- Stardew Valley creator releases a list of over 1000 mods compatible with today’s 1.6 patch, and yep, you can still call in an airstrike PC Gamer
- Stardew Valley 1.6 update release date and patch notes we know so far Gamesradar
- Stardew Valley 1.6 Patch Drops Today – Here’s What To Expect Game Informer
- Eric Barone drops the biggest Stardew Valley 1.6 update patch note yet: A new Meadowlands farm type with ‘chewy blue grass that animals love’ and some bonus chickens too PC Gamer
- Stardew Valley Creator Gives Words of Advice for Mod-Loving Players Hours Before 1.6 Update Release IGN
Tag Archives: airstrike
UN condemns ‘horrifying’ attacks in Gaza as ‘at least 50 killed in Israeli airstrike on school in a refugee ca – Daily Mail
- UN condemns ‘horrifying’ attacks in Gaza as ‘at least 50 killed in Israeli airstrike on school in a refugee ca Daily Mail
- Israel-Hamas war live: Israel attacked two schools, killing dozens Al Jazeera English
- Dozens of people reported dead at United Nations-run school in northern Gaza – Latest From ITV News ITVX
- Israel-Gaza latest: Gaza health ministry says at least 50 killed in attack on school; pro-Palestinian ‘day of action’ in UK Sky News
- ‘Nothing discriminate’ about bombing Fakhoora School from air: Analyst Al Jazeera English
- View Full Coverage on Google News
IDF carries out airstrike on terror cell at Jenin mosque planning ‘imminent attack’ – The Times of Israel
- IDF carries out airstrike on terror cell at Jenin mosque planning ‘imminent attack’ The Times of Israel
- Israel Defense Forces trade fire with Hezbollah as Israel faces rockets from Hamas Fox News
- Israel strikes mosque in occupied West Bank refugee camp Al Jazeera English
- Israel-Gaza war live updates: Trickle of aid to Gaza not enough, U.N. says, as IDF plans more airstrikes The Washington Post
- LIVE Israel-Hamas War Updates: Ain al-Asad base in Iraq housing US troops attacked second time within 24 hrs Deccan Herald
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Israeli Raid and Airstrike on West Bank Refugee Camp Kills 13 Palestinians, Including Children – Democracy Now!
- Israeli Raid and Airstrike on West Bank Refugee Camp Kills 13 Palestinians, Including Children Democracy Now!
- ‘Day of rage’ erupts across West Bank after Israeli forces attack refugee camp The Guardian
- Violence Surges in West Bank, With 13 Palestinians and an Israeli Killed The New York Times
- Palestinian child killed in West Bank, bringing death toll in territory to 84 since Gaza conflict onset Anadolu Agency | English
- Israel-Palestine war: Army raid on West Bank camp leaves death and destruction Middle East Eye
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Syria: US kills two top ISIS leaders in airstrike
CNN
—
US forces killed two top ISIS leaders in an airstrike in northern Syria on Thursday, according to two defense officials, one day after a US raid killed an ISIS smuggler.
The strike killed Abu ‘Ala, one of the top five ISIS leaders and the deputy leader of ISIS in Syria, as well as Abu Mu’Ad al-Qahtani, an ISIS official responsible for prisoner affairs, the officials said. The strike was conducted at 6:23pm local time in Syria.
No US forces were injured or killed during the operation, and there was no damage or loss to US equipment because of the strike.
US Central Command forces in the region spent more than 1,000 hours collecting intelligence on the targets to limit the risk of collateral damage, the officials said, and according to an initial assessment, no civilians were killed or wounded, the officials said.
The airstrike comes after the US military conducted a separate raid in northeast Syria that killed an ISIS weapons smuggler on Wednesday night local time, the Pentagon announced in a statement Thursday.
The US has continued to go after ISIS leadership in Syria, even as the terror group has been reduced to a fraction of its former self. The back-to-back raid and airstrike within such a short period of time represent an increase in the intensity of operations against the terror group and underscores the US focus on ensuring ISIS doesn’t increase in strength.
“Last night, U.S. Central Command forces conducted a helicopter raid in northeast Syria, near the village of Qamishli, targeting Rakkan Wahid al-Shammri, an ISIS official known to facilitate the smuggling of weapons and fighters to support ISIS operations. During the operation, the targeted individual was killed and one of his associates was wounded,” the statement on the raid from US Central Command said.
CENTCOM added that no US forces or civilians were killed or injured in that operation.
Three defense officials told CNN the weapons the target smuggled were used to support ISIS operations.
One of the defense officials said the raid was a unilateral US operation and didn’t involve the coalition to defeat ISIS. The operation involved US special operations forces using helicopters.
The deconfliction line was not used to notify Russia in advance of the operation, one official said, both because of the location of the raid and because of its sensitivity.
“USCENTCOM is committed to our allies and partners in the enduring defeat of ISIS,” CENTCOM spokesman Col. Joe Buccino said in a statement.
Earlier on Thursday the Pentagon said a senior ISIS official had been targeted but declined to give any more details.
Syrian state TV said on Telegram that a US operation in northeast Syria killed one person and accused the US of having “kidnapped” several people.
The US has gone after several senior ISIS officials this year in Syria. In February, the US conducted a raid in northwest Syria in which ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi was killed after he blew himself up. It was the largest US raid in Syria since the 2019 operation that killed the previous ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Qurayshi was named the terrorist group’s leader in November 2019 at the same time ISIS confirmed that Baghdadi had been killed.
The US knew his location for several months before the raid, officials said. He was holed up in the third floor of a building with his family, running the terror group’s operations through a network of couriers. His deputy, who lived on the second floor, was also killed in the raid.
Since March, the leader of ISIS has been Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, the group announced, but it is thought to be an assumed name.
Several months after the Qurayshi raid, the US-led combined joint task force fighting ISIS detained another senior ISIS leader in Syria, Hani Ahmed al-Kurdi, known as Salim. And in July, the US carried out a drone strike in northwest Syria that killed Maher al-Agal, the leader of ISIS in Syria.
The operations in Syria come even as the Biden administration has tried to shift the military away from the Middle East – and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – and to what the US considers the challenges of the future in an increasingly assertive China and a Russia willing to use force against its neighbors.
After the defeat of the self-proclaimed ISIS caliphate in 2019, the group has continually sought to regroup, trying to challenge the US-led coalition to defeat ISIS. Those efforts have included multiple attempts to attack the al-Hol camp in Syria which holds around 60,000 people. ISIS views the displaced persons camp as a recruiting ground.
Last month, ISIS attempted to carry out a suicide attack against the camp, rigging two vehicles with explosives, according to US Central Command. One vehicle exploded prematurely, while the other was intercepted by the US-partnered Syrian Democratic Forces.
This story has been updated with additional reporting.
China launches long-range airstrike drills around Taiwan
The Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese military said on Sunday around noon local time that it conducted live-fire drills in the waters and airspace around Taiwan “as planned.”
“The drills focused on joint fire land strikes and long-range air strike capabilities,” the command said in a statement posted to its official account on the social media platform Weibo, without specifying whether the drills have ended.
The exercises, planned to take place in six zones around the island, began Thursday and were scheduled to last until Sunday at noon local time in Beijing, Chinese state media reported.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said that as of 5 p.m. local time on Sunday, 66 Chinese warplanes and 14 Chinese vessels were detected operating around the Taiwan Strait.
Among the 22 jets entering the airspace around Taiwan, 12 crossed the median line, the statement read.
The ministry previously called the drills a “simulated attack against the main island of Taiwan and Taiwan’s naval vessels” — a slight dial-up of language from Saturday when it said that Chinese military drills around the island could be a “possible simulated attack.”
Taiwan’s military “closely monitored” the situation and deployed aircraft and vessels to “appropriately” react to Chinese military drills around the island, the Defense Ministry added. It also said drones “intruded” into outlying islands controlled by Taiwan.
China announced the drills — whose scale marks a significant escalation from past activities — within an hour of the arrival of Pelosi and a congressional delegation in Taiwan on Tuesday evening. The stop, which was expected but not announced beforehand, was part of a larger Asia tour.
Chinese officials had repeatedly warned Washington of unspecified repercussions in the lead-up to the expected trip. In addition to the drills, Beijing also launched a raft of diplomatic penalties, including canceling future phone calls between Chinese and US defense leaders and suspending bilateral climate talks.
The Chinese Communist Party views self-governing Taiwan as its territory, despite never having controlled it, and has long vowed to “reunify” the island with the Chinese mainland — by force if necessary.
The previous days’ drills had seen a number of air and maritime operations around the island, including the launch of 11 ballistic missiles on Thursday — some of which flew over the island of Taiwan and landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone. That marked the first time China had sent missiles over the island.
On Saturday, 14 vessels and 20 planes operated by the Chinese military were detected around the strait, according to Taiwan’s Defense Ministry. Of the 20 aircraft, 14 crossed the median line, it added.
On Friday, 68 Chinese warplanes were reported in the Taiwan Strait, according to the ministry. Of those, 49 entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone — a buffer of airspace commonly referred to as an ADIZ. That was just a few planes short of the record set last year when 56 Chinese warplanes entered the ADIZ on the same day.
Taiwan’s Premier Su Tseng-chang on Sunday reiterated Taiwan’s condemnation of the drills.
“Not only Taiwan but other countries in the region as well as freedom-loving countries like the US and so on have vehemently protested and condemned China’s arrogant military operations disrupting regional peace and stability,” he said during a press engagement.
“We call on the Chinese government to not flex its military muscles and disrupt regional peace.”
A US National Security Council spokesperson on Saturday called China’s recent military activities around Taiwan a “significant escalation in China’s efforts to change the status quo.”
“They are provocative, irresponsible, and raise the risk of miscalculation,” the spokesperson said. “They are also at odds with our long-standing goal of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, which is what the world expects.”
US allies have also come forward to condemn China’s actions, including in a joint statement issued Friday by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa following their meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Cambodia.
The diplomats “condemned (China’s) launch of ballistic missiles,” including those the Japanese government said landed in its exclusive economic zone, for “raising tension and destabilizing the region,” and called on China “to immediately cease the military exercises,” according to the statement released by the US State Department.
China hit back on Saturday evening, with its embassy in Australia calling the US “the biggest saboteur and destabilizer of peace in the Taiwan Strait” and disputing the “legal basis” for Japan’s claims regarding the missile landings.
“China is the victim of political provocation from the US. The actions taken by the Chinese government to safeguard state sovereignty and territorial integrity and curb the separatist activities are legitimate and justified,” a statement from the embassy read.
CNN’s Gladys Tsai and Arlette Saenz contributed to this report.
Russia Brags About Airstrike That Killed 20 at Ukrainian Shopping Mall
As the death toll in Russia’s airstrike on a Ukrainian shopping center full of civilians climbed to 20 on Tuesday, Russian defense officials took full responsibility for the attack—and then bragged about it as a successful military operation.
Igor Konashenkov, a spokesperson for Russia’s defense ministry, described the attack on the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk in a Tuesday briefing, framing it as one of the Russian military’s successful strikes against Ukrainian “military facilities.”
He said the “high-accuracy strike” was conducted not on a shopping mall, but on an arms depot, and that it had successfully destroyed “Western-made weapons and ammunition” intended for Ukrainian troops in the Donbas. Bizarrely, he blamed a fire at the arms depot for the damage at the Amstor shopping mall, which he claimed was “non-functional.”
He made no mention of the 20 civilians killed. An additional 59 people were injured in the strike.
Russia’s version of events is sure to infuriate Ukrainian authorities, who at a Tuesday briefing at the bombed out mall called BS on the Kremlin narrative, showing reporters the children’s toys and consumer goods that were destroyed in what Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky described as a “targeted hit on a civilian facility.”
Photos of what was described as fragments of a Russian missile found at the scene also circulated in Ukrainian media.
In addition to the 20 fatalities confirmed by the Ukrainian presidential office Tuesday, many more people remain unaccounted for. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the presidential administration, put the figure at 40, while Monastyrsky said at least 21 remain unaccounted for. The head of the Poltava region, Dmytro Lunin, has said 36 people remain missing.
By Tuesday afternoon, Ukrainian authorities said they had found no survivors in the wreckage after hours of searching.
“We hoped that in the first few hours there might still be survivors. But because of the fire that broke out literally in 10-15 minutes after the strike, we can say with certainty that there are no survivors,” Monastyrsky said at a briefing.
Hours earlier, he told reporters rescuers would keep searching for signs of life, adding that most of the victims had not yet been identified as their bodies are “badly burned.”
Some of the Russian pilots involved in the attack have already been identified by Ukrainian intelligence, Monastyrsky said, noting that “there is nothing here that would threaten any of the [Russian] military.”
Ukraine’s prosecutor general has vowed to take the matter to the Hague, as the United Nations Security Council prepared to gather for an emergency session Tuesday.
Family members and friends of shoppers who disappeared after the strike are still waiting near the scene for word on their fate.
“We sent him messages, called, but nothing,” one man, Kiril Zhebolovsky, told Reuters of his agonizing wait to find out what happened to his friend who was working in an electronics store in the mall.
The Monday attack came as Russian forces intensified their strikes during the G7 summit in Germany.
Vadym Denysenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, said the Kremenchuk strike should be seen not only as a warning from Putin to Western nations, but also a clear signal to Russia’s elite that he has no plans to back down in Ukraine.
“There is a very intense phase [of the war] right now, and in the near future, Putin will do everything in his power to intensify such strikes,” Denyskenko said in comments to local media Tuesday.
His warning came as authorities in Mykolaiv announced the fallout of more Russian aggression overnight. According to Governor Vitaliy Kim, a child was killed after Russian forces attacked the city of Ochakiv.
Kremenchuk shopping mall in central Ukraine hit by Russian airstrike, sparking fears of mass casualties
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said after the strike that up to 1,000 people were in the mall before the air raid was announced.
“Fortunately, as far as we know, at that time, many people managed to get out, they managed to get out, but there were still people inside — workers and some visitors,” he said.
At least 15 people were killed, according to a Telegram post from Dmytro Lunin, the head of the Poltava region military administration, who said earlier that the death toll could rise. At least 58 people were injured, Ukraine’s State Emergency Services said.
Zelensky said in his nightly video address Monday that the rescue operation was ongoing and that “we must be aware that the losses can be significant.”
Video from the scene showed heavy smoke billowing from the building, which was engulfed by fire. The mall measures about one hectare — roughly the size of two football fields — and the strike occurred around 4 p.m. local time, Solohub said.
“We don’t know how many more people might be under the rubble,” said Volodymyr Solohub, a regional official in the Poltava Oblast local administration.
Zelensky called the strike “one of the most defiant terrorist attacks in European history,” in his evening video address.
“A peaceful city, an ordinary shopping mall with women inside, children, ordinary civilians inside.”
“Only totally insane terrorists, who should have no place on earth, can strike missiles at such an object. And this is not an off-target missile strike, this is a calculated Russian strike — exactly at this shopping mall,” he said.
The attack targeted a site in central Ukraine far away from the epicenter of Russia’s war, which has recently been focused in the east of the country.
It came as G7 leaders met at a summit in Germany that was mostly geared toward coordinating the Western response to Russia’s invasion.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said from that meeting that the attack showed the “depths of cruelty and barbarism” of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the UK’s PA news agency reported.
“This appalling attack has shown once again the depths of cruelty and barbarism to which the Russian leader will sink,” Johnson said, according to PA.
In a tweet Monday, US President Joe Biden condemned the attack, saying, “Russia’s attack on civilians at a shopping mall is cruel. We stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people.”
“As demonstrated at the G7 Summit, the U.S. along with our allies and partners will continue to hold Russia accountable for such atrocities and support Ukraine’s defense,” Biden added.
French President Emmanuel Macron called the attack an “abomination,” in a tweet that included video of the burning shopping mall. “The Russian people have to see the truth,” he said.
And Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Dmitro Kuleba, said on Twitter: “Russia is a disgrace to humanity and it must face consequences. The response should be more heavy arms for Ukraine, more sanctions on Russia, and more businesses leaving Russia.”
Those issues were on the table at the summit in Germany. The G7 vowed to continue providing support for Ukraine “for as long as it takes” in a joint statement, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told CNN on Monday that she would not “bet on Russia” winning the war.
The US plans to announce as early as this week that it has bought an advanced, medium-to-long-range surface-to-air missile defense system for Ukraine, a source familiar with the announcement told CNN.
However despite the outward confidence of Western leaders, Russia has seen military successes in eastern Ukraine in recent days.
Russian forces captured the city of Severodonetsk after weeks of fighting and have also picked up territory south of Lysychansk.
They have eliminated most Ukrainian defenses in the Luhansk region and consolidated control of a belt of territory in the south, bringing strategic benefits and blunting the effectiveness of Ukrainian counterattacks.
Russian forces have also stepped up attacks in the Donetsk region, getting slightly closer to the belt of industrial towns in the region that runs south from Sloviansk through Kramatorsk to Kostiantynivka.
“Zelensky was very much focused on trying to ensure that Ukraine is in as advantageous a position on the battlefield as possible in the next months as opposed to the next years, because he believes that a grinding conflict is not in the interest of the Ukrainian people,” US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said after the Ukrainian President met virtually with leaders at the G7.
Earlier, a source familiar with the matter told CNN that Zelensky told leaders he wanted the war to be over by the end of the year, before winter sets in.
CNN’s Tim Lister, Vasco Cotovio, Sebastian Shukla, Kostan Nechyporenko and Sharif Paget contributed reporting.
Russia looks to block Western arms supplies to Ukraine, officials warn airstrike offensive will increase
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A top Ukrainian official warned Thursday that Russia is looking to ramp up its offensive in southern Ukraine and block Western arms supplies as the war carries on for nearly 100 days.
Russia is expected to increase air and missile strikes as it attempts to advance in the southern regions of Ukraine along the Black Sea.
Brigadier General Oleksiy Gromov, Deputy Chief of the Main Operations Department of the General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces, told reporters during a briefing that officials assess Russia will specifically target civilian infrastructure and military facilities.
Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces members train on the outskirts of Odesa, Ukraine, on Tuesday, May 24.
(AP/Max Pshybyshevsky)
GEN. KEANE: UKRAINIANS HAVE THE WILL TO WIN, WHETHER THEY ARE ABLE TO ‘REMAINS TO BE SEEN’
Gromov said Russia is looking to hasten its pace in southern Ukraine where it has made slow, incremental gains and establish a landbridge that connects western Russia with the Kremlin-backed breakaway region in Moldova known as Transnistria.
Russia has been ramping up the intensity of its invasion and has focused its efforts on claiming complete control over eastern and southern Ukraine.
Though the war has largely been fought with heavy artillery a ground offensive has been launched in the Luhansk region where Russian forces are attempting to gain control.
UKRAINE-RUSSIA WAR: US PLANNING ON SELLING POWERFUL DRONES TO AID KYIV IN FIGHT: REPORT
Servicemen of the Ukrainian Military Forces wait out the shelling in a shelter on a position in the Luhansk region on March 5, 2022.
(ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP via Getty Images)
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense warned Thursday that it believes Russia is attempting to encircle and capture all resistance forces fighting in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine with the goal of connecting western Russia to Crimea – which it has occupied since 2014.
If Russian forces are able to gain control over Luhansk, they would more easily be able to push west into Donetsk along with other regions in Ukraine.
The U.S. and NATO have been arming Ukraine in its fight against Russia, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that Russia has been able to gain control over 20 percent of the country.
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Officials have repeatedly warned Russia could make another attempt to take the capital city of Kyiv and therefore full control over Ukraine.
Gromov warned that Russia will increasingly target warehouse, storage facilities and logistics routes in an attempt to disrupt the supply of Western arms for Ukraine.
American journalist killed at checkpoint, Russian airstrike kills 35, wounds 134: LIVE UPDATES
Russia has asked China for military and economic assistance in its war against Ukraine, Fox News has confirmed.
The request for military equipment came after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.
The news comes as White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan prepares to meet with Chinese foreign policy adviser Yang Jiechi in Rome on Monday.
Chinese leaders have so far refused to criticize Putin for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and criticized economic sanctions from the West.
China abstained in multiple United Nations votes to censure Russia.
Despite predictions by some officials that Russian forces could take Kyiv could fall within 72 hours of an invasion, the Ukrainians have been able to defend their capital city and and stall the Russian offensive.
Click here to read more on Fox News.
U.S. condemns latest Russian attack in western Ukraine
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for an end to Russian “brutality.”
Ukrainian forces reportedly shot down Russian aircraft
The Air Force Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces says military downed 7 Russian aircraft and an unmanned aerial vehicle on March 13 using anti-aircraft missiles, the Kyiv Independent reported.
Biden and Macron discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his condolences for the death of American journalist Brent Renaud and discussed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in a call with President Biden on Sunday.
“They reviewed recent diplomatic engagements and underscored their commitment to hold Russia accountable for its actions and to support the government and people of Ukraine,” a White House readout of the call said.
After his call with Biden, Macron also talked to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday.
Many Western leaders have shunned contact with Putin after he launched the invasion on Feb. 24, but Macron has kept a line of communication with the Kremlin open.
On Saturday, Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had a 75-minute phone conversation with Putin, the latest of several calls between Macron and the Russian president.
Zelenskyy pushing for meeting with Putin as Ukrainian and Russian officials negotiate
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that his side is pushing for a meeting between him and Russian President Vladimir Putin during ongoing negotiations.
“Representatives of our countries’ delegations speak in video format every day. Our delegation has a clear task – to do everything to ensure a meeting of the presidents. The meeting that I am sure people are waiting for,” Zelenskyy said in a video posted to his Facebook page Sunday evening.
On Saturday, Zelenskyy said he would meet with Putin in Jerusalem. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett visited Moscow to meet with Putin earlier this week and has been trying to mediate and end to the war.
Zelenskyy also reiterated pleas for a no-fly zone over Ukraine after Russian forces targeted a military training facility just 15 miles from the Polish border, killing 35 people.
“Last year, I made a clear warning to NATO leaders that if there were no tough preventive sanctions against Russia, it would start a war. We were right,” Zelenskyy said.
“And now I repeat again – if you do not close our sky, it is only a matter of time before Russian missiles fall on your territory. NATO territory. On the homes of citizens of NATO countries.”
More than 850 Russians arrested across three dozen cities for protesting on Sunday
At least 864 people were arrested for protesting the invasion of Ukraine across 37 Russian cities on Sunday, according to the human rights group OVD-Info.
One protester, 31-year-old pianist Luka Zatravkin, was arrested Moscow’s Pushkin Square after handcuffing himself to the first McDonald’s to ever open in Russia.
“Why am I talking about McDonald’s in the first place? Because this chain of restaurants became the first breath of free air back in 1990,” Zatravkin wrote on his Telegram account, according to OVD-Info.
Nearly 15,000 Russians have been arrested in demonstrations since Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Elsewhere in Europe, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Warsaw, London, Berlin, Rome, and other cities.
In Kherson, the first major Ukrainian city to fall to Russian forces, thousands of residents have been protesting Russia’s occupation.
Ukrainian nationals and anti-war protesters also staged a demonstration in Taipei, Taiwan, on Sunday.
Power restored at Chernobyl, according to UN nuclear watchdog
Ukraine restored a damaged power line to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on Sunday, four days after the line was broken, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.
IAEA Director Rafael Mariano General Grossi praised the “positive development” but expressed concern for the 211 technical personnel and guards at the site, which is under the control of Russian forces.
“Earlier today, the Ukrainian regulator informed the IAEA that staff at [Chernobyl] were no longer carrying out repair and maintenance of safety-related equipment, in part due to their physical and psychological fatigue after working non-stop for nearly three weeks,” IAEA said Sunday.
Workers haven’t rotated since Russia invaded on Feb. 24 and communication between the power plant’s staff and officials has been cut off.
Zelenskyy adviser says 4th ‘negotiating session’ will take place Monday between Russia and Ukraine
An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that a fourth “negotiating session” will be held on Monday between Russia and Ukraine.
“We will not concede in principle on any positions. Russia now understands this. Russia is already beginning to talk constructively,” presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said in a video posted online Sunday. “I think that we will achieve some results literally in a matter of days.”
A third round of face-to-face peace talks between Ukrainian and Russian officials in Belarus earlier this week ended with an agreement on safe corridors for refugees, but without any other major breakthroughs.
Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said Sunday that while she believes Putin is “intent on destroying Ukraine,” unprecedented sanctions from the West may be forcing him to the bargaining table.
“That pressure is beginning to have some effect,” Sherman told “Fox News Sunday.” “We are seeing some signs of a willingness to have real serious negotiations.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that Russia would stop its invasion “in a moment” if Ukraine met a list of demands, including recognizing Crimea as Russian territory and the separatist regions of Donetsk and Lugansk as independent states.
Instagram leaving Russia at midnight on Sunday
About 80 million Russians who use Instagram were told that their access to the social media platform will be cut off at midnight on Sunday.
Russia’s communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, informed users Friday that the service would be shut down and told them to move their photos and videos off the platform.
It comes after Meta, Instagram’s parent company, announced last week that it would temporarily allow “for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules like violent speech such as ‘death to the Russian invaders.'”
In response, Russian prosecutors asked a court to designate Meta as an “extremist organization.”
Nick Clegg, the President of Global Affairs at Meta, said the temporary policy change only applies to people in Ukraine.
“I want to be crystal clear: our policies are focused on protecting people’s rights to speech as an expression of self-defense in reaction to a military invasion of their country,” Clegg said.
Russia has already blocked other social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Pentagon says Russia is ‘broadening its target set’ after airstrike on western Ukrainian airbase
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby on Sunday said that Russia appears to be “broadening its target set” following a series of airstrikes in western Ukraine that are creeping closer toward the Polish border, the beginning of NATO’s eastern flank.
Kirby appeared on ABC’s “This Week” and addressed the latest Russian airstrike on a Ukrainian airbase located just 13 miles east of Ukraine’s border with Poland, a NATO member. Kirby said it was Russia’s third airstrike on military facilities and airfields in western Ukraine in the last couple of days.
“We have been consistently concerned about NATO’s eastern flank and that airspace … and we continue to look for ways to bolster defense of NATO allies, we continue to look for ways to try to protect that airspace,” Kirby said.
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American journalist killed by Russian forces near Kyiv was working for Time magazine
Brent Renaud, an American journalist who was killed by Russian forces near Kyiv on Sunday, was working on a TIME Studios project about the global refugee crisis, the magazine confirmed.
“We are devastated by the loss of Brent Renaud. As an award-winning filmmaker and journalist, Brent tackled the toughest stories around the world often alongside his brother Craig Renaud,” executives from the magazine said in a statement on Sunday. “It is essential that journalists are able to safely cover this ongoing invasion and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.”
Train evacuating refugees, including 100 children, hit by Russian shelling, Ukrainian railroad says
A passenger train evacuating refugees, including 100 children, was hit by Russian shelling near the Brusyn station in the separatist-controlled Donetsk region of Ukraine, the country’s national railroad wrote on Facebook.
One conductor was killed and other was injured during the attack. The railroad was working to evacuate the crew and passengers
“This is a terrible blow to those who rescue civilian Ukrainians every day and paved the ‘road of life’ for more than 2 million rescued,” the railway wrote on Facebook.
Buildings damaged in Ternivka, Ukraine
Buildings were destroyed in Ternivka, a town in western Ukraine about 120 miles south of Kharviv, a satellite image taken by ImageSat International on Sunday afternoon shows.
Russian forces have targeted both military and civilian infrastructure during Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Satellite images show destroyed railroad bridge near Voznesensk, Ukraine
A satellite image taken by ImageSat International around 1:30 p.m. on Sunday shows a destroyed railroad bridge near Voznesensk, a town in southern Ukraine that is about 175 miles south of Kyiv.
Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton releases statement on death of American journalist Brent Renaud
Republican Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton paid tribute on Sunday to American journalist Brent Renaud, a Little Rock native who was shot and killed by Russian forces in a suburb of Kyiv.
“Arkansans are saddened today at the death of Brent Renaud in Ukraine. I join them in expressing deepest condolences to the Renaud family,” Sen. Cotton said in a statement. “And I reiterate to Vladimir Putin and his military leaders that the intentional targeting of innocent civilians, including reporters, is a war crime.”
Renaud, an award-winning journalist and former New York Times contributor, was killed when he came under fire from Russian forces, the Main Directorate of the National Police in Kyiv Region said Sunday. Two others were wounded.
Bipartisan House Problem Solvers Caucus calls for U.S. to send more military assistance to Ukraine
After Congress passed a spending bill this week that will send $13.6 billion in aid to Ukraine, the bipartisan House Problem Solvers Caucus called for the U.S. and NATO allies to send additional military assistance in the fight against Russia, including stinger missiles, S-300 surface-to-air missile systems, and U.S.-made aircraft.
“We commend the Polish government for taking proactive steps to deliver MiG-29 jets to the Ukrainian Air Force. We urge assistance to help facilitate this deal, commit to replenishing our allies’ fleets with American-made aircraft and help advance the transfer of Su-25 aircraft to Ukraine as well,” the group, which is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, said in a statement on Sunday.
“We also believe that the U.S. should seriously consider strategies to provide further drone capability to the Ukrainians, as they have already used Bayraktar TB2 drones with success on the battlefield.”
Ukraine foreign minister speaks with Sec. Blinken: ‘coordinated further support for Ukraine’
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he spoke with Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday, saying they “coordinated further support for Ukraine.”
Bearing witness to destruction
US senators dismiss ‘World War III’ worries, say US forces would dominate Russian troops
The U.S. shouldn’t fear World War III with Russia after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces displayed an impressive level of “ineptness” in Ukraine, according to some U.S. senators.
“I wouldn’t call it World War III,” Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, said during “Fox News Sunday.” “I think … it would end pretty quickly because with the conventional forces that he’s had there, you know, we haven’t seen this kind of ineptness in a long, long time. So I’m not as concerned about that.”
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Jack Keane says Russia working to ‘encircle’ Kyiv then ‘hammer’ the capital: ‘Slaughter the people’
Fox News senior strategic analyst Gen. Jack Keane said Russian forces are working to “encircle” Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv and “hammer it as soon as it’s in range.”
“Their intent here is to rubble as much of that city as they can, slaughter the people that are inside of it, and get a capitulation out of [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy without having to go into the city,” Keane said on “Fox News Sunday.”
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White House axed plan to train Ukrainians in guerrilla warfare fearing it may provoke Russia: Report
Senior U.S. military officials pushed for additional special operations personnel to be sent to Ukraine in the lead up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but the request was denied amid White House fears it could provoke Russia, according to a report.
As Russia stationed about 100,000 troops on its border with Ukraine last year, U.S. military officials told lawmakers in December that a “few hundred” additional special operations personnel should be sent to the country to assist with military advice and training, Politico reported Sunday.
The personnel would have trained Ukrainians on guerrilla tactics and unconventional warfare methods. The training would have been different from the formal training at the Yavoriv Combat Training Center in western Ukraine, sources told the outlet.
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85 children killed in Ukraine, more than 100 wounded since invasion began, Ukrainian official says
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has killed 85 children and wounded more than 100 others, a Ukrainian official said Sunday.
The casualties come as Russia’s “deliberate and brutal shelling of civilians continues,” Ukraine Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova said in a tweet. She said that 369 educational institutions have also been damaged, 57 of which were destroyed in attacks.
Pope Francis responded to the bloodshed in Ukraine on Saturday, calling for an end to the war and emphasizing the impact on children.
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Former NYT contributor killed, other journalists wounded by Russian fire, Kyiv police say
Ukrainian national police said Sunday an American journalist was killed and at least two others were wounded when they came under fire by Russian forces near the capital city of Kyiv.
The Main Directorate of the National Police in Kyiv Region tweeted photos Sunday purportedly showing a bloodied journalist, his U.S. passport, and his press badge enclosed in a U.S. peacekeeper holder.
Both documents bore identification photos and the name Brent Renaud.
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Russian airstrike targets Orthodox Christian monastery where 200 children were sheltering: Report
An Orthodox Christian monastery in Ukraine sheltering hundreds of refugees, including children, was reportedly hit by an airstrike Saturday night.
“Window frames flew out as a result of the terrible force of the explosion in the Lavra’s temples,” a statement from Ukraine’s parliament said, according to the Washington Post. “An explosive wave smashed all the windows and doors in the Lavra hotels.”
The Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, said about 500 refugees, including 200 children, were taking shelter in the Holy Dormition Svyatogorsk Lavra, located in the Donetsk region. The airstrike happened about 10 p.m. local time, the Washington Post reported.
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Russia will turn to China to soften blow from sanctions: finance minister
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said Sunday that the government will count on China to help it withstand crippling sanctions from the West as nearly half of its gold and foreign currency reserves remain frozen.
“We have part of our gold and foreign exchange reserves in the Chinese currency, in yuan, and we see what pressure is being exerted by Western countries on China in order to limit mutual trade with China,” Siluanov explained during a TV interview.
“But I think that our partnership with China will still allow us to maintain the cooperation that we have achieved, and not only maintain, but also increase it in an environment where Western markets are closing.”
Siluanov only one month ago claimed Russia could withstand sanctions thanks to a wealth of reserves and even considered offering Eurobonds to foreign investors once market volatility subsided, Reuters reported.
Second Ukrainian mayor captured as Russia invaders target elected politicians: Ukrainian official
Russian forces took a second Ukrainian mayor captive, Ukrainian officials said Sunday.
Russian “war criminals” abducted Yevhen Matveyev, mayor of Dniprorudne, a city in the Vasylivka Raion of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, according to Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba.
“Getting zero local support, invaders turn to terror,” Kuleba tweeted. “I call on all states & international organizations to stop Russian terror against Ukraine and democracy.
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Philippines pres. open to hosting American forces if Ukraine war escalates
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is ready to make the country’s “facilities” available to American forces should NATO end up embroiled in Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez said the president declared his intention during a recent meeting in Manila. Duterte has fostered closer ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, but he condemned invasion of Ukraine and voted in support of a U.N. resolution to demand Russia’s immediate withdrawal.
“He says if they’re asking for the support of the Philippines, it’s very clear that, of course, if push comes to shove, the Philippines will be ready to be part of the effort, especially if this Ukrainian crisis spills over to the Asian region,” Romualdez said in an online briefing with Manila-based journalists.
“Give them the assurance that if ever needed, the Philippines is ready to offer whatever facilities or whatever things that the United States will need being a major — our number one ally.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
UPDATE: Airbase death toll climbs to 35 confirmed dead, 134 wounded
Ukrainian authorities Sunday reported the death toll following a Russian airstrike on a Ukrainian airbase rose to 35 confirmed dead and 134 wounded.
The airbase is located in the Lviv Oblast, some 30 miles from downtown Lviv and only 13 miles from Poland’s border.
Britain will pay sponsors to host Ukrainians in their homes
British Secretary of State for Housing Michael Gove announced the “Homes for Ukraine” program, which will pay U.K. sponsors around $450 a month to host a Ukrainian fleeing the war.
The program will allow Ukrainians to remain in the country for up to three years, Sky News reported. Refugees in the program will have access to public services, can claim benefits and can work in the U.K. during that time.”
There are a large number of people in this country, generous hearted and in a position to provide homes, and businesses and charities as well,” Gove said.
Ministers believe that hotels, landlords, B&B owners and Airbnb properties will provide the bulk of housing for the program.
Russians hit Ukrainian military base near Polish border in war’s westernmost attack
Russian troops launched an airstrike on a Ukrainian military base just 15 miles east of the Polish border, officials said Sunday, in what appeared to be the westernmost attack of the war, according to a report.
At least nine people were killed in the attack and 57 wounded, the government said, Reuters reported.
NATO sometimes conducts joint military exercises with Ukraine at the International Center for Peacekeeping and Security training base in Yavoriv and U.S. and other foreign troops had been at the base before the invasion, according to Reuters. Poland is a member of NATO.
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Russian airstrike on airbase just miles from NATO ally: ‘already on your border’
The airstrike on a Ukrainian airbase Sunday occurred just 13 miles from the Polish border, marking the closest the conflict has come to a NATO ally.
Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovy urged NATO allies to help stop the war, saying, “Do you understand that war is closer than you imagine? Russia is already on your border.”
“You have fighters that can protect our skies, and when I say ‘ours’ I mean not only Ukraine, because very soon this war may lose the prefix Russian-Ukraine,” Sadovy added.
The Russian strike occurred just before 6 a.m. local time, killing at least 9 people and injuring a further 57.The base is located within the Lviv Oblast some 30 miles from downtown Lviv.
Bureaucracy is fueling the humanitarian crisis in Poland: Ukrainian-born congresswoman
Indiana Rep. Victoria Spartz weighs in on how the Russian invasion of Ukraine is affecting the global supply chain.
Chernobyl nuclear plant having power restored, Russia claims, denying takeover of site
The Russian government said Saturday that specialists had been sent to the Chernobyl nuclear site in Ukraine to help restore power there, according to a report.
The facility had electricity cut off several days ago, prompting Ukrainian officials to warn of a potential radiation leakage at the site, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Chernobyl was the site where the world’s worst nuclear accident occurred in 1986.
Russian forces took control of Chernobyl and Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear site early in the invasion that began Feb. 24.
Russia has denied Ukrainian reports that its personnel have taken over the sites, claiming instead that Russian advisers were providing “consultative assistance” to Ukrainian staffers at the plants, the Journal reported.
Ukrainian officials claimed that Rosatom, Russia’s nuclear agency, had taken control of the Ukrainian power facilities, but Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s representative to the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) denied the claim, according to the newspaper.
Russian airstrike targets Ukrainian military training site: reports
At least 9 dead, 57 wounded in the attack. Fox News chief correspondent Jonathan Hunt provides updates.
Airstrike in eastern Ukraine damages centuries-old Orthodox Christian monastery: report
A centuries-old Orthodox Christian monastery in eastern Ukraine was damaged in an airstrike Saturday night, according to a report.
More than 500 refugees, including about 200 children, were using the monastery as a shelter, the Washington Post reported. Ukraine’s parliament said at least several people were hurt as a result of the airstrike. No fatalities were reported.
The refugees and monks had moved to the basement on Saturday, the parliament said, according to the Post.
The Holy Dormition Svyatogorsk Lavra is located in the Donetsk region of the country. It is at least 495 years old, with the earliest documentation of its existence dating to 1526, the parliament said, according to the Post.
NATO chief warns Russian might use chemical weapons in Ukraine
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned on Sunday that Russia might use chemical weapons in Ukraine.
“In recent days, we have heard absurd claims about chemical and biological weapons laboratories,” he told German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, according to Reuters.
“Now that these false claims have been made, we must remain vigilant because it is possible that Russia itself could plan chemical weapons operations under this fabrication of lies. That would be a war crime,” he added.
Russian troops ‘paying a high price’ due to Ukrainian resistance: UK Defense Ministry
The U.K. Defense Ministry said in a Sunday morning update that Russian troops are “paying a high price” with each advance in Ukraine because the Ukrainian Armed Forces “continues to offer staunch resistance across the country.”
The update added that Russian troops are attempting to surround Ukrainian forces in the east of the country by advancing from Kharkiv in the north and Mariupol in the south.
“Russian forces advancing from Crimea are attempting to circumvent Mykolaiv as they look to drive west toward Odesa,” the ministry said.
Russian intel official’s reported arrest reveals Putin’s frustration with Ukraine war effort: expert
Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly placed one of his top intelligence officials under house arrest, a move that one expert tells Fox News Digital would be a sign that Putin is seeking to shift blame for a Ukrainian invasion that U.S. intelligence believes has not gone according to plan.
Russian journalist Andrei Soldatov claims Putin has arrested Sergey Beseda, head of the Federal Security Service, The Sunday Times of London reported. Fox News has not independently confirmed the report.
Beseda has reportedly been placed under house arrest along with his deputy Anatoly Bolyukh.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) is Russia’s top security and counterintelligence apparatus. One former U.S. intelligence officer tells Fox News Digital that the move signals Putin’s dissatisfaction with his intelligence community’s assessment of the Ukrainian invasion.
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Putin successfully implementing proactive US-developed strategy while US lags behind: expert
A former U.S. intelligence official tells Fox News Digital that Russia has embraced over the years a similar plan to an American military concept known as the OODA loop which enables one side to react to unfolding events more rapidly and efficiently than an opponent.
The OODA loop, which stands for observe, orient, decide, act and was developed by U.S. Air Force Col. John Boyd and is defined by Tech-Target as a “four-step approach to decision-making that focuses on filtering available information, putting it in context and quickly making the most appropriate decision while also understanding that changes can be made as more data becomes available.
“The strategy is especially useful, according to Tech-Target, in “scenarios where competition is involved and where the ability to react to changing circumstances faster than an opponent leads to an advantage.
“Rebekah Koffler, a former U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency agent and author of “Putin’s Playbook: Russia’s Secret Plan to Defeat America,” told Fox News Digital that the Russians have adopted a similar concept.
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Republican lawmakers slam Biden for delayed response in supporting Ukraine
U.S. Reps. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin and Michael Waltz of Florida call on the Biden administration to supply Ukraine with ‘everything they need’ to defeat Russia.
Saturday’s Fox News Live Updates Page
Click here to read Fox News’ live coverage from Saturday.