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Russia Accuses Kyiv of Planning to Stage Nuclear Incident

Smoke rises above a building of the prosecutor's office damaged in shelling in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, February 19, 2023. (Reuters)
Smoke rises above a building of the prosecutor's office damaged in shelling in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, February 19, 2023. (Reuters)
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Russia Accuses Kyiv of Planning to Stage Nuclear Incident

Smoke rises above a building of the prosecutor's office damaged in shelling in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, February 19, 2023. (Reuters)
Smoke rises above a building of the prosecutor's office damaged in shelling in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, February 19, 2023. (Reuters)

Russia said on Sunday that Ukraine was planning to stage a nuclear incident on its territory to pin the blame on Moscow ahead of a United Nations meeting, without providing evidence for the accusation.

Since the start of its invasion of Ukraine nearly a year ago, Russia has repeatedly accused Kyiv of planning "false flag" operations with non-conventional weapons, using biological or radioactive materials. No such attack has materialized.

Russia's defense ministry said in a statement that radioactive substances had been transported to Ukraine from a European country and Kyiv was preparing a large-scale "provocation".

"The aim of the provocation is to accuse Russia's army of allegedly carrying out indiscriminate strikes on hazardous radioactive facilities in Ukraine, leading to the leakage of radioactive substances and contamination of the area," it said.

Ukraine and its allies have dismissed such accusations as cynical attempts to spread disinformation and has accused Moscow of planning incidents itself in a bid to blame Ukraine.

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World

Pakistan Navy Begins Ship Escorts Due to Gulf Tensions

Pakistanis walk across the Taftan border as they return from Iran, in Balochistan province, on March 9, 2026 amid ongoing US-Israel strikes on Iran. (AFP)
Pakistanis walk across the Taftan border as they return from Iran, in Balochistan province, on March 9, 2026 amid ongoing US-Israel strikes on Iran. (AFP)
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Pakistan Navy Begins Ship Escorts Due to Gulf Tensions

Pakistanis walk across the Taftan border as they return from Iran, in Balochistan province, on March 9, 2026 amid ongoing US-Israel strikes on Iran. (AFP)
Pakistanis walk across the Taftan border as they return from Iran, in Balochistan province, on March 9, 2026 amid ongoing US-Israel strikes on Iran. (AFP)

Pakistan's navy has launched an operation to "counter multidimensional threats" to its national shipping and maritime trade, with concerns about fuel supplies due to the US-Israeli war on Iran.

The military said late on Monday that navy ships were escorting merchant vessels "to ensure the uninterrupted flow of national energy supplies and the security of sea lines of communication".

Pakistan, which shares a border with Iran in the southwest, depends on oil and gas from the Gulf and last Friday hiked prices at the pump by about 20 percent, triggering long lines at petrol stations across the country.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday evening unveiled a raft of austerity measures to save fuel, including shutting government offices for one day a week and ordering 50 percent of staff to work from home.

Schools were also told to close for two weeks.

The military said it was vital that sea routes remained safe, secure and uninterrupted because 90 percent of Pakistan's trade is moved by sea.

The navy was fully "prepared to respond to emerging maritime security challenges", it added, without elaborating.

World

Russian Drones Injure 20 in Ukraine’s Kharkiv, Dnipro

Firefighters extinguish a blaze and clear rubble of a five-story residential building which was hit by a ballistic missile in Kharkiv on March 7, 2026. (AFP)
Firefighters extinguish a blaze and clear rubble of a five-story residential building which was hit by a ballistic missile in Kharkiv on March 7, 2026. (AFP)
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Russian Drones Injure 20 in Ukraine’s Kharkiv, Dnipro

Firefighters extinguish a blaze and clear rubble of a five-story residential building which was hit by a ballistic missile in Kharkiv on March 7, 2026. (AFP)
Firefighters extinguish a blaze and clear rubble of a five-story residential building which was hit by a ballistic missile in Kharkiv on March 7, 2026. (AFP)

Russian drones attacked Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, and the southeastern city of Dnipro late on Monday and overnight, injuring more than 20 people, Ukrainian officials said. A Russian ‌drone struck ‌an area near a ‌high-rise ⁠apartment building late on ⁠Monday in Kharkiv, injuring seven people, smashing windows and setting cars ablaze, the city's mayor and Ukrainian police said.

A second attack overnight injured four people, when a drone hit a road ⁠between buildings, Mayor Ihor Terekhov ‌said on ‌the Telegram messaging app.

Kharkiv, located 30 km (18 miles) ‌from the Russian border, withstood early ‌advances by Russian forces after their full-scale invasion in February 2022 and has since been a frequent target of Russian air attacks.

Ukraine's ‌air force said that overall Russia attacked the country with ⁠137 ⁠drones, of which 122 were downed or neutralized.

In Dnipro, 10 people were injured, including a 12-year-old boy, regional Governor Oleksandr Ganzha said on Telegram.

Ganzha posted photos online showing rubble in streets and damaged building facades. City Mayor Borys Filatov said that at least eight high-rise buildings were damaged in the attack.

World

Search Called Off after Indonesia Landfill Collapse Kills Seven

Jakarta and its satellite cities, collectively known as Jabodetabek, are home to about 42 million people and generate an estimated 14,000 tons of waste daily. BAY ISMOYO / AFP
Jakarta and its satellite cities, collectively known as Jabodetabek, are home to about 42 million people and generate an estimated 14,000 tons of waste daily. BAY ISMOYO / AFP
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Search Called Off after Indonesia Landfill Collapse Kills Seven

Jakarta and its satellite cities, collectively known as Jabodetabek, are home to about 42 million people and generate an estimated 14,000 tons of waste daily. BAY ISMOYO / AFP
Jakarta and its satellite cities, collectively known as Jabodetabek, are home to about 42 million people and generate an estimated 14,000 tons of waste daily. BAY ISMOYO / AFP

Indonesian rescuers have called off the search for victims of a landslide at the country's largest open landfill after pulling seven bodies out from under debris, an official said Tuesday.

Rescuers recovered three bodies on Sunday and four more on Monday, Jakarta search and rescue agency head Desiana Kartika Bahari said in a statement.

Six people were also rescued alive after the collapse Sunday afternoon at Bantargebang, a landfill just 25 kilometers (16 miles) outside the capital, that buried trucks and food stalls.

Rescuers used backhoes, tracking dogs and thermal drones to search for victims, she said. Everyone has now been accounted for.

The collapse happened after hours of heavy rain in the area, local media reported.

To reduce rain intensity, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) announced it would conduct a "weather modification operation," which typically involves using helicopters to "seed" clouds with sodium chloride to encourage premature rainfall over the sea rather than over the capital.

Jakarta and its satellite cities, collectively known as Jabodetabek, are home to about 42 million people and generate an estimated 14,000 tons of waste daily.

Bantargebang, one of the world's largest open landfills, spans more than 110 hectares and contains approximately 55 million tons of trash, according to a local environment agency official.

President Prabowo Subianto said last month that most of Indonesia's landfills, which are being gradually phased out, would exceed their capacity by 2028.

The government will invest $3.5 billion in a project to build 34 waste-to-energy sites within two years that would incinerate garbage to produce electricity, he said.

A landfill landslide killed 143 people in West Java in 2005, triggered by a methane gas explosion and heavy rain in the area.