Important Takeaways:
- Russia launched a massive combined missile and drone attack on the Kyiv region Wednesday, the third on the country in three days, but Ukrainian air defenses intercepted most of the airborne ordnance with only one injury reported.
- President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a social media post that Russian missiles — including ballistic and cruise missiles targeting Kyiv — were shot down, along with about a dozen of about 90 drones involved in the attacks.
- Kyiv authorities said Wednesday’s two-hour-long attack, the first in more than two months, began with air-raid sirens sounding at around 6:30 a.m. local time as drones bore down on Kyiv Oblast and then cruise missiles, followed by a ballistic missile strike on Kyiv itself timed to coincide with the arrival of the cruise missiles.
- Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said the attack drones destroyed a house and seriously damaged a four-story apartment building with blazes breaking out on the upper levels.
- That came the day after Russia unleashed a record 145 drones Sunday — the largest attack of the war — against targets all across Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian Air Force, which claimed to have shot most of them down.
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Important Takeaways:
- Ukraine unleashed more than 140 drones on Russia overnight, officials said Tuesday, killing a woman near Moscow, grounding flights and setting off air defenses in several parts of the country.
- Russia’s ministry of defense said in a statement it had shot down 144 Ukrainian drones overnight – ’72 UAVs over Bryansk region, 20 over Moscow region, 14 over Kursk region, 13 over Tula region’, and 25 more over five other parts of the country.
- Moscow regional governor Andrey Vorobyov said in a Telegram post that a 46-year-old woman had been killed and several people wounded when a UAV damaged at least two high-rise apartment building in the Ramenskoye district of Moscow region, some 30 miles southeast of the Kremlin.
- The latest wave of drones came just a week after Ukraine suffered one of its darkest days after two ballistic missiles killed at least 51 people and injured 219 on September 3.
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Important Takeaways:
- “The enemy knows very well that no place will be safe from our missiles and drones,” Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said on June 19.
- Keeping those weapons from hitting Israeli territory is the job of a sophisticated air defense system called Iron Dome.
- But some experts warn that Hezbollah’s arsenal could push the system past its limits.
- The Iranian-backed group has been conducting increasingly brazen attacks using exploding drones and low-flying missiles that Iron Dome has struggled to intercept.
- And last week, Hezbollah published a 10-minute-long surveillance video from an unmanned aerial vehicle that had slipped past multiple Iron Dome launchers.
- The implication was clear: Hezbollah has Iron Dome in its sights.
- Unlike the Palestinian group Hamas, Hezbollah is believed to have a large arsenal of precision-guided weapons that it could fire in a war with Israel.
- “Look, there’s not enough Iron Domes in the world to contend with the reported 100,000 or so rockets that Hezbollah may have”
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Important Takeaways:
- Fires started by Hezbollah rockets and drones ignited and spread throughout northern Israel early this week, posing a new challenge for the Israeli military and leading to public demands for action against the Iranian terror group.
- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued a statement Monday evening:
- Over the past few hours, the IDF has been conducting a situational assessment with Israel Fire and Rescue Services to allocate additional means, forces, and firefighting capabilities in order to extinguish the fires in northern Israel.
- At this stage, IDF reserve soldiers, engineer tools, mechanical equipment, fire trucks, and fire tanks were reinforced.
- An IDF Home Front Command’s fire battalion is currently operating at the scene and assisting fire and rescue forces.
- The forces gained control over the locations of fire, and at this stage, no human life is at risk.
- The Commanding Officer of the Northern Command is currently arriving at the Kiryat Shmona Fire Station.
- Six IDF reservist soldiers were lightly injured as a result of smoke inhalation and transferred to a hospital to receive medical treatment. Their families have been notified.
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Important Takeaways:
- Iran attacks Israel: No drones, cruise missiles breached Israeli airspace
- Sirens blared across Israel on Saturday night as hundreds of drones and missiles launched from Iran reached Israel. Drones and missiles were also reportedly launched from Yemen and other countries around the region.
- The IDF has updated that the full Iranian attack consisted of over 300 threats, of which 100 were ballistic missiles launched from Iran. Another 30 cruise missiles were launched from the Islamic Republic, along with drones. There were also two rounds of rockets, around 40 total, fired on Israel from Lebanon, with Israel responding with counterattacks in close to real-time.
- None of the drones or cruise missiles entered Israeli airspace. IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari noted that only a small number of ballistic missiles penetrated the Jewish state’s airspace.
- Almost all interceptions have been by aircraft, David’s Sling, or the Arrow missile systems. The Iron Dome, which defends well against Hamas and Hezbollah’s simple rockets, is less relevant for drones and fancier long-range missiles.
- Iran confirmed that its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had launched a missile and drone attack against Israel.
- Israel, the US, the UK, and Jordan worked to intercept the drones and missiles over Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Israel, according to foreign reports. France also assisted in shooting down the aerial threats.
- The Islamic Republic’s attack comes after it accused Israel of killing top Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Mohammad Reza Zahedi on April 1, who had directed its proxy attacks on Israel in Lebanon and Syria, including being a top coordinator with Hezbollah.
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Important Takeaways:
- A drone attack kills 4 people in Ukraine’s second-largest city as Russia builds its war strength
- Shahed drones smashed into two apartment buildings in Kharkiv, near the Russian border, which has frequently been targeted during more than two years of war. Other drones targeted the power grid.
- The Kremlin’s forces in recent months have stepped up their aerial barrages of Ukraine, hitting urban areas.
- Moscow’s troops have recently been probing for Ukrainian weaknesses on the front line ahead of an expected large-scale Russian offensive in the summer.
- Ukrainian officials have previously accused Russia of targeting rescue workers by hitting residential buildings with two consecutive missiles — the first one to draw crews to the scene and the second one to wound or kill them.
- Some 700,000 people in Kharkiv lost power last week after a massive missile attack hit the city’s thermal power plant.
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Important Takeaways:
- AF Gen. Warns It’s Not Just Illegals at the Border, It’s Cartel Drones—With Over 1,000 Encounters a Month
- That’s the disturbing takeaway from Air Force General Gregory M. Guillot, who testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday and answered questions from Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC). Guillot took over as Commander of the United States Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command in February.
- And he’s concerned about what he’s seeing in his new position:
- “The number of incursions was something that was alarming to me as I took command last month,” Guillot told the senator. “I don’t know the actual number – I don’t think anybody does – but it’s in the thousands…”
- Budd pressed for what time frame Guillot was referencing in regard to the “thousands” of drone incursions.
- Guillot responded, “I would say in probably over a month we could probably have over 1,000 a month.”
- What are these drones, and who’s controlling them? It doesn’t take a brain scientist to conclude that they are likely mostly operated by the human and drug trafficking Mexican cartels, who presumably are scouting the U.S. response to the border invasion and looking for the best ways to counter it. The unmanned aircraft could themselves be used to transport narcotics:
- But drones and illegal immigrants from South and Central America aren’t the only problems…
- “The number of Chinese that are coming across the border is a big concern of mine. In fact, in the short period of time that I’ve been in command, I’ve gone down to the southern border to talk to the agents and leadership about that. And then I’ve also spoken with the acting commissioner of the CBP on this subject,” Guillot said.
- Guillot continued, “What concerns me most about specifically the Chinese migrants is – one, that they’re so centralized in one location on the border. And two, is while many may be political refugees, other explanations, the ability for counterintelligence to hide in plain sight in those numbers.”
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Important Takeaways:
- Russia launched 122 missiles and dozens of drones against Ukrainian targets, officials said Friday, killing at least 24 civilians across the country in what an air force official said was the biggest aerial barrage of the war.
- The Ukrainian air force intercepted most of the ballistic and cruise missiles and the Shahed-type drones overnight, said Ukraine’s military chief, Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
- Western officials and analysts recently warned that Russia had limited its cruise missile strikes in recent months in an apparent effort to build up stockpiles for massive strikes during the winter, hoping to break the Ukrainians’ spirit.
- British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the huge attack should stir the world to further action in support of Ukraine.
- At least 130 people were injured and an unknown number were buried under rubble during the roughly 18-hour onslaught, Ukrainian officials said. Among the buildings reported to be damaged across Ukraine were a maternity hospital, apartment blocks and schools.
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Important Takeaways:
- A US Navy warship had to gun down more threats as American forces get pulled deeper into fights being fueled by Israel’s war with Hamas
- In the most recent episode on Sunday, a US Navy warship shot down three drones over a period that lasted more than four hours as it responded to missile attacks against internationally flagged commercial vessels in the Red Sea. US Central Command (CENTCOM) pinned the blame on the Houthis, a rebel group in Yemen that’s armed and supported by Iran.
- All three drones were headed toward the USS Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, when it shot them down. But it’s unclear if the warship or any of the commercial vessels that came under the attack were the actual targets in all three cases.
- “These attacks represent a direct threat to international commerce and maritime security,” CENTCOM said in a statement that provided details on the incidents. “They have jeopardized the lives of international crews representing multiple countries around the world.”
- “We also have every reason to believe that these attacks, while launched by the Houthis in Yemen, are fully enabled by Iran,” the US military said, adding that it will consider “all appropriate responses in full coordination with its international allies and partners.”
- After a 2016 incident, the US Navy retaliated against Houthi aggression by launching strikes on coastal radar sites in Yemen, but so far, the US military has yet to respond to the latest aggressive acts with force as it did in the past. Actions so far have been defensive.
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Important Takeaways:
- Mass Drone Attack Reported from Lebanon; Northern Israel in Shelters
- Israelis in the northern part of the country, near the border with Lebanon, have been warned to descend into bomb shelters as sirens have been sounding warnings indicating a large attack of drones.
- The Times of Israel reported, citing Israel’s Channel 12, that “some 15-20 drones were identified flying into the country from Lebanon.
- Israel’s Army Radio reports that rockets have landed near the northern coastal city of Haifa, and that there has been a suspected terrorist infiltration.
- It also advised residents in the region to stay in their homes, to take shelter in reinforced “safe rooms,” and to keep their doors and windows locked.
- There have already been small but deadly clashes along the border this week, with Iranian-controlled Hezbollah threatening to open a second front…
- Iran is known to have a sophisticated drone program that has been deployed on the Russian side in the war against Ukraine.
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