Ukraine war briefing: Russian drone factory attacked, 1,000km away in Tatarstan
Ukraine's military said on Sunday it had attacked a Russian drone factory in the city of Yelabuga in Russia's Tatarstan region. The target is around 1,000km from Ukraine. The Ukrainian military general staff said the factory produced, tested, and launched drones at Ukraine, in particular against energy and civil infrastructure. Videos on social media showed an explosion said to be at the factory in Yelabuga, also known as Alabuga, which builds Iranian-designed Shahed drones. The Russian local governor confirmed the attack.
Russian forces hit the Kremenchuk oil refinery in Ukraine's Poltava region with missiles and drones, Russia's defence ministry said on Sunday. Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, denounced the attack on the central Poltava region as a vile strike against Ukrainian energy infrastructure, which he said occurred 'after the Americans asked us not to strike at Russian energy facilities'. Ukrainian officials said the strikes mainly hit energy, agricultural and civilian installations.
Russian forces have advanced in northern Sumy Oblast and near Kupyansk, Siversk, Chasiv Yar, and Toretsk, . Russia's defence ministry claimed on Sunday that its forces had taken control of the village of Malynivka in the Donetsk region, known in Russia as Ulyanovka. Zelenskiy said on Saturday that Ukrainian forces had recaptured Andriivka village in north-eastern Sumy as part of a drive to expel Russian forces from the area. Neither side's claims were independently confirmed.
The Ukrainian office for the return of prisoners of war confirmed on Sunday that Russia had returned 1,200 bodies to Ukraine as part of continuing exchanges.
A building used by Boeing in Kyiv was badly damaged in a recent large-scale Russian air attack, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing two Boeing employees, three Ukrainian officials and the head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine. There had been 'no operational disruption', Andriy Koryagin, deputy general director of Boeing's operation in Ukraine, told the newspaper, and none of its employees were harmed.
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The Hill
16 minutes ago
- The Hill
Erdogan vows to boost Turkey's missile production as Israel-Iran war escalates
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — As the war between Israel and Iran escalates, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he plans to strengthen the country's deterrence capabilities so that no country would dare attack it. Erdogan announced plans this week to step up Turkey's production of medium- and long-range missiles. Erdogan discussed the Iran-Israel war with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in a telephone call on Friday. He told Merz that the Iranian nuclear issue can only be resolved through negotiations, according to Erdogan's office. Despite Turkey's tense relations with Israel, analysts and officials don't see an immediate threat of the conflict spreading into NATO-member Turkey. Still, some see the move by Erdogan as a sign that the Israel-Iran war could trigger a new arms race in the region, with countries not directly involved in the fray ramping up their military efforts to preempt future conflicts. Ahmet Kasim Han, a professor of international relations at Istanbul's Beykoz University, said that Turkey was reacting to what he described as an unraveling world order. 'The Turkish government is drifting toward what is the name of the game in the Middle East right now: an escalation of an arms race,' he said. Israel and the U.S. have set a high standard in aerial warfare, creating a technological gap that Turkey and others are eager to close, Han said. Erdogan said following a Cabinet meeting on Monday that 'we are making production plans to bring our medium- and long-range missile stockpiles to a level that ensures deterrence, in light of recent developments.' 'God willing, in the not-too-distant future, we will reach a defense capacity that is so strong that no one will even dare to act tough toward us,' Erdogan said. In an separate address days later, the Turkish leader highlighted Turkey's progress in its domestically developed defense industry, that includes drones, fighter jets, armored vehicles and navy vessels, but stressed that continued effort was needed to ensure full deterrence. 'Although Turkey has a very large army — the second largest in NATO — its air power, its air defense is relatively weaker,' said Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, a Turkey analyst at the German Marshall Fund think tank. The ongoing conflict has reinforced the importance of air superiority, including missiles and missile defense systems, prompting 'countries in the region, including Turkey to strengthen its air power,' he said. Since the start of the conflict, Erdogan has been scrambling to end the hostilities. He has held a flurry of phone calls with leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, offering to act as a 'facilitator' for the resumption of negotiations on Iran's nuclear program. There are deep concerns in Turkey that a prolonged conflict will cause energy disruptions and lead to refugee movement from Iran, with which it shares a 560 kilometer-long (348 mile) border. Turkey relies heavily on energy imports, including from Iran, and rising oil prices due to the conflict could aggravate inflation and further strain its troubled economy. Turkey has strongly criticized Israel's actions, saying Iran has the legitimate right to defend itself against Israel's attacks, which came as nuclear negotiations were ongoing. Once close allies, Turkey and Israel have grown deeply estranged, especially after the start of the war in Gaza in 2023, with Erdogan becoming one of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's fiercest critics. Relations further deteriorated following the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad's government, as Israel grew increasingly wary of expanding Turkish influence in Syria. Earlier this year, Turkey and Israel however, established a 'de-escalation mechanism' aimed at preventing conflict between their troops in Syria. The move came after Syria's Foreign Ministry said that Israeli jets had struck a Syrian air base that Turkey reportedly hoped to use. Israel hasn't commented on Turkey's announcement that it plans to ramp up missile production, but Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar responded to Erdogan's criticisms of Israel over its attack on Iran in an X post on Wednesday. He accused Erdogan of having 'imperialist ambitions' and of having 'set a record in suppressing the freedoms and rights of his citizens, as well as his country's opposition.' Erdogan's nationalist ally, Devlet Bahceli, suggested that Turkey was a potential target for Israel, accusing the country of strategically 'encircling' Turkey with its military actions. He didn't elaborate. Analysts say, however, that such statements were for 'domestic consumption' to garner support amid growing anti-Israel sentiment in Turkey. 'I don't think that Israel has any interest in attacking Turkey, or Turkey has any interest in a conflict with Israel,' Han said.
Newsweek
27 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Israeli and Iranian People Deserve Better
Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the interpretation of facts and data. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. On January 8, 2020, 176 people boarded Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752, departing Tehran for Kyiv. Minutes after takeoff, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired two surface-to-air missiles at the civilian airliner, killing everyone aboard. The IRGC's aerospace chief at the time, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who also oversaw the regime's missile development programme, did not apologize or resign. Nor was he dismissed. He remained in charge of a rapidly expanding arsenal of missiles and drones used by Iran and shipped to proxy forces in Yemen and Lebanon to terrorize the region. Last week, Hajizadeh was among those killed by Israel in Operation Rising Lion — a series of pre-emptive strikes targeting Iran's nuclear weapons infrastructure and military command. Israelis can be grateful. So can Iranians. Israel's operation was not impetuous. It marked the culmination of years of intelligence gathering pointing to Tehran's leadership approaching imminent nuclear capability as part of a mass extermination plan for the State of Israel. While larger nations hesitated, dithered and opted for futile dialogue, Israel acted. Because it had to. Delay could have been existential. Israel could not afford to wait for a mushroom cloud to form over Tel Aviv or Jerusalem before responding. Operation Rising Lion has disrupted and significantly scaled back Iran's nuclear weapons development plans, crippled its missile production infrastructure, and eliminated senior military and intelligence officials, as well as nuclear scientists, who were responsible for the regime's plans for nuclear annihilation. While Israel's targets have been carefully planned on targets of military value, Tehran's strikes have been aimed at communities, schools, synagogues and hospitals across the country. Among them was Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba on Thursday, the largest hospital in southern Israel. A member of the Israeli security forces checks the destruction at site of an Iranian missile attack in a residential area in Beersheba in southern Israel, on June 20, 2025. A member of the Israeli security forces checks the destruction at site of an Iranian missile attack in a residential area in Beersheba in southern Israel, on June 20, 2025. Photo by MAYA LEVIN/AFP via Getty Images Israelis have not been the only victims of the Islamic Republic's priorities. Ordinary Iranians have been left without clean water, heating, job security or freedom of expression as Tehran has poured inordinate sums of money into assembling murderous proxies across the Middle East. It bankrolls groups such as Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Hamas—whose October 7 massacre of Israeli civilians bore Tehran's fingerprints. The kidnapping of more than 250 Israeli and foreign nationals came straight from the playbook of a regime that held 50 Americans hostage for 444 days in 1979 and which has continued to engage in hostage diplomacy — as with the case of Iranian-British national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, held on spurious charges from 2016 to 2022. Inside Iran, the people have made their suffering — and their opposition to their callous government — clear. Over the past 46 years, they have risen time and again, and at great cost, to resist their rulers. Millions protested during the 2009 Green Movement against what appeared to be a rigged presidential election. Millions more took to the streets during the 2017 and 2018 economic protests. Women and girls ripped off their hijabs in open defiance of the country's clerical rulers following the death in police custody of Jina Mahsa Amini in late 2022. And, in the past month, truck drivers staged massive strikes to protest against abysmally low salaries and debilitating fuel hikes. All of these acts of insurrection reveal a nation unbowed in the face of violent oppression. They are acts of national defiance against a government that values uranium enrichment and foreign militias over bread and basic human rights. As a British Jew of Persian descent living in New York, I yearn for the day when the people of Israel and Iran can rekindle the friendship they once had. Before the Islamic Revolution of 1979, they did. Regular direct flights once shuttled passengers from Tehran to Tel Aviv. In 1950, Iran was even the second Muslim-majority country to recognize the State of Israel. That relationship was ruptured not by the Iranian people, but stolen by a nascent theocracy that villainised Israel and the United States as the "Little" and "Great Satan." Today, Israel defends itself not with any animosity toward Iranians but in solidarity with them. Operation Rising Lion is a strike not only on nuclear facilities buried deep underground and military command centers. It is also a strike against a regime that has hijacked a great nation's future. The Iranian people deserve better. And the world, if it values peace, stability, and human life, should thank Israel for doing what must be done. Jonathan Harounoff is Israel's international spokesperson to the United Nations and is the British author of "Unveiled: Inside Iran's #WomanLifeFreedom Revolt," out this September. The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
Boston Globe
31 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Under attack from Israel, Iran's supreme leader faces a stark choice
In a video address Wednesday he sounded defiant, vowing 'the Iranian nation is not one to surrender' and warning that if the US steps in, it will bring 'irreparable damage to them.' Here's what to know about Khamenei: Advertisement He transformed the Islamic Republic When he rose to power in 1989, Khamenei had to overcome deep doubts about his authority as he succeeded the leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. A low-level cleric at the time, Khamenei didn't have his predecessor's religious credentials. With his thick glasses and plodding style, he didn't have his fiery charisma either. But Khamenei has ruled three times longer than the late Khomeini and has shaped Iran's Islamic Republic perhaps even more dramatically. He entrenched the system of rule by the 'mullahs,' or Shiite Muslim clerics. That secured his place in the eyes of hard-liners as the unquestionable authority — below only that of God. At the same time, Khamenei built the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard into the dominant force in Iran's military and internal politics. Advertisement The Guard boasts Iran's most elite military and oversees its ballistic missile program. Its international arm, the Quds Force, pieced together the 'Axis of Resistance,' the collection of pro-Iranian proxies stretching from Yemen to Lebanon that for years gave Iran considerable power across the region. Khamenei also gave the Guard a free hand to build a network of businesses allowing it to dominate Iran's economy. In return, the Guard became his loyal shock force. He fended off domestic challenges The first major threat to Khamenei's grip was the reform movement that swept into a parliament majority and the presidency soon after he became supreme leader. The movement advocated for giving greater power to elected officials – something Khamenei's hard-line supporters feared would lead to dismantling the Islamic Republic system. Khamenei stymied the reformists by rallying the clerical establishment. Unelected bodies run by the mullahs succeeded in shutting down major reforms and barring reform candidates from running in elections. The Revolutionary Guard and Iran's other security agencies crushed waves of protests that followed the failure of the reform movement. Huge nationwide protests erupted in 2009 over allegations of vote-rigging. Under the weight of sanctions, economic protests broke out in 2017 and 2019. More nationwide protests broke out in 2022 over the death of Mahsa Amini after police detained her for not wearing her mandatory headscarf properly. Hundreds were killed in crackdowns on the protests, and hundreds more arrested amid reports of detainees tortured to death or raped in prison. Still, the successive protests showed the strains in Iran's theocratic system and lay bare widespread resentment of clerical rule, corruption and economic troubles. Trying to defuse anger, authorities often eased enforcement of some of the Islamic Republic's social restrictions. Advertisement He built Iran into a regional power When Khamenei took power, Iran was just emerging from its long war with Iraq that left the country battered and isolated. Over the next three decades, Khamenei turned Iran around into as assertive power wielding influence across the Middle East. One major boost was the U.S.'s 2003 ouster of Saddam Hussein, which eventually brought Iranian-allied Shiite politicians and militias to power in Iraq. Iraq provided a linchpin in Iran's Axis of Resistance, grouping Bashar Assad's Syria, Lebanon's Hezbollah, the Palestinian militant group Hamas and the Houthi rebels in Yemen. By 2015, the alliance was at its height, putting Iran on Israel's doorstep. The past two years brought a dramatic reversal Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel brought massive Israeli retaliation on the Gaza Strip. It also brought a turnaround in Israeli policy. After years of trying to fend off and tamp down Iran's allies, Israel made crushing them its goal. Hamas has been crippled, though not eliminated, even at the cost of the decimation of Gaza. Israel has similarly sidelined Hezbollah — at least for the moment — with weeks of bombardment in Lebanon last year, along with a dramatic attack with booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkies that stunned the group. An even heavier blow to Hezbollah was the fall in December of Assad when Sunni rebels marched on the capital and removed him from power. Now, a government hostile to Iran and Hezbollah rules from Damascus. Iran's Axis of Resistance is at its lowest ebb ever.
