World News - Page 4

Ukrainian officials have photographed a Russian rocket that was launched at a train station in eastern Ukraine, killing more than 30 individuals.

The Russian rocket collided with a train station in Kramatorsk on April 8, and according to Ukrainian officials, the people that were at the train station were civilians attempting to flee the city ahead of coming Russian attacks. The rocket was found and photographed by Ukrainians in the area, and on the side of the rocket, written in white paint, is the Russian phrase "For the Children". Out of the 50 people that are now confirmed dead from the attack, two were children.

According to reports from Business Insider, the phrase "For the Children" should be interpreted as the missile being sent in vengeance for children and not that it was meant to kill children. As Russia switches its focus onto eastern Ukraine and moves away from its capital of Kyiv, the Kremlin still continues to claim that Ukraine is firing on its own civilians and refuses to acknowledge that Russia has killed any Ukrainian civilians.

A hydraulic issue is believed to have caused the plane to careen off the runway and crash.

At about 1:30 pm EDT (5:30 pm UTC) on Thursday, April 7th, a DHL Boeing 757-2A cargo plane attempted an emergency landing at Costa Rica's San Jose Juan Santamaria International Airport, according to initial reports. Footage shows the plane touching down before turning sharply, deviating off the runway, and crashing into a nearby ditch.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced its targeting Russian "botnets", while also warning the Kremlin that it doesn't matter "how far you sail your yachts".

The announcement of a Russian botnet being brought down happened on Wednesday and came from US Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, who said that the DOJ and assisting government agencies such as Homeland Security, and the FBI had dismantled a botnet created by the Sandworm hacker group, which had ties to Russia's military and intelligence agency.

The group of hackers created a system that distributed malware called "Cyclops Blink" to thousands of networking devices that WatchGuard Technologies and ASUSTek Computer constructed. Notably, the group that was tasked with bringing the operation down was able to hack into the botnet's main system and take control of all infected devices.

Western countries have been slapping Russia and its most wealthy individuals with sanctions that have resulted in million-dollar assets being seized by authorities.

It was only earlier this week that Spanish authorities seized a massive $120 million superyacht through US sanctions imposed on Russian oligarch businessman Viktor Vekselberg. Now, an exiled Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky has spoken out about the sanctions imposed on Russia and its elite individuals and if they have impeded Russian President Vladimir Putin's motivation on invading Ukraine.

According to Khodorkovsky, who is the former CEO of Russian oil giant Yukos, the sanctions from the West won't be enough to stop Putin's invasion into Ukraine, and instead, there needs to be a "consistent policy of force". Notably, Khodorkovsky said that the oligarchs that have had sanctions thrown at them are "just Putin's footmen" and that "Putin has said from the very beginning that this war includes them." The exiled oligarch also called on the US to make a "moral statement" if it wants to be a "moral leader."

A recent report from Allied Market Research estimates that the global nuclear bombs and missiles market will grow significantly over the decade.

The analysis notes that in 2020, the global market for these weapons was valued at $72.64 billion. By 2030, it is projected to reach $126.34 billion, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.4% from 2021 to 2030. Weapons carried by aircraft bombers are projected to see the biggest market increase, followed by submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

Ukraine intelligence that pies given to Russian soldiers by local Ukrainians have killed at least two Russian troops and have injured 28 more.

Kyiv pies.

Ukraine's Ministry of Defence Intelligence announced on Saturday that local residents of the Izium district that's located in the Kharkiv region, have "treated" Russian soldiers with poisoned pies. "As a result, two occupiers died at once, another 28 were taken to the intensive care unit. Their current state is being clarified."

A US defense official has revealed that the US secretly tested a powerful hypersonic missile in mid-March and kept it a secret from Russia to avoid escalating tensions.

US Air Force B-52 bomber.

According to a report from CNN, the defense officials familiar with the matter said that the US tested the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) from a B-52 bomber at a location on the West Coast of the US. The HAWC missile is designed to compress incoming air that is then mixed with hydrocarbon fuel and ignited. The ignited missile is then propelled forward at even greater speeds than it was already traveling, reaching up to five times the speed of sound (Mach 5).

The video shows a Russian Mi-28 helicopter being shot down in Ukraine on April 1st, 2022.

The video appears to show the use of the Starstreak high-velocity missile system, which was confirmed by the U.K. Ministry of Defence to The London Times. The helicopter is struck by three projectiles, characteristic of the payload fired by the Starstreak missile system. Starstreak is a man-portable air-defense system (MANPADS) developed by Thales Air Defense and has been in use since 1997.

Starstreak has a range of four miles (6.4 kilometers) and can fire missiles that reach velocities exceeding Mach 4, making it the fastest short-distance missile on Earth. The missile carries two motors, the first of which burns out before exiting the tube it is fired from to protect the operator, while the second ignites once the missile travels approximately 13 feet (4 meters).

A US satellite company has captured a haunting aerial image of a mass grave site in the Ukrainian town of Bucha.

Photographed on March 31.

The satellite images were captured by Maxar Technologies' WorldView-3 satellite, which has photographed several locations across Ukraine and even showed Russia's military advancement towards Kyiv. Now, the Worldview-3 satellite has been used to photograph on March 31, a newly created makeshift graveyard built on the grounds of the Church of St. Andrew and Pyervozvannoho All Saints.

Reports have alleged that Russian forces are using landmines to target soldiers in Ukraine.

Landmines are currently prohibited in combat under the United Nations Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, otherwise known as the Ottawa Treaty. The convention was instated in 1997, with over 150 countries signing on, including Ukraine. However, Russia was not one of them.

The landmine in use by Russia is the POM-3 "Medallion" landmine, a supposedly "smart" landmine that can only target soldiers and not civilians. Their restricted targeting is allegedly due to specialized seismic sensors used to activate them. Members of a non-governmental organization (NGO) known as the Ukrainian Deminers Association have located mines in Ukraine that are known to be in Russia's arsenal.

The Kremlin has reportedly decided to pull Russian forces out of the Chernobyl region, likely due to radiation threats.

According to the Ukrainian state agency, which manages the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Russian soldiers are being transported by bus to the Belarusian Radiation Medicine Center in Gomel. The soldiers are being taken from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone after becoming "irradiated," according to Yaroslav Yemelianenko, the CEO of Chornobyl Tour.

The head of the United Kingdom's spy agency has said that Putin is being misled about the Ukraine war and misjudged the situation.

According to the director for Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), Sir Jeremy Fleming, who spoke at the Australian National University in Canberra on Thursday, Russia's President Vladimir Putin has "massively misjudged the situation" in invading Ukraine and has underestimated the resistance that his army met. Additionally, Fleming said that Putin overestimated his abilities and didn't expect the economic consequences of his actions to be so severe.

The head of Britain's intelligence agency said that the agency has reports of Russian soldiers who are short of weapons, morale, and even rebelling against commanders by refusing to carry out orders which have led to them sabotaging their own equipment. Furthermore, Fleming said Russian troops have "even accidentally shooting down their own aircraft."

It was only recently that Ukrainian troops hit the jackpot by capturing a "potent Russian EW system", and now Ukrainian forces have hit another major jackpot.

According to the UAWeapons Twitter account that is dedicated to posting constant updates on weapons, Ukrainian troops have captured a 9S935 MANPADS gunner's target cuing set, which is a part of a "Barnaul-T" command and control system that is used to conduct electronic warfare.

As Russia seemingly pull back from Ukraine's capital of Kyiv, they are leaving behind military equipment, as only recently, Ukrainian forces captured a Russian Barnaul-T command post that is now being used by Ukrainian troops in their defense. The Barnaul-T system has been in operation for more than 10 years and can be linked with surface-to-air missile systems to provide well-timed target designations.

In a recent meeting of international relations, Russia has indicated who it wishes to partner with to create a "democratic world order".

The sentiments come from a recent meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Russia's top diplomat recently landed in China, and throughout his meetings with China's Wang Yi, he described that Russia and China are moving towards creating a new "democratic world order". Notably, Lavrov said that the planet was "living through a very serious stage in the history of international relations."

The sentiments from Russia's top diplomat were echoed by Wang Yi, with him saying, "China-Russia relations have withstood the new test of the changing international situation, maintained the correct direction of progress and shown tenacious development momentum." Adding that China and Russia will maintain working together in "advancing global multipolarity and the democratization of international relations."

Reports indicate Russian soldiers have acquired "highly active samples of radionuclides."

Russian forces could use the radioactive material stolen from a radiation monitoring lab near the defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant to make dirty bombs, combining conventional explosives with radioactive material. The troops took radionuclides, or radioactive isotopes, and radioactive waste. The material can't be used to make proper nuclear weapons, as none of it contains plutonium or uranium.

Russia announced on Tuesday that it would "dramatically reduce" the attacks on Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, but that announcement may be a ploy.

According to the Ukrainian military, Russia's announcement and seemingly obvious withdrawal of troops from the region is "probably" a ploy to get the Ukrainian military to believe that they are withdrawing. Ukrainian military claims that Russia is attempting to "mislead the military leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and create a misconception about the occupiers' refusal to plan to encircle the city of Kyiv," according to a Facebook post from the Ukrainian armed forces.

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said that Russia has pulled back its troops to "increase mutual trust and create the necessary conditions for further negotiations". Russia states that its withdrawal of troops will lead to an environment where nations can come to a peace agreement. Ukraine's military isn't alone in expressing doubt on Russia's announcement, as the Pentagon claimed that the movement of troops is a "repositioning".

The chief intelligence officer for Ukraine has warned Russia that it has people working for Ukraine "everywhere".

The claims have come from Ukraine's intelligence service, which took to Twitter on Monday to warn Russia that it has sources within the Kremlin and to request jets. According to Ukraine's intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov who was recently interviewed by Coffee or Die Magazine, the intelligence agency has people working for Ukraine "everywhere", adding there are individuals in "the army, in the political circles, and administration of the president."

Budanov explained that these undercover sources have been able to provide the Ukrainian military with information on Russian attack plans. Additionally, Budanov said that Ukraine received intelligence from Western countries such as the UK and US on Russian movements. "We have made considerable progress in cyber intelligence. We see the letters and all they write," said Budanov to the magazine.

On March 23 a video was released that showcased Ukrainian forces destroying Russian military equipment with combat drones.

The footage comes from Ukraine's Operation Command South, which is a unit of the Ukrainian Ground Forces that posted the video along with a caption that is a reference to a statement made by famous British Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery. Ukraine's Operational Command South said the following, "The harder the fighting and the longer the war, the more the infantry, and the whole army, rely on the artillery." Adding, "And in modern conditions - also on the UAV" [drone].

For context what Montgomery said was "The harder the fighting and the longer the war, the more the infantry, and in fact all the arms, lean on the gunners." As for the combat drone, the Bayraktar TB2 has been used repeatedly by Ukrainian forces throughout Russia's war, and according to reports Ukraine has more than 20 of the UAV combat drones with Russia only having shot down one. Ukraine has recently requested the West for more drones, check out which ones it wants below.

A Ukrainian official close to the matter has warned that the forest fires burning in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone may impact the entire world if they aren't dealt with.

According to Lyudmila Denisova, the commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights recently said, the region near the failed nuclear power plant currently has 31 fires recorded, which are causing an increase in radiation being released into the atmosphere, putting Ukraine, Belarus, and other European countries at risk of exposure. Additionally, Denisova said that due to the Russian military occupying Chernobyl, its impossible to send firefighters into the region to tackle the fires.

Denisova goes on to explain that if nothing is done to stop the fires around the nuclear power plant, there may be "irreparable consequences not only for Ukraine but also for the whole world." The Verkhovna Rada commissioner said that a catastrophe can be prevented if the Russian military occupying the area fall back.

A top Ukrainian official has warned that Russia is attempting to split Ukraine into two nations, similar to North and South Korea.

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, recently gave a speech following some heated remarks from United States President Joe Biden. The Ukrainian president dropped stark comments aimed at the West that claimed the many nations "ping-pong about who and how should hand over jets" and other weapons that Ukraine has requested. Zelenskyy wished that the people making decisions about how and when to hand over jets and tanks to Ukraine had more courage.