At least one person has died as Ukraine targeted the Moscow region with over 650 drones overnight, believed to be the largest aerial attack on the Russian capital in the last two years.
A major Russian oil facility was among the targets of the attack, with reports of a fire seen at the Volodarsk Linear Production and Dispatch Center near the village of Konstantinovo.
It comes after Ukraine said it had neutralised more than half of Russia’s oil refining capacity with long-range strikes deep into Russian territory, as it seeks to hurt a key revenue stream for Vladimir Putin's war chest.
Kyiv has continued to strike Russian oil infrastructure despite repeated requests to stop doing so from US president Donald Trump, who again blamed Ukraine on Monday for high gas prices in America.
Volodymyr Zelensky has said he is happy to agree to stop striking Russian energy targets, but only if Moscow is willing to reciprocate and work towards ending its invasion.
Trump says US will help Russia after Siberia plague institute death
US president Donald Trump on Monday at the White House told reporters that the United States will help Russia after a laboratory worker died at a plague research institute in Siberia.
Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a trip to Nebraska that the outbreak is a "big problem for Russia."
A laboratory worker at a plague research institute in Siberia fell ill and died in undisclosed circumstances, prompting authorities to quarantine dozens of people.
The death has sparked public health fears on social media, but Russian authorities said on Monday the situation was under control.
"Well, I hate to see them having it," Trump said. "It's a rough disease."He said the US would do what it could to help Russia.
Trump has said he considers Russian president Vladimir Putin someone whom he can work with despite tensions over Russia's war against Ukraine. "We'll help," Trump said. “Anybody who has that kind of a problem, we’ll always help.”
Ukraine targets Russian oil facility in a major attack
Ukrainian drones have targeted a major oil facility in Moscow Oblast, in what Russian state media described as the largest attack on the region in two years.
A fire was reported at the Volodarsk Linear Production and Dispatch Center, near the village of Konstantinovo.
At least 650 Ukrainian drones were fired towards the capital during the overnight attack, with Russian air defence system downing 105, said Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin. Ukraine has yet to comment.
Ukraine claims to have taken out more than half of Russia’s oil refining capacity
Ukraine says its long-range strikes have neutralised more than half of Russia’s oil refining capacity, hampering Moscow’s ability to supply its forces during its four-and-a-half-year-old invasion.
The defence ministry said late on Sunday that recent strikes on refineries in cities, including Moscow, Yaroslavl, Ust-Luga, Perm, Saratov and Syzran, had disabled 51 per cent of Russia’s oil refining capacity. The claim could not be independently verified.
Moscow and Kyiv have intensified th3eir aerial assaults as progress along the 1,200km front line has largely ground to a halt.
Ukraine's drones kill one, injure six in Moscow region, governor says
A Ukrainian drone attack killed one person and injured another six in the Moscow region surrounding the Russian capital, governor Andrei Vorobyov said on Telegram on Tuesday.
Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said earlier that Russia downed most of the 650 drones launched towards the capital overnight, of which 105 drones were downed close to the city itself.
Ukraine shifts to AI robot guns to tackle Russian drones
Ukraine has shifted to using AI-enabled robot guns to intercept and take down Russian drones, said the country’s air force on Monday.
“Robotic turrets are now being installed on bridges” to respond to Russia’s newer jet-powered drones, said air force spokesperson Yuri Ignat.
“There have already been shoot-downs" of the drones, he said, including Russia's bigger and faster model.
The technology uses “optical vision and artificial intelligence to eliminate the human factor and deliver strikes,” Ignat told AFP.
What will the next leader of the UN need to get the job done in an increasingly complex world?
On 1 January, the next United Nations secretary-general will take over an aging organisation still controlled by World War II powers. What will the world need from that person?
Report:
Ukraine sent 650 drones towards Moscow region overnight, city mayor says
Ukraine has sent 650 drones towards the Moscow region overnight, Sergei Sobyanin, mayor of the Russian capital city, said on Telegram on Tuesday, adding that 105 drones were downed close to the city.
Watch: Inside mysterious Russian lab where worker died of suspected plague ‘that escaped from broken test tube’
India says it wants to be more involved in ending Ukraine war as Zelensky hails peace plan
India is involved “beyond advocacy” in finding an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, foreign minister S Jaishankar said, after both Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky hailed plans proposed by Delhi.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference in Delhi, Mr Jaishankar said India had held talks with both Moscow and Kyiv in recent months, discussing proposals ranging from protecting Black Sea shipping to halting attacks on energy infrastructure.
India has maintained a neutral stance on the war. It has called for a halt to fighting but has seemed reluctant to directly criticise Russia because of close defence and bilateral ties.
Prime minister Narendra Modi urged Mr Putin to end the war as recently as August, when they met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan.
Mr Jaishankar said India was now engaged in conversations with Russia as well as Ukraine about practical steps towards reducing hostilities.
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Watch: Moment Russian drone hits bridge in Ukraine's Kyiv
