorities conducted mass arrests at two Southern California marijuana farms. One farmworker died after falling from a greenhouse roof during a chaotic raid.
Those raids followed Trump’s extraordinary deployment of the National Guard outside federal buildings and to protect immigration agents carrying out arrests on Los Angeles. On June 8, thousands of protesters began taking to the streets in Los Angeles.
And organizers of the June 14 “No Kings” demonstrations said millions of people marched in hundreds of events from New York to San Francisco. Demonstrators labeled Trump as a dictator and would-be king for marking his birthday with a military parade.