
Three dead as Russian strikes target eastern Ukraine
A large Russian drone-and-missile attack has targeted Ukraine's eastern city of Kharkiv, killing at least three people and injuring 21, local officials say.
The barrage - the latest in almost-daily, widescale attacks - included aerial glide bombs that have become part of a fierce Russian onslaught in the three-year war.
The intensity of the Russian attacks on Ukraine in the past weeks has further dampened hopes that the warring sides could reach a peace deal anytime soon - especially after Kyiv recently embarrassed the Kremlin with a surprising drone attack on military airfields deep inside Russia.
According to Ukraine's Air Force, Russia struck with 215 missiles and drones overnight on Saturday, and Ukrainian air defences shot down and neutralised 87 drones and seven missiles.
Several other areas in Ukraine were also hit, including the regions of Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, and the city of Ternopil, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post on X.
"To put an end to Russia's killing and destruction, more pressure on Moscow is required, as are more steps to strengthen Ukraine," he said.
The Russian Defence Ministry on Saturday said its forces carried out a night-time strike on Ukrainian military targets, including ammunition depots, drone assembly workshops, and weaponry repair stations.
There was no comment from Moscow on the reports of casualties in Kharkiv.
Kharkiv's mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said the strikes also damaged 18 apartment buildings and 13 private homes.
Terekhov said it was "the most powerful attack" on the city since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Kharkiv's regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said two districts in the city were struck with three missiles, five aerial glide bombs and 48 drones.
He said two children, a baby boy and a 14-year-old girl, were among the injured.
In the Dnipropetrovsk province further south, two women aged 45 and 88 were injured, according to local Governor Serhii Lysak.
Russian shelling also killed a couple in their 50s in the southern city of Kherson, close to the front lines, local Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported in a Facebook post.
Meanwhile, Russia's defence ministry said its forces shot down 36 Ukrainian drones overnight, over the country's south and west, including near the capital.
Drone debris injured two civilians in the suburbs of Moscow, local Governor Andrei Vorobyov reported.
On Friday, Russia struck six Ukrainian territories, killing at least six people and injuring about 80.
Among the dead were three emergency responders in Kyiv, one person in Lutsk and two people in Chernihiv.
A US-led diplomatic push for a settlement has brought two rounds of direct peace talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine, although the negotiations delivered no significant breakthroughs.
The sides remain far apart on their terms for an end to the fighting.
Ukraine has offered an unconditional 30-day ceasefire and a meeting between its President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russian leader Vladimir Putin to break the deadlock.
But the Kremlin has effectively rejected a truce and hasn't budged from its demands.
US President Donald Trump said this week that Putin told him Moscow would respond to Ukraine's attack on Russian military airfields last Sunday.
Trump also said it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia "fight for a while" before pulling them apart and pursuing peace.
Trump's comments were a remarkable detour from his often-stated appeals to stop the war and signalled he might be giving up on recent peace efforts.
A large Russian drone-and-missile attack has targeted Ukraine's eastern city of Kharkiv, killing at least three people and injuring 21, local officials say.
The barrage - the latest in almost-daily, widescale attacks - included aerial glide bombs that have become part of a fierce Russian onslaught in the three-year war.
The intensity of the Russian attacks on Ukraine in the past weeks has further dampened hopes that the warring sides could reach a peace deal anytime soon - especially after Kyiv recently embarrassed the Kremlin with a surprising drone attack on military airfields deep inside Russia.
According to Ukraine's Air Force, Russia struck with 215 missiles and drones overnight on Saturday, and Ukrainian air defences shot down and neutralised 87 drones and seven missiles.
Several other areas in Ukraine were also hit, including the regions of Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, and the city of Ternopil, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post on X.
"To put an end to Russia's killing and destruction, more pressure on Moscow is required, as are more steps to strengthen Ukraine," he said.
The Russian Defence Ministry on Saturday said its forces carried out a night-time strike on Ukrainian military targets, including ammunition depots, drone assembly workshops, and weaponry repair stations.
There was no comment from Moscow on the reports of casualties in Kharkiv.
Kharkiv's mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said the strikes also damaged 18 apartment buildings and 13 private homes.
Terekhov said it was "the most powerful attack" on the city since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Kharkiv's regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said two districts in the city were struck with three missiles, five aerial glide bombs and 48 drones.
He said two children, a baby boy and a 14-year-old girl, were among the injured.
In the Dnipropetrovsk province further south, two women aged 45 and 88 were injured, according to local Governor Serhii Lysak.
Russian shelling also killed a couple in their 50s in the southern city of Kherson, close to the front lines, local Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported in a Facebook post.
Meanwhile, Russia's defence ministry said its forces shot down 36 Ukrainian drones overnight, over the country's south and west, including near the capital.
Drone debris injured two civilians in the suburbs of Moscow, local Governor Andrei Vorobyov reported.
On Friday, Russia struck six Ukrainian territories, killing at least six people and injuring about 80.
Among the dead were three emergency responders in Kyiv, one person in Lutsk and two people in Chernihiv.
A US-led diplomatic push for a settlement has brought two rounds of direct peace talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine, although the negotiations delivered no significant breakthroughs.
The sides remain far apart on their terms for an end to the fighting.
Ukraine has offered an unconditional 30-day ceasefire and a meeting between its President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russian leader Vladimir Putin to break the deadlock.
But the Kremlin has effectively rejected a truce and hasn't budged from its demands.
US President Donald Trump said this week that Putin told him Moscow would respond to Ukraine's attack on Russian military airfields last Sunday.
Trump also said it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia "fight for a while" before pulling them apart and pursuing peace.
Trump's comments were a remarkable detour from his often-stated appeals to stop the war and signalled he might be giving up on recent peace efforts.
A large Russian drone-and-missile attack has targeted Ukraine's eastern city of Kharkiv, killing at least three people and injuring 21, local officials say.
The barrage - the latest in almost-daily, widescale attacks - included aerial glide bombs that have become part of a fierce Russian onslaught in the three-year war.
The intensity of the Russian attacks on Ukraine in the past weeks has further dampened hopes that the warring sides could reach a peace deal anytime soon - especially after Kyiv recently embarrassed the Kremlin with a surprising drone attack on military airfields deep inside Russia.
According to Ukraine's Air Force, Russia struck with 215 missiles and drones overnight on Saturday, and Ukrainian air defences shot down and neutralised 87 drones and seven missiles.
Several other areas in Ukraine were also hit, including the regions of Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, and the city of Ternopil, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post on X.
"To put an end to Russia's killing and destruction, more pressure on Moscow is required, as are more steps to strengthen Ukraine," he said.
The Russian Defence Ministry on Saturday said its forces carried out a night-time strike on Ukrainian military targets, including ammunition depots, drone assembly workshops, and weaponry repair stations.
There was no comment from Moscow on the reports of casualties in Kharkiv.
Kharkiv's mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said the strikes also damaged 18 apartment buildings and 13 private homes.
Terekhov said it was "the most powerful attack" on the city since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Kharkiv's regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said two districts in the city were struck with three missiles, five aerial glide bombs and 48 drones.
He said two children, a baby boy and a 14-year-old girl, were among the injured.
In the Dnipropetrovsk province further south, two women aged 45 and 88 were injured, according to local Governor Serhii Lysak.
Russian shelling also killed a couple in their 50s in the southern city of Kherson, close to the front lines, local Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported in a Facebook post.
Meanwhile, Russia's defence ministry said its forces shot down 36 Ukrainian drones overnight, over the country's south and west, including near the capital.
Drone debris injured two civilians in the suburbs of Moscow, local Governor Andrei Vorobyov reported.
On Friday, Russia struck six Ukrainian territories, killing at least six people and injuring about 80.
Among the dead were three emergency responders in Kyiv, one person in Lutsk and two people in Chernihiv.
A US-led diplomatic push for a settlement has brought two rounds of direct peace talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine, although the negotiations delivered no significant breakthroughs.
The sides remain far apart on their terms for an end to the fighting.
Ukraine has offered an unconditional 30-day ceasefire and a meeting between its President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russian leader Vladimir Putin to break the deadlock.
But the Kremlin has effectively rejected a truce and hasn't budged from its demands.
US President Donald Trump said this week that Putin told him Moscow would respond to Ukraine's attack on Russian military airfields last Sunday.
Trump also said it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia "fight for a while" before pulling them apart and pursuing peace.
Trump's comments were a remarkable detour from his often-stated appeals to stop the war and signalled he might be giving up on recent peace efforts.
A large Russian drone-and-missile attack has targeted Ukraine's eastern city of Kharkiv, killing at least three people and injuring 21, local officials say.
The barrage - the latest in almost-daily, widescale attacks - included aerial glide bombs that have become part of a fierce Russian onslaught in the three-year war.
The intensity of the Russian attacks on Ukraine in the past weeks has further dampened hopes that the warring sides could reach a peace deal anytime soon - especially after Kyiv recently embarrassed the Kremlin with a surprising drone attack on military airfields deep inside Russia.
According to Ukraine's Air Force, Russia struck with 215 missiles and drones overnight on Saturday, and Ukrainian air defences shot down and neutralised 87 drones and seven missiles.
Several other areas in Ukraine were also hit, including the regions of Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, and the city of Ternopil, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post on X.
"To put an end to Russia's killing and destruction, more pressure on Moscow is required, as are more steps to strengthen Ukraine," he said.
The Russian Defence Ministry on Saturday said its forces carried out a night-time strike on Ukrainian military targets, including ammunition depots, drone assembly workshops, and weaponry repair stations.
There was no comment from Moscow on the reports of casualties in Kharkiv.
Kharkiv's mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said the strikes also damaged 18 apartment buildings and 13 private homes.
Terekhov said it was "the most powerful attack" on the city since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Kharkiv's regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said two districts in the city were struck with three missiles, five aerial glide bombs and 48 drones.
He said two children, a baby boy and a 14-year-old girl, were among the injured.
In the Dnipropetrovsk province further south, two women aged 45 and 88 were injured, according to local Governor Serhii Lysak.
Russian shelling also killed a couple in their 50s in the southern city of Kherson, close to the front lines, local Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported in a Facebook post.
Meanwhile, Russia's defence ministry said its forces shot down 36 Ukrainian drones overnight, over the country's south and west, including near the capital.
Drone debris injured two civilians in the suburbs of Moscow, local Governor Andrei Vorobyov reported.
On Friday, Russia struck six Ukrainian territories, killing at least six people and injuring about 80.
Among the dead were three emergency responders in Kyiv, one person in Lutsk and two people in Chernihiv.
A US-led diplomatic push for a settlement has brought two rounds of direct peace talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine, although the negotiations delivered no significant breakthroughs.
The sides remain far apart on their terms for an end to the fighting.
Ukraine has offered an unconditional 30-day ceasefire and a meeting between its President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russian leader Vladimir Putin to break the deadlock.
But the Kremlin has effectively rejected a truce and hasn't budged from its demands.
US President Donald Trump said this week that Putin told him Moscow would respond to Ukraine's attack on Russian military airfields last Sunday.
Trump also said it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia "fight for a while" before pulling them apart and pursuing peace.
Trump's comments were a remarkable detour from his often-stated appeals to stop the war and signalled he might be giving up on recent peace efforts.
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The Advertiser
4 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Two killed in Russian attacks on east, north Ukraine
Russian strikes on key towns in Donetsk region, on the eastern front of the war in Ukraine, have killed at least one person, while another died in a drone attack in the north near the Russian border, officials say. The Russian military said on Saturday its forces had captured another Ukrainian village in its slow advance westward through the Donetsk region. And reports from the Kharkiv region in the northeast suggested Russian troops were closing in on the city of Kupiansk. Russian forces struck Sloviansk and Kramatorsk - two cities Moscow will target as its forces press on with their westward drive. Both towns have come under frequent attack since the Russian invasion of its neighbour in February 2022. Donetsk region Governor Vadym Filashkin said one person died and three were injured in Sloviansk, with pictures posted online showing buildings reduced to rubble. He said four multi-storey dwellings and 32 private homes were damaged. In Kramatorsk, pictures posted by the city council showed heavy damage to part of an apartment building. Officials said at least one person was trapped under rubble and several residents were injured. A mass drone attack on the town of Nizhyn near the Russian border killed one person and damaged local infrastructure. The Russian Defence Ministry said its forces had seized the village of Zaporizhzhia, southwest of Pokrovsk, where Ukrainian forces have been holding back Russian attacks for months. Zaporizhzhia village is distinct from the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, the regional centre and large industrial hub located some 160km to the southeast. The General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces on Friday listed the village as one of several where Kyiv's forces had repelled Russian attacks. On Friday, the Russian Defence Ministry said it had captured the village of Moskovka, just outside the city of Kupiansk, also the target of repeated Russian attacks in recent months. Both Russian and Ukrainian military bloggers have reported an upswing in fighting around Kupiansk in the past week. The town was first occupied by Russian forces in the first weeks of the 2022 invasion, but recaptured by Ukrainian troops later in the year in a lightning counter-offensive. Russian strikes on key towns in Donetsk region, on the eastern front of the war in Ukraine, have killed at least one person, while another died in a drone attack in the north near the Russian border, officials say. The Russian military said on Saturday its forces had captured another Ukrainian village in its slow advance westward through the Donetsk region. And reports from the Kharkiv region in the northeast suggested Russian troops were closing in on the city of Kupiansk. Russian forces struck Sloviansk and Kramatorsk - two cities Moscow will target as its forces press on with their westward drive. Both towns have come under frequent attack since the Russian invasion of its neighbour in February 2022. Donetsk region Governor Vadym Filashkin said one person died and three were injured in Sloviansk, with pictures posted online showing buildings reduced to rubble. He said four multi-storey dwellings and 32 private homes were damaged. In Kramatorsk, pictures posted by the city council showed heavy damage to part of an apartment building. Officials said at least one person was trapped under rubble and several residents were injured. A mass drone attack on the town of Nizhyn near the Russian border killed one person and damaged local infrastructure. The Russian Defence Ministry said its forces had seized the village of Zaporizhzhia, southwest of Pokrovsk, where Ukrainian forces have been holding back Russian attacks for months. Zaporizhzhia village is distinct from the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, the regional centre and large industrial hub located some 160km to the southeast. The General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces on Friday listed the village as one of several where Kyiv's forces had repelled Russian attacks. On Friday, the Russian Defence Ministry said it had captured the village of Moskovka, just outside the city of Kupiansk, also the target of repeated Russian attacks in recent months. Both Russian and Ukrainian military bloggers have reported an upswing in fighting around Kupiansk in the past week. The town was first occupied by Russian forces in the first weeks of the 2022 invasion, but recaptured by Ukrainian troops later in the year in a lightning counter-offensive. Russian strikes on key towns in Donetsk region, on the eastern front of the war in Ukraine, have killed at least one person, while another died in a drone attack in the north near the Russian border, officials say. The Russian military said on Saturday its forces had captured another Ukrainian village in its slow advance westward through the Donetsk region. And reports from the Kharkiv region in the northeast suggested Russian troops were closing in on the city of Kupiansk. Russian forces struck Sloviansk and Kramatorsk - two cities Moscow will target as its forces press on with their westward drive. Both towns have come under frequent attack since the Russian invasion of its neighbour in February 2022. Donetsk region Governor Vadym Filashkin said one person died and three were injured in Sloviansk, with pictures posted online showing buildings reduced to rubble. He said four multi-storey dwellings and 32 private homes were damaged. In Kramatorsk, pictures posted by the city council showed heavy damage to part of an apartment building. Officials said at least one person was trapped under rubble and several residents were injured. A mass drone attack on the town of Nizhyn near the Russian border killed one person and damaged local infrastructure. The Russian Defence Ministry said its forces had seized the village of Zaporizhzhia, southwest of Pokrovsk, where Ukrainian forces have been holding back Russian attacks for months. Zaporizhzhia village is distinct from the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, the regional centre and large industrial hub located some 160km to the southeast. The General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces on Friday listed the village as one of several where Kyiv's forces had repelled Russian attacks. On Friday, the Russian Defence Ministry said it had captured the village of Moskovka, just outside the city of Kupiansk, also the target of repeated Russian attacks in recent months. Both Russian and Ukrainian military bloggers have reported an upswing in fighting around Kupiansk in the past week. The town was first occupied by Russian forces in the first weeks of the 2022 invasion, but recaptured by Ukrainian troops later in the year in a lightning counter-offensive. Russian strikes on key towns in Donetsk region, on the eastern front of the war in Ukraine, have killed at least one person, while another died in a drone attack in the north near the Russian border, officials say. The Russian military said on Saturday its forces had captured another Ukrainian village in its slow advance westward through the Donetsk region. And reports from the Kharkiv region in the northeast suggested Russian troops were closing in on the city of Kupiansk. Russian forces struck Sloviansk and Kramatorsk - two cities Moscow will target as its forces press on with their westward drive. Both towns have come under frequent attack since the Russian invasion of its neighbour in February 2022. Donetsk region Governor Vadym Filashkin said one person died and three were injured in Sloviansk, with pictures posted online showing buildings reduced to rubble. He said four multi-storey dwellings and 32 private homes were damaged. In Kramatorsk, pictures posted by the city council showed heavy damage to part of an apartment building. Officials said at least one person was trapped under rubble and several residents were injured. A mass drone attack on the town of Nizhyn near the Russian border killed one person and damaged local infrastructure. The Russian Defence Ministry said its forces had seized the village of Zaporizhzhia, southwest of Pokrovsk, where Ukrainian forces have been holding back Russian attacks for months. Zaporizhzhia village is distinct from the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, the regional centre and large industrial hub located some 160km to the southeast. The General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces on Friday listed the village as one of several where Kyiv's forces had repelled Russian attacks. On Friday, the Russian Defence Ministry said it had captured the village of Moskovka, just outside the city of Kupiansk, also the target of repeated Russian attacks in recent months. Both Russian and Ukrainian military bloggers have reported an upswing in fighting around Kupiansk in the past week. The town was first occupied by Russian forces in the first weeks of the 2022 invasion, but recaptured by Ukrainian troops later in the year in a lightning counter-offensive.


West Australian
4 hours ago
- West Australian
Iran-Israel war: What is the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, the US bunker-busting bomb?
In the event the United States enters the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, a likely focus will be on degrading or destroying Tehran's underground facilities that enrich nuclear material. That task would most likely fall to a small number of Air Force strategic bombers that are capable of delivering 30,000-pound precision-guided bombs designed to destroy subterranean targets. This bomb, the GBU-57, is better known as a 'bunker buster' or the Massive Ordnance Penetrator. It's in the name. The MOP is designed for deeply buried and fortified facilities, such as bunkers and tunnels. Its design, sheer weight and steel alloy construction allow it to burrow underground and then explode, according to the Air Force. Though the heaviest conventional weapon in the US arsenal, it is not designed to saturate explosives over a wide area. Commanders rely on its GPS-guided precision to hit specific, well-defended targets to destroy what ordinary bombs cannot reach. There are no public reports of the MOP being used in combat, experts have said. Defence officials have said the MOP is capable of penetrating up to 60m. But it is probably more capable now after further development over the past two decades, said Trevor Ball, a former Army explosive ordnance disposal technician. While the Israelis have relied on US munitions for its devastating air war in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, their fighter jets cannot carry MOPs. The US B-2 Spirit stealth bomber is the only Air Force aircraft that can deploy the MOP, the service has said. There are 19 operational B-2s, according to the Air Force. Travelling at subsonic speeds, but capable of midair refuelling, the B-2 can fly an extraordinary distance. During the Kosovo war in the late 1990s, B-2 pilots flew round-trip trips from their home station at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri to strike targets. In 2017, a pair of B-2s flew 34 hours to hit Islamic State camps in Libya. Recent upgrades to the MOP include resolving an undescribed 'integration issue' with the B-2, the Air Force said last year. The service also said it is testing technology that can help destroy targets where intelligence about substructures may be limited. A smart fuse on the MOP can detect voids on its path downward, such as rooms and floors, and explode at an optimal point, Ball said. That would be an important capability if commanders decided they needed to strike the same deep target multiple times. It is unclear whether that technology has been put into operational use. Iran's most deeply buried nuclear enrichment site is Fordow, in the desert southwest of Tehran. The facility is fully underground, carved into a mountainside. UN inspectors who viewed the site noted tunnels with thick walls and blastproof doors, with some bunkers protected by up to 91m of rock, The Post reported in 2012. Fordow is ostensibly designed to produce uranium enriched to 20 per cent purity. But an International Atomic Energy Agency inspection report on May 31 found that Iran had significantly increased its production there of 60 per cent enriched uranium, approaching the 90 per cent level needed to fuel a nuclear weapon. Experts warn that even destroying the uranium-enriching centrifuges deep underground at Fordow would not necessarily mean the end of Iran's nuclear program. There may be enrichment sites or caches of nuclear fuel that UN inspectors are unaware of, said Richard Nephew, a lead US negotiator with Iran under the Obama administration and now a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. 'Even if Fordow was evaporated tomorrow, we would still have massive concerns,' Mr Nephew said. Iran's nuclear facilities were not irreversibly damaged in the first couple of waves of Israeli attacks, based on statements from both countries as well as videos and imagery of the damaged sites, The Washington Post reported. Israel appeared to have attacked near Fordow, but did not hit the underground facility itself. Strikes at Natanz, Iran's other main enrichment site, destroyed several facilities and damaged the electrical system, according to the IAEA and nonproliferation experts. Iran's only above-ground enrichment site, part of a larger complex at Natanz known as the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant, was destroyed, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said Monday. Analysts viewing satellite imagery had originally said the underground enrichment machinery at Natanz was unscathed. But the IAEA said in a post on Tuesday on X that its analyses 'indicate direct impacts on the underground enrichment halls at Natanz.' A uranium metal production facility in Isfahan, a military complex in Parchin and the Arak heavy water reactor southwest of Tehran and the Bushehr nuclear power plant are other nuclear sites that were hit, according to the Israel Defence Forces. Mr Grossi confirmed the facility at Isfahan was hit but said Bushehr was not targeted or affected. © 2025 , The Washington Post


West Australian
4 hours ago
- West Australian
Israel-Iran war: Deputy PM Richard Marles confirms nearly 4000 Australians are seeking evacuation
Deputy Prime Minister Minister Richard Marles says nearly 4000 Australians have sought evacuation support from the Israel-Iran conflict, as the Middle East war intensifies in the wake of US-led airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. US President Donald Trump said on Sunday the US military had struck three sites in Iran, marking a direct entry into Israel's campaign to dismantle Tehran's nuclear program. Mr Marles on Sunday struggled to explain Australia's position on whether the government supports potential US strikes, instead continuing to urge 'de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy'. 'The Iranian nuclear ballistic missile program is most definitely a threat to the peace and stability of not only the Middle East,' Mr Marles said. 'We have used our voice to urge de-escalation. And that's our position in respect of both the Iranian program, but also, more specifically, in respect of this conflict.' He said Australia had ramped up their support network in the region and were ready and willing to evacuate stranded citizens out of both nations with charter flights at the ready. However, he said a key obstacle to evacuation efforts was that Iranian airspace remained closed. 'The numbers of Australians, both in Iran and Israel, seeking assisted departures has grown,' he told Sky News on Sunday. 'This number is probably already out of date, but the last briefing is around 2600 Australians in Iran are seeking assisted departures, and around 1200 in Israel. Australia has deployed consular officials to Azerbaijan to assess how they can assist citizens trying to cross the border out of Iran. The government has also positioned civilian charter planes and military aircraft — a C-17 and a KC-30 capable of carrying hundreds — at the El Minhad base near Dubai, where its usual team of 40 personnel has been boosted to around 300 to support a range of scenarios. 'So, we really are poised to provide whatever assistance we can in the event that airspace opens up,' Mr Marles said. 'We have had a couple of groups leave Israel by land through Jordan. We're hoping to do a couple of more groups today.' Mr Marles said he has been in contact with the United States and that Australia would continue to maintain communication on the Middle East situation, though he declined to disclose further details. He also mentioned that the upcoming NATO meeting in the Netherlands he will attend instead of Prime Minister Anthony Alabnese will focus on strengthening strategic alliances and defense spending. Mr Marles said rearranged plans for a meeting between the PM and Mr Trump after they one-on-one was canned on the sideline of the G7 in Canada would occur in the 'not too distant future'. 'We continue at ministerial level and at official level to have pretty real constant contact with the United States, as you would expect,' he said. 'Our alliance with the US is the cornerstone of our strategic and foreign policy. 'We are managing all the equities associated with that relationship, and it is fundamentally going well.' Shadow energy minister Dan Tehan said the Albanese government has isolated itself from Israel and needs to show clearer moral resolve on wanting Iran to abandon its nuclear weapons program. 'One of the real problems with the way the government has pursued the current issues in the Middle East is they seem to have isolated themselves from the Israeli government,' Mr Tehan told Sky News. 'I think that has left them in a situation where they're really trying to walk two sides here. 'I think what we need to see from the government is greater moral clarity as to whether they do, once and for all, want to see Iran rid of its nuclear weapons program.'