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World

Tropical Storm Nalgae: 45 dead as Paeng hits Philippines

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CNN
 — 

Tropical Storm Nalgae has killed at least 45 people and injured dozens more in the Philippines, the country’s disaster agency said Saturday.

A further 14 people were missing after the storm, known locally as Paeng, made landfall on Friday packing winds of 75 kilometers (46 miles) per hour.

A death toll of 72 was originally announced by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, before being revised down. The group blamed an “overcount” by local officials for the initial figure, according to state media.

Provinces and cities in the south were hit the hardest by the storm. A “state of calamity” has been declared in the city of Cotabatao on Mindanao island, where some 67,000 residents have been affected by the storm.

Upi, a nearby town with a population of just 60,000, has been inundated, the disaster council reported – with thousands being forced to higher ground.

Overall, authorities said that close to 185,000 people across the country have been affected by the storm, with more than 8,000 people made temporarily homeless.

Photos and videos of search and rescue efforts showed bodies being pulled from the water and thick mud and residents trapped on rooftops.

Storms are expected to hit the capital Manila and nearby provinces over the weekend, state weather officials say, as Nalgae cuts through the main Luzon island and heads to the South China Sea.

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Ukrainian Armed Forces eliminate group of 300 Russians preparing an assault near Maiorsk General Staff report

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UKRAINSKA PRAVDA — SATURDAY, 29 OCTOBER 2022, 06:39

On 28 October, the Armed Forces of Ukraine eliminated a group of around 300 Russian soldiers preparing for an assault near Maiorsk in Donetsk Oblast.

Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, information as of 06:00 on 29 October

Quote: “As a result of high-precision strikes carried out by units of Ukraine’s defence forces, a group of 300 occupiers preparing for a new assault was eliminated yesterday in the vicinity of Maiorsk.”

Details: The following day, around 60 slightly injured Russian soldiers were hospitalised in Horlivka. Up to 20 Russian soldiers were killed and 30 sustained injuries of various severity in the villages of Chervonopopivka in Luhansk Oblast as a result of an attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Russian forces have been forced to evacuate injured soldiers to the city of Voronezh by bus as a result of the lack of a reliable air ambulance service, the poorly prepared medical infrastructure in Belgorod Oblast, and the fact that all local hospitals there are already at full capacity.

Over the course of the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have repelled Russian attacks in the vicinity of Vodiane, Kamianka and Nevelske (Donetsk Oblast). Russian forces carried out up to 25 airstrikes and 4 missile strikes, as well as over 70 attacks using multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS). More than 35 Ukrainian cities, towns and villages came under Russian fire, including Siversk and Prechystivka (Donetsk Oblast), Mali Shcherbaky (Zaporizhzhia Oblast), Davydiv Brid and Mala Seidemynukha (Kherson Oblast), and Kobzartsi (Mykolaiv Oblast).

There were no significant changes on the Volyn and Polissia fronts. The Republic of Belarus is continuing to aid and support Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine. There is an ongoing threat of missile strikes from the territory of Belarus, including with the use of attack UAVs.

On other fronts, the Russians continued to fire on military and civilian targets:

  • On the Sivershchyna front: Russian forces deployed mortars and tubed artillery to fire on areas in and around Hai, Khrinivka and Leonivka (Chernihiv Oblast);

  • On the Slobozhanshchyna front: Russian forces deployed various types of artillery to fire on areas in and around Veterynarne, Dvorichna, Starytsia, Strilecha and Chuhunivka

  • On the Kupiansk and Lyman fronts: Russian forces deployed mortars and tubed and rocket artillery to fire on areas in and around Berestove, Nevske, Spirne, Olhivka and Novoyehorivka;

  • On the Bakhmut front: the Russians deployed tank and artillery of various calibres to fire on areas in and around Bakhmut, Bakhmutske, Bilohorivka, Chasiv Yar, Klishchiivka, Soledar, Zelenopillia and Yakovlivka;

  • On the Avdiivka front: the Russians deployed tank guns, mortars and tubed and rocket artillery to fire on areas in the vicinity of Avdiivka, Vodiane, Marinka, Novomykhailivka and Pervomaiske;

  • On the Novopavlivka and Zaporizhzhia fronts the Russians carried out attacks on the positions of Ukraine’s defence forces and civilian infrastructure in the vicinity of Velyka Novosilka, Vremivka, Huliaipole, Zaliznychne and Pavlivka;

  • On the Pivdennyi Buh front, over 20 cities, towns and villages situated along the line of contact came under Russian fire. Russian forces carried out around 20 UAV sorties in order to conduct aerial reconnaissance in the area.

Russian forces are continuing their attempts to advance on the Bakhmut and Avdiivka fronts.

In the city of Beryslav in Kherson Oblast, soldiers from the Russian occupation forces are abandoning their military uniforms for plain clothes and moving into people’s homes. The so-called “evacuation” initiated by the Russian occupation regime in Kherson continues apace. The Russians are stealing and taking away all medical equipment and medicines from hospitals in Kherson. Doctors who have refused to “evacuate” are banned from entering the hospitals even to collect their personal belongings.

On 28 October, Ukrainian aircraft carried out 24 airstrikes on clusters of Russian military personnel, weapons and equipment and anti-aircraft defence systems. In addition, Ukrainian air defence forces struck down two Russian Su-25 attack jets, as well as two Mi-8 helicopters and one UAV. Ukraine’s Rocket Forces and Artillery struck positions of Russian self-propelled artillery systems and other crucial military targets.

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World

Philippine capital braces for storm Nalgae, death toll cut to 45

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  • Most casualties in landslide-hit Maguindanao province
  • Death toll reduced to 45 from 72 after checks
  • Philippines has annual average of 20 tropical storms

MANILA, Oct 29 (Reuters) – Manila and nearby towns braced on Saturday for Tropical Storm Nalgae, which has killed 45 people, mostly because of landslides in southern provinces of the Philippines.

The Southeast Asian nation’s disaster agency reduced its death toll to 45 from 72 after checking reports from ground staff, including rescue workers searching for 18 missing persons.

Residents in the capital’s coastal area were evacuated while classes across all levels were suspended, according to the mayor’s office.

Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna-Pangan ordered the closure of the city’s cemeteries, where millions had been expected to visit during the extended All Saints’ Day weekend, on Saturday.

The tropical storm, which has maximum sustained winds of 95 kilometres (60 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 130 kph (80 mph), has made multiple landfall in the eastern Philippines on Saturday.

The state weather agency, in its latest bulletin, warned of widespread flooding and landslides because of heavy and at times torrential rains over the capital region and nearby provinces as Nalgae cuts through the main Luzon island and heads to the South China Sea.

Airlines have cancelled 116 domestic and international flights to and from the Philippines’ main gateway. Nearly 7,500 passengers, drivers, and cargo helpers and 107 vessels were stranded in ports, the coast guard said.

Government agencies were giving aid and food packs to affected families, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said on Twitter.

Coast guard personnel guided residents through chest-deep floods, with rescuers using a monobloc plastic chair and an old refrigerator to carry children and elderly people in the central Leyte province, according to photos shared by the agency.

The bulk of the deaths, at 40, have been reported in the southern Maguindanao province.

“We are not discounting the possibility of more casualties,” Cyrus Torrena, provincial administrator of Maguindanao, told DZMM radio station. “But we pray it does not go up significantly.”

The Philippines sees an average of 20 tropical storms annually. In December, category 5 typhoon Rai ravaged central provinces, leaving 407 dead and more than 1,100 injured.

Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Chris Reese and William Mallard

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Ukraine minister tells Iranian counterpart: Stop sending weapons | Russia-Ukraine war News

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Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he spoke by phone with Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said he demanded Tehran stop providing Russia with weapons in a phone call with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian.

Ukrainian officials and their Western allies have accused Iran of providing so-called “kamikaze” drones to Russia, which have recently been used to devastating effect by Moscow’s forces in strikes aimed at Ukrainian infrastructure.

Iran has strenuously denied that it has sent any weaponry, including drones, to Russia.

“Today, I received a call from Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian,” Kuleba wrote in a tweet late on Friday.

“I demanded Iran to immediately cease the flow of weapons to Russia used to kill civilians and destroy critical infrastructure in Ukraine,” he wrote.

Russia has unleashed a wave of missile and drone strikes in recent weeks, hitting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and forcing power cuts in Kyiv as well as cities and towns across the country.

Kyiv says Russia has used Iranian-made Shahed-136 attack drones, which cruise towards their target and explode on impact.

Amirabdollahian said on Monday that he was ready to speak with Ukraine over claims that Tehran had sold drones to Russia for use in Ukraine, the Iranian State’s IRNA (The Islamic Republic News Agency) reported.

Amirabdollahian dismissed the allegations of providing drones to Russia for use in Ukraine, IRNA reported.

“In the past we have taken weapons from Russia and given it weapons as well, but not during the Ukraine war,” IRNA quoted the foreign minister as having said.

The minister also said he had told the European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell that Iran was willing to participate in an investigation of the drones used in Ukraine.

“I told Josep Borrell that I am ready that a team of military experts from Iran and Ukraine assess claims on the use of Iranian-made drones in the Ukraine war,” IRNA quoted Abdollahian as having said.

Armed drones have become a key weapon in Russia’s arsenal during its war in Ukraine and have been used with devastating effects in the past month to target crucial energy infrastructure, leading to nationwide power shortages in Ukraine.

Ukraine said on Friday that its forces had since mid-September shot down more than 300 Russian drones, which it described as Shahed-136 models imported from Iran.

Ukraine air force spokesman Yuri Ihnat told journalists in Kyiv that Russia had ordered an estimated 2,400 kamikaze drones, although the exact extent of Moscow’s stock of armed drones was unknown.

Also on Friday, Iranian nationals living in Ukraine held a protest in Kyiv against the Tehran government allegedly supplying Russia with drones that have been used in Moscow’s war on the country.

Iranians who live in Ukraine attend a protest against Teran’s government and deliveries of Iranian drones to Russia, in central Kyiv, Ukraine on October 28, 2022 [Gleb Garanich/Reuters]

Iran has strongly condemned a call by France, Germany and the United Kingdom for the United Nations to investigate whether Russia has used Iranian-origin drones to attack Ukraine.

Nasser Kanaani, the spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, said last weekend that the call by three countries was “false and baseless” and that it was “strongly rejected and condemned”.

In a letter signed by their UN envoys, the three European countries backed Ukraine’s request for a UN inquiry, arguing the drone use breached UN Security Council Resolution 2231 endorsing the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

The US has said the alleged export of “kamikaze drones” used in Ukraine could be a breach of the resolution, which could potentially trigger the automatically reinstating of international sanctions against Iran.



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World

Listen Carefully, The Things I Know…

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Imran Khan addressed his party supporters in Lahore.

Lahore/Islamabad:

Imran Khan on Friday said he will remain “silent” as he does not want to “damage” the country and its institutions, a day after the ISI chief said the former prime minister made a “lucrative offer” to Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa in return for backing his government during the political turmoil in March this year.

Addressing his party supporters at Lahore’s famous Liberty Chowk after launching his protest march towards Islamabad demanding early elections, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief said his march is not for politics or personal interest but to gain real freedom and ensure that all decisions were made in Pakistan and not in London or Washington.

“My only aim is to free my nation and turn Pakistan into a free country,” Khan, standing atop a container, said.

Khan rejected ISI chief Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmed Anjum’s allegations in an unprecedented press conference on Thursday, saying it was one-sided and he only “talked about Iman Khan” and never uttered a word against the “thieves” in the government.

“DG ISI, listen carefully, the things I know, I am staying silent for my institutions and the country. I don’t want to damage my country,” the PTI chief said as the crowd cheered.

“Our criticism is for constructive purposes and for your improvement. I can say more but will not say as it will hurt the institution,” he said.

Lt Gen Anjum on Thursday said that Army chief Gen Bajwa was given a “lucrative offer” by the then government amidst the political turmoil in March. Gen. Bajwa is scheduled to retire next month after a 3-year extension.

The unprecedented press conference by the spy chief came as the country was grappling with different versions about the killing of journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya and indirect allegations against the armed forces. Sharif was shot dead at a police checkpoint at an hour’s distance from Nairobi on Sunday night, creating a storm in the country.

The Kenyan police later said it was a case of “mistaken identity” during a search for a similar car involved in a child abduction case.

Addressing his supporters, Khan said that, unlike Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif, he was “not a runaway that would either sit quietly here or criticise the military in London”.

“I am not going to leave this country. I will live and die in this country,” added the PTI chief.

“If the handlers and facilitators of the thieves of this imported government think that they (government) should be accepted by us, then listen, this nation will give every sacrifice but will never accept these thieves,” he said.

Khan also promised that the march would be peaceful. “Our march will be according to the law, we will not break any rule. We will not enter the (high security) Red Zone and will only go to the areas which have been designated by the Supreme Court for protests,” he said.

He also alleged that the Supreme Court failed to protect his supporters’ constitutional right during the protest on May 25 but hoped that “this time our rights will be protected”.

Khan, 70, plans to arrive in Islamabad on November 4 and has sought formal permission from the government to allow his party to hold a protest rally. His party has billed the protest as a ‘Haqiqi Azadi March’ or a protest for actual freedom of the country.

It is not clear if he would go back after the rally or transform it into a sit-in on the pattern of his 2014 protest when a 126-day sit-in was staged by his followers in front of the parliament building.

The government rejected the march and Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said that the nation had refused to be subservient to a “foreign-funded” instigator and had rejected the “bloody march”.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah during a press conference flanked by officials of the Federal Investigation Agency in Islamabad, said that Khan tried to “threaten” the government and institutions to “get a date for elections” but failed in this regard.

The minister said that after all of the PTI chief’s tactics failed, he has now resorted to holding a long march.

“He made many speeches and used the word ‘neutral’. But when all this failed, he had no option left but to try something else,” Sanaullah said.

He warned that “strict action will be taken if they attempt to break the law and create a law and order situation in the capital.” Sanaullah added that if PTI stood by its commitment to stay within the places permitted by the Supreme Court, no one would stop them from exercising its democratic right.

Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman has alleged that Khan considers himself to be “above the law and Constitution” as she accused the PTI chief of feeding people lies.

Rehman said that Imran was a “fascist” who considered himself to be the “king”. “This is why he leads people towards violence,” she added.

PTI secretary general Asad Umar earlier told the media in Lahore that the protest would be peaceful. He said that the party decided to dedicate the march to killed journalist Sharif.

The country was grappling with different versions about the killing of journalist Sharif in Kenya and indirect allegations against the armed forces.

Former information minister Fawad Chaudhry said that the PTI’s long march only had one agenda — fresh elections.

The PTI leader told Dawn News that the people of Pakistan wanted new elections to be held. “People have come out in hundreds and thousands. This is our struggle for real freedom,” he said.

He told the “handlers” of the incumbent government that they were facing a “flood of people” against which none could stand.

“Their handlers, listen carefully. This is a flood of people and none can stand against it,” he said while addressing the protesters as his march reached Ichhra in Lahore.

During a short pitstop in Lahore’s Ichhra, Khan delivered another fiery speech, this time targeting the government.

“They steal money, go abroad, come back after receiving an NRO and then return [to power] again,” Khan said from atop his container as Shah Mahmood Qureshi stood behind him.

“What do they think of us? That we are bher bakriyan (fools)? Those who have stolen billions from our country and live in palaces in London are made prime minister,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) has directed television channels not to live telecast programmes and other content, particularly while covering PTI leaders’ speeches and the long march.

The Pemra said while monitoring Friday’s transmission, it was observed during a speech “statements against state institutions were aired live” in violation of the code of conduct and court orders.

It directed television channels to refrain from “airing content that [is] tantamount to malign/ disgrace state institutions (advertently or inadvertently) and to sensitise their editorial boards, directors (new and programming), bureaus and field reporters to comply with these directives.

Legal action, leading to suspensions and revocation of licences, would be initiated in case of non-compliance, Pemra warned.

Khan has been demanding early elections and threatening a protest march towards Islamabad to force his demands if the government failed to give a date for elections. The term of the National Assembly will end in August 2023 and fresh elections should be held within 60 days.

Khan, who was ousted from power in April after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, has talked about a ‘threat letter’ from the US and claimed that it was part of a foreign conspiracy to remove him as he was not acceptable for following an independent foreign policy. The US has bluntly rejected the allegations.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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EXCLUSIVE United States to put United Nations focus on Iran protests

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UNITED NATIONS, Oct 28 (Reuters) – The United States will next week put the United Nations spotlight on protests in Iran sparked by the death of a young woman in police custody and look for ways to promote credible, independent investigations into Iranian human rights abuses.

The United States and Albania will hold an informal U.N. Security Council gathering on Wednesday, according to a note outlining the event, seen by Reuters. Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi and Iranian-born actress and activist Nazanin Boniadi are set to brief.

“The meeting will highlight the ongoing repression of women and girls and members of religious and ethnic minority groups in Iran,” the note said. “It will identify opportunities to promote credible, independent investigations into the Iranian government’s human rights violations and abuses.”

Independent U.N. investigator on human rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman, is also due to address the meeting, which can be attended by other U.N. member states and rights groups.

Iran has been gripped by protests since the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in police custody last month. The unrest has turned into a popular revolt by Iranians from all layers of society, posing one of the boldest challenges to the clerical leadership since the 1979 revolution.

Iran has blamed its foreign enemies and their agents for the unrest.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York accused the United States and it allies of abusing their platform “to further their political agenda.”

“Given its hypocrisy, use of a double standard, and selective application of human rights, we find the U.S.’s claims to support Iranian women to be deceptive and lacking in good faith,” it said.

Rights groups have said at least 250 protesters have been killed and thousands arrested across the country. Women have played a prominent part in the protests, removing and burning veils. The deaths of several teenage girls reportedly killed during protests have fuelled more anger.

“The meeting will underscore ongoing unlawful use of force against protesters and the Iranian regime’s pursuit of human rights defenders and dissidents abroad to abduct or assassinate them in contravention of international law,” read the note about the planned meeting.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Friday urged the Iranian authorities to address the “legitimate grievances of the population, including with respect to women’s rights.”

“We condemn all incidents that have resulted in death or serious injury to protestors and reiterate that security forces must avoid all unnecessary or disproportionate use of force against peaceful protestors,” Dujarric told reporters. “Those responsible must be held to account.”

Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Daniel Wallis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Thousands rally in Prague against pro-Western government – DW – 10/29/2022

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Thousands of people took to the streets in the Czech capital on Friday to protest high prices, for which they blame the center-right government’s focus on supporting Ukraine against the Russian invasion.

The organizers of the “Czech Republic first” protest — a nod to former US President Donald Trump’s nationalist slogan — are a mixture of various, mostly far-right, fringe groups with pro-Kremlin and anti-vaccine tendencies.

The demonstration took place in Prague’s Wenceslas Square and coincided with the October 28 national holiday marking the formation of Czechoslovakia in 1918.

Enemies everywhere but Moscow

Protesters called on Prime Minister Piatr Fiala and his coalition government to resign.

Those present railed against Ukraine, the EU, NATO, the UN and the World Health Organization (WHO), but came out in defense of Russia’s war of aggression.

“Russia’s not our enemy, the government of warmongers is the enemy,” one speaker said.

Some protesters want the Czech government to bypass EU sanctions and go back to directly buying Russian gasImage: Bundas Engler/REUTERS

“The government we have is the worst in the history of the Czech Republic and I’m not the only one who thinks so,” protester Eva Frantova told AFP news agency.

Another, smaller, rally also took place in the country’s second-largest city, Brno, but police said the overall number of participants was lower than the 70,000 that were counted at a similar demonstration in early September.

Czech support for Ukraine

Prague, which is currently holding the rotating EU presidency, has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters in Europe.

It has sent heavy weaponry and given visas to some 450,000 Ukrainian refugees, granting them access to social services such as health care and financial help.

Fiala and several of his ministers are planning on traveling to Kyiv on Monday.

But the country, like many others, is battling soaring inflation — which reached 18% in September in comparison to the previous year.

“We know who’s our friend and who’s bleeding for our freedom,” Interior Minister Vit Rakusan tweeted in response to the protest. “And we also know who’s our enemy.”

ab/wd (AFP, AP)

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Protesters in Iran’s Zahedan encounter gunfire following Friday prayers

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CNN
 — 

Protesters encountered teargas and gunfire following Friday prayers in the eastern Iranian city of Zahedan, according to videos posted on social media and provided by IranWire, an activist website.

Automatic gunfire can be heard in the videos, which also show protesters picking up bullet casings on the ground.

According to a video posted on 1500tasvir, at least one 12-year-old boy was shot.

Responding to news of the clash, United Nations Secretary General spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Friday that the international body is “increasingly concerned about the reports of rising fatalities” of protestors in Iran.

“Today, a number of protesters were reportedly killed in Zahedan, the capital of Sistan and Baluchestan Province,” he said. “We condemn all incidents that have resulted in death or serious injury to protestors and reiterate that security forces must avoid all unnecessary or disproportionate use of force against peaceful protestors. Those responsible must be held to account.

The Sistan and Baluchistan security council said security forces and civilians were injured after being shot by “unknown people,” according to state media.

Protesters threw rocks at security forces and chanted “death to Khamenei,” referring to Iran’s supreme leader, according to video posted on 1500tasvir.

State-run IRNA news agency reported that protesters set fire to tires and chanted anti-government slogans.

A heavy security presence was seen moving into the city before the start of prayers on Friday, according to video posted on social media.

Zahedan is located in the Sistan and Baluchistan province, which neighbors Pakistan and is home to the Baluch ethnic minority. The region has a history of unrest and violence with armed groups carrying out attacks against Iranian security personnel.

Zahedan saw large protests on September 30 against the alleged rape of a Baluch girl by a police chief, according to Baluch Activists Campaign.

The Sistan and Baluchistan province security committee removed the head of police in Zahedan and the head of police precinct 16 on Thursday, according to state-run IRNA.

Internet connectivity has been disrupted regionally in the province, according to internet watchdog NetBlocks on Friday.

“Metrics show that internet connectivity has been disrupted regionally in #Zahedan, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, #Iran, amid reports that several protesters have been shot by security forces,” NetBlocks said in a tweet.

Demonstrations have also taken place in the cities of Saravan, Iranshahr, Chabahar and Nikshahr after Sunni Friday prayers, according to state-run IRNA.

The protests come amid nationwide demonstations following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was detained by the Islamic Republic’s “morality police,” sparking outrage among Iranians who took to the streets to demand more freedoms.

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Russia threatens commerical satellites Pentagon and Ukraine depend on

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On Thursday evening, SpaceX launched yet another of its Falcon 9 rockets to space, the 49th in 2022, a record as it continues to launch a rocket about once every six days. This one carried 53 Starlink satellites to orbit, adding to a constellation that now has more than 3,000 in operation — more satellites than the rest of the world combined, according to analysts.

On Tuesday, SpaceX is scheduled to launch a much more powerful rocket, the Falcon Heavy. This time, the customer is the U.S. Space Force and the payload is strictly classified.

The launches come as tensions between the United States and Russia are high amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and just days after Russia threatened to target the commercial satellites, which have proved a boon to Ukraine and its allies during the war.

The launches are yet another sign of the Pentagon’s increasing reliance on the commercial space sector, which has become more capable at the same time that space has become an increasingly contested domain. That partnership was even codified in the National Defense Strategy released by the Defense Department earlier this week: “We will increase collaboration with the private sector in priority areas, especially with the commercial space industry, leveraging its technological advancements and entrepreneurial spirit to enable new capabilities.”

But as those technologies — cheaper, reusable rockets that fly more frequently, small satellites that can be launched by the dozen — play a broader role in the nation’s defense and intelligence arsenal, national security officials know they could be threatened. What happens then, however, is not clear.

Commercial satellites test the rules of war in Russia-Ukraine conflict

“I am certain that my counterpart in Russia, whoever that is, is not very happy with Starlink, as it’s assisting Ukraine,” Lt. Gen. John Shaw, deputy commander of the U.S. Space Command, said at a space conference Monday. “And with commercial imagery, such as Maxar’s products, that are plastering all over the world news the things that are going on, I don’t think they’re very happy about that either. And we know that they’re probably going to take steps to try to stop those commercial services because they run counter to Russia’s national interest.”

A few days later, a senior Russian official proved him prophetic, threatening commercial satellites during a meeting at the United Nations.

In a speech, Konstantin Vorontsov, deputy director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s department for nonproliferation and arms, said the proliferation of privately operated satellites is “an extremely dangerous trend that goes beyond the harmless use of outer-space technologies and has become apparent during the latest developments in Ukraine.”

He warned that “quasi-civilian infrastructure may become a legitimate target for retaliation.”

Asked about the threat, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday reiterated earlier comments from her counterpart at the Pentagon and said that “any attack on U.S. infrastructure will be met with a response, as you’ve heard from my colleague, in a time and manner of our choosing. And that still stands. We will pursue all means to explore, deter and hold Russia accountable for any such attacks. Clearly, I’m not going to lay them down here … in public. But we have made ourselves very clear.”

The threats have not slowed the Pentagon’s use of commercial space technology, which continues to evolve rapidly.

“The bulk of innovation in space is coming from the commercial sector, not the government, and that is a huge shift from previous decades,” said Brian Weeden, the director of program planning at the Secure World Foundation, a think tank. “The big challenge is, how does the U.S. military take advantage of that? It’s a very different way of doing business.”

Ukraine and its Western allies have relied on a number of commercial companies from the United States, including Planet and Maxar Technologies, which have provided real-time satellite imagery of the battlefield, and Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which operates the Starlink satellite constellation that has provided internet access, keeping Ukraine online despite Russian attacks on terrestrial communications systems.

The Pentagon is not just looking for big rockets to launch large, exquisite satellites. It has shown extraordinary interest in small rockets, designed to take off frequently and with short notice, allowing for a quick response to situations on the ground.

The Pentagon and U.S. intelligence agencies have taken a keen interest in Virgin Orbit, the small launch company founded by Richard Branson. Instead of launching its rockets from a vertical launchpad on the ground, the company tucks its boosters under the wing of a 747 airplane that carries it aloft. It then drops the rocket, which fires its engines and flies off to space. That allows the company to launch from any runway that can accommodate a plane the size of a 747.

Russia is adept at disrupting satellites and has repeatedly tried to jam the Starlink system, though it has remained online, U.S. officials have said. Last year, Russia fired a missile that destroyed a dead satellite in a test that demonstrated its ability to target sensitive spacecraft.

That is why the Pentagon increasingly is relying on constellations of small satellites. Knock one or two out and there are dozens more to pick up the slack. And since they are relatively inexpensive, more can take their place.

An embrace of that technology was also noted in the Pentagon’s National Defense Strategy document: “In the space domain, the Department will reduce adversary incentives for early attack by fielding diverse, resilient, and redundant satellite constellations.”

Swarms of satellites make it simply more difficult to target them, as Derek Tournear, director of the Space Force’s Space Development Agency, said this week, according to SpaceNews. “How many Starlink satellites have the Russians shot down?” The answer, he said, was “zero.”

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Russia says 82,000 conscripts from emergency draft already in Ukraine | Ukraine

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Russia’s defence minister said 82,000 conscripts had already been sent to Ukraine, reflecting what the west called a desperate effort to halt Kyiv’s counter offensive with poorly trained troops.

Sergei Shoigu told president, Vladimir Putin, that a further 218,000 were being trained in barracks, and that the controversial “partial mobilisation” had concluded, although it was not possible to verify the figures cited.

The meeting between the two was broadcast on Russian state television, with Shoigu telling Putin: “The task set by you of (mobilising) 300,000 people has been completed. No further measures are planned.”

The emergency draft began in September, after Ukraine won a string of victories in the north-west near Kharkiv, prompting some Russians to protest and others to flee the country. Dozens of conscripts have been killed after being thrown into the frontline to protect more experienced troops in the rear.

Britain’s Ministry of Defence said on Friday that Russia was seeking to consolidate its existing gains after eight months of hard fighting by relying on “severely undermanned, poorly trained force” that were “only capable of defensive operations”.

But, despite the critical analysis, there are signs that the growing use of conscripts by Russia has slowed Ukraine’s advance in both the east and the south of the country, as the autumn turns towards winter.

Serhiy Haidai, the Ukrainian governor of the east Luhansk region, said “the advance of Ukrainian troops forward is not going as fast as we would like it to” in a television interview, because Russia has managed to recover its reserves and dig in.

Thousands of conscripts had been deployed in places such as Bakhmut, where Haidai said they were being killed or wounded quickly after being thrown into battle against dug-in Ukrainians. “The average ‘shelf life’ of mobilised personnel is about two weeks,” the governor added.

Ukraine’s general staff said on Friday that up to 1,000 Russian conscripts had been sent across the Dnipro River to fortify Kherson, demonstrating that the Kremlin is unwilling to give up the city without some sort of a fight. The troops would be billeted in homes belonging to residents who had fled the war.

A week ago it appeared that Russia feared losing the city and had relocated commanding officers across to the east bank of the river – and begun evacuating civilians, an exercise that Ukraine said amounted to forced deportations.

Ukraine retook a string of villages near Kherson in early October, but earlier this week defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, warned that the autumn rains had “slowed us down a bit” and progress had become gradual.

Locals say the terrain between the Ukrainian held city of Mykolaiv and Kherson is particularly difficult because the flat ground is cut by large irrigation canals, some of which have been drained, but in either case are easily fortified.

Western military experts have long predicted a slow down in the tempo of fighting in November as heavy rains clog the ground and make it increasingly difficult for armoured vehicles to operate off road. The battle may not pick up again until the depths of winter, when the ground freezes.

Kherson’s Russian appointed governor said earlier this week that the tomb and remains of Prince Grigory Potemkin, once the chief minister and lover of 18th century ruler Catherine the Great, had been taken from a cathedral in Kherson and moved deeper into occupied territory.

“We have moved the remains of his serene highness Prince Potemkin from St Catherine’s church and the monument itself to the left bank,” east of the Dnipro River, Volodymyr Saldo said, according to Russian state news agency reports.

Another Russian official said the evacuation of civilians from Kherson had concluded. “The work to organise residents leaving to the left bank of the Dnipro to safe regions of Russia is completed,” said Sergei Aksyonov, the Moscow-appointed head of Crimea, late on Thursday, after a visit to the area.

Ukraine’s air force said it has shot down more than 300 Iranian Shahed-136 ‘kamikaze’ drones so far, although that figure is only a fraction of the 2,400 that the country believes Russia has acquired from Tehran.

Russia has used the hard to detect drones to help target Ukraine’s power stations and energy grid during October. Power blackouts, aimed at destabilising the energy supply, are now routine in many of the country’s major cities.

Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, said that the city’s power grid was operating in “emergency mode,” with electricity supplies down by as much as a half compared with prewar levels. Four hour blackouts have been announced in and around the capital.

Oleg Syniehubov, the governor of the Kharkiv region, announced on Telegram that daily one-hour power outages would begin on Monday, including the regional capital, which is Ukraine’s second-largest city.

Ukraine’s presidential office said that at least four civilians have been killed and 10 others wounded by the latest Russian attacks, with heavy shelling damaging dozens of residential buildings and power lines near the southern city of Nikopol.

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