Russia Says UK Navy Personnel Blew up Nord Stream Gas Pipelines

29 September 2022, Sweden, NA: The picture shows a small gas leak at Nord Stream 2 in the Baltic Sea, photographed from a Swedish Coast Guard aircraft. (Swedish Coast Guard/dpa)
29 September 2022, Sweden, NA: The picture shows a small gas leak at Nord Stream 2 in the Baltic Sea, photographed from a Swedish Coast Guard aircraft. (Swedish Coast Guard/dpa)
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Russia Says UK Navy Personnel Blew up Nord Stream Gas Pipelines

29 September 2022, Sweden, NA: The picture shows a small gas leak at Nord Stream 2 in the Baltic Sea, photographed from a Swedish Coast Guard aircraft. (Swedish Coast Guard/dpa)
29 September 2022, Sweden, NA: The picture shows a small gas leak at Nord Stream 2 in the Baltic Sea, photographed from a Swedish Coast Guard aircraft. (Swedish Coast Guard/dpa)

Russia's defense ministry on Saturday said that British navy personnel blew up the Nord Stream gas pipelines last month, directly accusing a leading NATO member of sabotaging critical Russian infrastructure.

The defense ministry did not give evidence for its claim.

"According to available information, representatives of this unit of the British Navy took part in the planning, provision and implementation of a terrorist attack in the Baltic Sea on September 26 this year - blowing up the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines," the ministry said.

Britain's defense ministry declined immediate comment.

Russia has previously blamed the West for the explosions last month that ruptured the Russian-built Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines on the bed of the Baltic Sea.

But Russia has never before given specific details of who was responsible for the damage to the pipelines, previously the largest routes for Russian gas supplies to Europe.

The Kremlin has repeatedly said allegations of Russian responsibility for the damage were "stupid" and Russian officials have said Washington had a motive as it wants to sell more liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe.

The United States has denied involvement.



15 Dead in Peru Military Helicopter Crash

A demonstrator waves a Peruvian flag during a protest against the government of President Pedro Castillo, in Lima, Peru October 8, 2021. REUTERS/Angela Ponce
A demonstrator waves a Peruvian flag during a protest against the government of President Pedro Castillo, in Lima, Peru October 8, 2021. REUTERS/Angela Ponce
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15 Dead in Peru Military Helicopter Crash

A demonstrator waves a Peruvian flag during a protest against the government of President Pedro Castillo, in Lima, Peru October 8, 2021. REUTERS/Angela Ponce
A demonstrator waves a Peruvian flag during a protest against the government of President Pedro Castillo, in Lima, Peru October 8, 2021. REUTERS/Angela Ponce

Fifteen people died when a military helicopter crashed in the Arequipa region of Peru, the air force said Monday.

The Mi-17 helicopter lost radio contact Sunday afternoon and the Peruvian Air Force found the 15 people dead on Monday, AFP reported.

"Rescue personnel have confirmed the deaths of the four crew members... as well as the 11 passengers who were on board," an air force statement said.

The helicopter was carrying out rescue operations for victims of floods in Arequipa which have caused widespread damage, the air force said.

The Russian-made aircraft had taken off from the city of Pisco, in the Ica region. Rescuers located it just over 300 kilometers (186 miles) away in the town of Chala, in Arequipa.


Rubio Trip to Israel on Iran Tensions 'Subject to Change'

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio waves as he departs at the Liszt Ferenc International Airport in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio waves as he departs at the Liszt Ferenc International Airport in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
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Rubio Trip to Israel on Iran Tensions 'Subject to Change'

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio waves as he departs at the Liszt Ferenc International Airport in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio waves as he departs at the Liszt Ferenc International Airport in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio may push back a trip to Israel in which he is expected to speak to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about potential strikes on Iran, a US official said Monday.

"Secretary Rubio is still planning to travel to Israel but the schedule remains subject to change," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Rubio had earlier been expected to meet Netanyahu on Saturday, but Israeli media reports said he was now expected in the country on Monday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier told CBS News that he expected new talks on Thursday with the United States and held out hope for progress.

President Donald Trump has sent a major deployment of air and sea power to the Middle East and has threatened to strike Iran if it does not reach a deal on key concerns starting with its nuclear program.

Netanyahu has long advocated a hard line on Iran's clerical state and last June ordered a 12-day bombing campaign inside the country, which the United States briefly joined.

Netanyahu visited Washington on February 11 to speak with Trump, who said afterward that he "insisted" on giving time for diplomacy.

Iran has publicly insisted that it has a right to uranium enrichment.

The United States and Israel have threatened new military action against Iran after mass protests against the Islamic republic, which authorities crushed at a cost of thousands of lives.


4 Years into Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine, a Look at the War by the Numbers 

A resident walks at the site of the Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the city of Chornomorsk, Odesa region, Ukraine February 23, 2026. (Reuters)
A resident walks at the site of the Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the city of Chornomorsk, Odesa region, Ukraine February 23, 2026. (Reuters)
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4 Years into Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine, a Look at the War by the Numbers 

A resident walks at the site of the Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the city of Chornomorsk, Odesa region, Ukraine February 23, 2026. (Reuters)
A resident walks at the site of the Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the city of Chornomorsk, Odesa region, Ukraine February 23, 2026. (Reuters)

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine four years ago launched Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II, causing immense suffering for civilians and harrowing ordeals for soldiers while rewriting the post-Cold War security order.

The fighting enters its fifth year on Tuesday, and it shows no signs of stopping any time soon.

The US has brokered talks with delegations from Moscow and Kyiv as part of the Trump administration's yearlong push for peace. But reconciling key differences, such as the future of Russian-occupied Ukrainian land and postwar security for Ukraine, has thwarted progress.

Meanwhile, thousands of each countries’ troops have died on the battlefield, and Ukrainian civilians have been battered by Russian aerial strikes that have brought years of power outages and water cuts.

Here’s a look at the conflict, by the numbers, since the full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.

1.8 million The upper end of the estimated number of soldiers killed, wounded or missing on both sides, according to a report last month by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank.

It estimated that Russia suffered 1.2 million casualties, including up to 325,000 troop deaths, between February 2022 and December 2025 — what it said was the largest number of troop deaths for any major power in any conflict since World War II.

Russia has not released figures on battlefield deaths since January 2023, when it said more than 80 soldiers were killed in a Ukrainian strike, bringing the total military deaths Moscow has confirmed to just over 6,000.

CSIS estimated that Ukraine has seen 500,000 to 600,000 military casualties, including up to 140,000 deaths.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this month that 55,000 Ukrainian troops have died in the war. Many are missing, he said.

Neither Moscow nor Kyiv gives timely data on military losses. Independent verification is not possible.

14,999 The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission’s count for civilian deaths in Ukraine since Russia’s all-out invasion, though it says that is likely an underestimate. More than 40,600 civilians were injured over the same period, it said in a December report.

The war has killed at least 763 children, according to the UN.

Last year was the deadliest for civilians in Ukraine since 2022. The conflict killed 2,514 civilians and injured 12,142 in the country in 2025 — a 31% increase in civilian casualties over 2024, it said.

19.4% The percentage of Ukrainian land occupied by Russia, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

Over the past year, Russia has gained just 0.79% of Ukraine’s territory in the grinding war of attrition, the Washington-based think tank said in calculations provided earlier this month to The Associated Press, underscoring the little progress Moscow's forces have made despite huge costs in troops and armor.

Before Russia’s all-out invasion, it controlled nearly 7% of Ukraine, including Crimea and parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the east, as Moscow-backed separatists fought the Ukrainian army, according to Ukrainian officials and Western analysts.

13% The percentage drop in foreign military aid to Kyiv last year compared with the annual average between 2022 and 2024, according to Germany’s Kiel Institute, which tracks assistance to Kyiv.

US President Donald Trump stopped sending American weapons paid for by the US to Ukraine after he took office just over a year ago. European countries, striving to make up the difference, increased their military aid last year by 67% compared with the 2022-2024 period, the institute said in a report this month.

Foreign humanitarian and financial aid to Ukraine fell by 5% last year in comparison with the average in the previous three years, it said.

5.9 million The number of Ukrainian civilians who have left their country.

Some 5.3 million of those people have found refuge in Europe, according to a report this month from the UN office in Ukraine.

Additionally, around 3.7 million Ukrainians forced out of their homes have moved elsewhere within the country, the UN said in December.

Ukraine's prewar population was more than 40 million.

2,851 The number of Russian attacks that affected the provision of medical care in Ukraine, according to the World Health Organization. The figure covers the period from the full-scale invasion through Feb. 11.

The attacks include 2,347 strikes on health care facilities, as well as ones that damaged vehicles and the storage of medical supplies.