AP top stories June 20

Here's the latest for Friday, June 20th: Netanyahu visits site of missile strike in Rehovot; Russia launches overnight drone assault on Ukraine; British superyacht raised from sea by salvage crew off Sicily; Andrew Lloyd Webber attends Royal Ascot

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Wall Street Journal

5 hours ago

• Wall Street Journal

Shifting World Order Threatens to Expand the Nuclear-Arms Club

When it came to nuclear weapons, the U.S. had two top priorities in the 1990s. One was to ensure that newly independent Ukraine handed over its vast arsenal to Russia. The other was to prevent North Korea from obtaining its own nukes. The first effort was a success, but today, many regard Ukraine's disarmament as a strategic blunder, leaving it vulnerable to a Russian invasion that has triggered the bloodiest European war in generations. The second attempt was a failure: Pyongyang deftly exploited American reluctance to use military force and became a nuclear-armed state that can challenge global security.

Yahoo

5 hours ago

• Yahoo

Zelenskiy says Ukraine developing interceptor drones to counter Russian attacks

(Reuters) -President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that Ukraine was working on the rapid development of interceptor drones to counter the swarms of Russian drones that have been descending on Ukrainian cities in increasing numbers in recent weeks. Ukrainian officials have noted the sharply increased numbers of Iranian-designed Shahed drones deployed by Russian drones in the course of a single night and say it is vital to develop technology capable of tackling the threat they pose. "We are also working separately on interceptor drones, which are intended to enhance protection against Shahed drones," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. "Several of our domestic enterprises -- and, accordingly, different types of drones -- are delivering results. Production volumes of interceptors are already increasing." Russian forces have been deploying more than 400 drones on a single night, with more than 470 fired on more than one occasion. A total of 440 drones -- plus 32 missiles -- were deployed this week in a "combined" attack on Kyiv that flattened part of an apartment building and killed 28 people. "Drone air defence will help us use our means in a rational fashion. We cannot constantly use scarce air and anti-aircraft guided missiles and aviation itself to hunt enemy drones," Air Force spokesperson Yuri Ihnat told Ukrainian media this week. "The enemy is deploying more and more Shaheds and we are therefore looking for different methods to counter them." Zelenskiy and other officials have pointed to domestic drone production as a key element in national defence, and production has increased dramatically from being virtually non-existent before the Russian invasion of February 2022. The president told foreign arms manufacturers last November that Ukraine could produce 4 million drones annually and was quickly ramping up its production of other weapons. Ukraine has also been deploying drones against a variety of targets in Russia, mainly industrial and military. In a major operation earlier last month, Ukrainian drones attacked strategic bomber aircraft at different Russian airfields.

Yahoo

6 hours ago

• Yahoo

Zelenskiy appoints new commander of Ukraine's land forces

(Reuters) -President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday appointed Hennadiy Shapovalov as commander of Ukraine's land forces, replacing a commander who resigned over a Russian strike on a training area. Shapovalov, whose appointment was announced in a presidential decree, had previously acted as a liaison at a NATO coordination centre in Germany. Before that, he had served as commander of the forces of the Operational Command South. Zelenskiy, speaking later in his nightly video address, said Shapovalov's experience in working with NATO would be put to good use in introducing changes in Ukraine's forces. "All this useful experience of this coordination and all the real combat experience of our soldiers must be applied now within Ukraine's land forces," he said. "Changes are needed and this is an imperative." Shapovalov takes over as head of land forces from Mykhailo Drapatyi, who tendered his resignation this month after a deadly Russian strike on a training camp in southeastern Ukraine. Zelenskiy reassigned Drapatyi to the post of commander of the joint forces as part of a military shakeup.