MOSCOW: Russia said Wednesday that a major airport near the city of Kazan, 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from Ukraine, had been temporarily closed after the region was targeted by a Ukrainian attack drone.
Ukrainian forces have in recent weeks escalated aerial attacks on Russian border regions but have also been able to strike targets deep inside Russian territory.
The defense ministry said it had downed a Ukrainian drone over the central region of Tatarstan but did not specify what was the target of the attack.
Two airports in the region, including in the major hub of Kazan, were temporarily closed around the same time, Russian aviation body, Rosaviatsia announced.
“To ensure the safety of civil aircraft, temporary restrictions have been imposed on the work of two airports in Tatarstan — Kazan and Nizhnekamsk,” state news agencies cited the agency as saying.
Russia earlier said it had neutralized 17 Ukrainian drones overnight as Kyiv targeted a fuel depot in the southern city of Rostov, home to Moscow’s military headquarters for its operation in Ukraine.
Russian aerial defense systems intercepted and destroyed 17 drones across several border areas, as well as 10 ATACMS missiles over the annexed Crimean peninsula, the defense ministry said.
Two drones caused explosions at a fuel depot in Rostov without setting off a fire or wounding anyone, local governor Vasily Golubev said on Telegram.
More than two years into the conflict on its territory with its larger and more heavily-armed neighbor, Ukraine has regularly targeted Russian energy facilities and fuel supplies.
Kyiv argues that these attacks are justified as the facilities are used to supply the Russian army.
Ukraine has vowed to take the battle to Russian soil after suffering massive destruction on its territory from more than two years of bombardments.
Russia suspends traffic at two airports over drone threat
https://arab.news/cj2hf
Russia suspends traffic at two airports over drone threat
- Ukrainian forces have in recent weeks escalated aerial attacks on Russian border regions
- Russia earlier said it had neutralized 17 Ukrainian drones overnight
Russia puts 72-year-old US man on trial as Ukraine mercenary
“We are aware of the reports of the arrest of an American citizen,” the US embassy in Moscow said
MOSCOW: A Moscow court on Friday began the trial of a 72-year-old American man accused of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine, Russian news agencies reported.
Moscow City Court is hearing a criminal case against the American “over participating as a mercenary in the armed conflict on the side of Ukraine,” RIA Novosti news agency said.
It identified the man as Stefan Hubbard but said his name could be spelled differently, with social media posts suggesting the name could be Stephen Hubbard.
“We are aware of the reports of the arrest of an American citizen. Due to privacy restrictions we are unable to comment any further,” the US embassy in Moscow said in a statement.
The pensioner from Michigan moved to Ukraine in 2014, RIA Novosti said. Reports did not make clear when or how Hubbard arrived in Moscow.
At the hearing at Moscow’s highest city court, a judge agreed to the prosecutor’s request to detain Hubbard for six months on the grounds that he could try to flee, remanding him in custody until March 26, 2025.
The next hearing was set for next Thursday.
Participating as a mercenary in an armed conflict is punishable by up to 15 years in prison under Russian law.
A video posted on YouTube channels in May 2022 showed a man who gives his name as Stephen James Hubbard and said he was living in the city of Izyum in the Kharkiv region.
The man says he was born in Big Rapids, Michigan, and came to Izyum in 2014.
He looks dishevelled with a long beard and dirty nails.
Russia occupied part of the Kharkiv region including Izyum in March 2022 shortly after launching its February 24 offensive, and Ukraine retook Izyum in September 2022.
The American signed a contract with a Ukrainian territorial defense battalion the day after Russian forces entered Ukraine, the prosecutor said in court, RIA Novosti reported.
In this role, he was paid “at least $1,000 a month,” underwent training, received a uniform and weapons and “took part in the armed conflict,” the prosecutor said.
He was detained by a Russian soldier on April 2, 2022, she added without giving details.
Russia has arrested several US citizens in recent years on charges ranging from espionage and criticizing the Russian army to petty theft and family disputes.
Philippines opens Mindanao’s longest bridge to boost development
- 3.17-km-long Panguil Bay Bridge to be followed by a longer one in Mindanao’s southeast
- It cuts travel between Misamis Occidental and Lanao del Norte from 2 hours to 7 minutes
Manila: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. inaugurated on Friday the longest bridge in Mindanao in a move expected to boost connectivity in the long-underdeveloped southern Philippines.
The 3.17-km Panguil Bay Bridge linking Tangub City in Misamis Occidental province to Tubod town in Lanao del Norte slashes travel time from about 2.5 hours to seven minutes.
Funded by a loan from South Korea’s Economic Development Cooperation Fund, construction of the 8-billion-peso ($143 million) two-way, two-lane bridge started in February 2020 and was completed this month.
“The increased economic activity is going to be a very important development building block for both the provinces and for the entire island of Mindanao,” Marcos said as he officially opened the bridge.
“With this bridge, what once took two hours will now take seven minutes and will benefit 10,000 travelers a day … I would like to highlight the ripple effect it will have on local businesses.”
Approved during the Benigno Aquino III administration in 2015, the bridge’s construction started under the administration of Rodrigo Duterte and was completed under Marcos.
Hailed as a landmark infrastructure achievement in the region, the Panguil Bay Bridge will soon face competition.
The 3.98-km Samal Island-Davao City Connector in Mindanao’s southeastern Davao Region is set to surpass the Panguil Bay Bridge as Mindanao’s longest in 2027.
Dozens of children drown in eastern India during Hindu festival
- Jivitputrika festival focuses on children’s health, prosperity
- Its observance includes fasting, taking ritual bath in a river
New Delhi: At least 46 people, including 37 children, drowned in the Indian state of Bihar while bathing with their mothers in rivers to observe the Hindu festival of Jivitputrika, local disaster management authorities said on Friday.
The three-day festival, also known as Jitiya, which started on Wednesday is focused on the health and prosperity of children. Celebrated mainly in eastern India, it includes a strict fast, during which mothers go without any food or water for 24 hours.
They break the fast after taking a ritual dip in a river — often with their children.
This year, many rivers in Bihar have been swollen by recent floods and heavy monsoon rains.
“It was a Jitiya festival and people went to the rivers to take baths in different places. Young kids in the age group of eight, nine, ten, they also go to take bath with their mothers.
“During this process, something went wrong, and the accidents took place,” Nadeemul Ghaffar Siddiqui, joint secretary of the Disaster Management Authority in Bihar, told Arab News.
The incidents were reported in nearly half of Bihar’s districts.
“There are 46 deaths, most of them being youngsters in the age group of 8 to 17, and there are also seven women,” Ghaffar said.
“The Bihar government has given compensation to 20 families and the compensation amount is 4 lakh rupees ($4,800).”
UK Just Stop Oil duo jailed for throwing soup at Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’
- Phoebe Plummer, 23, and Anna Holland, 22, threw tins of Heinz tomato soup on the artwork in October 2022
- The pair pleaded not guilty
LONDON: Two climate activists from Just Stop Oil who threw soup at Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” painting in London’s National Gallery were on Friday jailed for criminal damage.
Phoebe Plummer, 23, and Anna Holland, 22, threw tins of Heinz tomato soup on the artwork in October 2022, before glueing themselves to the wall below the painting.
The soup caused up to 10,000 pounds ($13,385) worth of damage to the frame, prosecutors said, though the painting – which was behind a protective screen – was unharmed and went back on display later the same day.
The pair pleaded not guilty but were convicted after a trial at London’s Southwark Crown Court, where Plummer was sentenced to two years in prison for the criminal damage charge. Holland was sentenced to 20 months in prison.
Judge Christopher Hehir said Plummer and Holland “came within the width of a pane of glass of irreparably damaging or even destroying” the painting, which he said was “probably priceless in a literal sense.”
Germany confirms Biden visit and Ukraine allies meeting
- Germany was “happy” to host Biden for what has been billed as a goodbye visit ahead of the US presidential election in November
Berlin: Germany said Friday that US President Joe Biden will travel to the country October 10-12, and would host an international meeting to discuss military support for Ukraine.
Germany was “happy” to host Biden for what has been billed as a goodbye visit ahead of the US presidential election in November, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s spokesman Steffen Hebestreit told a press conference.
“I can confirm that as part of the visit a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group... will be convened,” Hebestreit said.
The military meeting is expected on October 12 at the US air base in Ramstein near Frankfurt and is expected to bring together more than 50 of Ukraine’s allies.
The last meeting, also at Ramstein, was attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who appealed for additional weapons to repel advancing Russian forces.
Hebestreit did not confirm whether Zelensky would attend again in October.
The gathering will come at a crucial juncture for Ukraine ahead of the US election, which could upend the support that Kyiv receives from its biggest backer.
Republican candidate Donald Trump has long been critical of the billions of dollars the United States has given to Ukraine and has echoed Russian talking points about the conflict.
Hebestreit said that as well as talks with Scholz, Biden’s trip would also include a meeting with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
