Russia’s Shoigu Hails Relations with China as Pillar of Global Stability

In this photo released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, March 4, 2023, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu speaks during a meeting with military commanders in Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP)
In this photo released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, March 4, 2023, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu speaks during a meeting with military commanders in Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP)
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Russia’s Shoigu Hails Relations with China as Pillar of Global Stability

In this photo released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, March 4, 2023, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu speaks during a meeting with military commanders in Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP)
In this photo released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, March 4, 2023, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu speaks during a meeting with military commanders in Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP)

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Monday that relations between Russia and China were a major factor supporting global stability in the world today, the TASS news agency reported.

"Bilateral relations between our countries have reached a new, unprecedented level and have become a major factor supporting global stability in the face of increasing geopolitical tensions in the world," TASS reported Shoigu as saying in a telegram message to Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission and a close ally of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Beijing's top diplomat Wang Yi met President Vladimir Putin in Moscow last month, and Xi could travel to Russia as soon as next week for a summit with Putin, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.



World's Intelligence Chiefs Meet in Secret Conclave in Singapore

Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Li Shangfu delivers his speech on the last day of the 20th International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's annual defense and security forum, in Singapore, Sunday, June 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Li Shangfu delivers his speech on the last day of the 20th International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's annual defense and security forum, in Singapore, Sunday, June 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
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World's Intelligence Chiefs Meet in Secret Conclave in Singapore

Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Li Shangfu delivers his speech on the last day of the 20th International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's annual defense and security forum, in Singapore, Sunday, June 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Li Shangfu delivers his speech on the last day of the 20th International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's annual defense and security forum, in Singapore, Sunday, June 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Senior officials from about two dozen of the world's major intelligence agencies held a secret meeting on the fringes of the Shangri-La Dialogue security meeting in Singapore this weekend, five people told Reuters.

Such meetings are organized by the Singapore government and have been discreetly held at a separate venue alongside the security summit for several years, they said. The meetings have not been previously reported.

The US was represented by Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, the head of her country's intelligence community, while China was among the other countries present, despite the tensions between the two superpowers.

Samant Goel, the head of India's overseas intelligence gathering agency, the Research and Analysis Wing, also attended, an Indian source said.

"The meeting is an important fixture on the international shadow agenda," said one person with knowledge of the discussions. "Given the range of countries involved, it is not a festival of tradecraft, but rather a way of promoting a deeper understanding of intentions and bottom lines.

"There is an unspoken code among intelligence services that they can talk when more formal and open diplomacy is harder - it is a very important factor during times of tension, and the Singapore event helps promote that."

All five sources who discussed the meetings declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.

A spokesperson for the Singapore Ministry of Defence said that while attending the Shangri-La Dialogue, "participants including senior officials from intelligence agencies also take the opportunity to meet their counterparts."

"The Singapore Ministry of Defence may facilitate some of these bilateral or multilateral meetings," the spokesperson said. "Participants have found such meetings held on the sidelines of the (dialogue) beneficial."

The US Embassy in Singapore said it had no information on the meeting. The Chinese and Indian governments did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand operate what is called the Five Eyes network to gather and share a broad range of intelligence, and their intelligence officials meet frequently.

Larger meetings of the intelligence community are rarer, and almost never publicized.

Although few details were available on the specific discussions in Singapore, Russia's war in Ukraine and transnational crime figured in the talks on Friday, the person with knowledge of the discussions added. On Thursday evening, the intelligence chiefs held an informal gathering.

No Russian representative was present, one of the sources said. Ukraine's deputy defense minister, Volodymr V. Havrylov, was at the Shangri-La Dialogue but said he did not attend the intelligence meeting.

Another of the sources said the tone at the meeting was collaborative and cooperative, and not confrontational.

At the main security dialogue, more than 600 delegates from 49 countries held three days of plenary sessions, as well as closed-door bilateral and multilateral meetings at the sprawling Shangri-La Hotel.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gave the keynote address while US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu and counterparts from Britain,

Japan, Canada, Indonesia and South Korea also spoke.

Haines was among the official US delegates to the Shangri-La Dialogue. At a discussion on cybersecurity in the main meeting, she said in response to a question from a Chinese military officer that cooperation between countries was essential.

"It is absolutely critical, even when there is distrust, and even when you are facing in effect adversaries, that you still try to work through and cooperate on issues of mutual interest and also try to manage the potential for escalation," she said.

US officials said on Friday that CIA Director William Burns visited China last month for talks with Chinese counterparts as the Biden administration seeks to boost communications with Beijing.


Russia Says it Thwarted Major Ukrainian Offensive, Killed Hundreds

FILE PHOTO: Russian service members guard the entrance to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant during a visit of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expert mission in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict outside Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, March 29, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Russian service members guard the entrance to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant during a visit of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expert mission in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict outside Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, March 29, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko/File Photo
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Russia Says it Thwarted Major Ukrainian Offensive, Killed Hundreds

FILE PHOTO: Russian service members guard the entrance to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant during a visit of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expert mission in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict outside Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, March 29, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Russian service members guard the entrance to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant during a visit of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expert mission in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict outside Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, March 29, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko/File Photo

Russia said on Monday that its forces had thwarted a major Ukrainian offensive at five points along the front in the southern Ukrainian region of Donetsk and killed hundreds of pro-Kyiv troops.

It was not immediately clear whether or not the reported attack represented the start of a Ukrainian counteroffensive which Kyiv has been promising for months to recapture territory taken by Russian forces after the invasion of February 2022, Reuters said.

Russia's defense ministry said Ukraine had attacked with six mechanized and two tank battalions in southern Donetsk, where Moscow has long suspected Ukraine would seek to drive a wedge through Russian-controlled territory.

"On the morning of June 4, the enemy launched a large-scale offensive in five sectors of the front in the South Donetsk direction," the defense ministry said in a statement posted on Telegram at 1:30 a.m. Moscow time (2230 GMT).

"The enemy's goal was to break through our defenses in the most vulnerable, in its opinion, sector of the front," it said. "The enemy did not achieve its tasks, it had no success."

Reuters was unable to immediately verify the Russian statement and the Ukrainian defense ministry and military did not immediately respond to written requests for comment.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov published a cryptic message on Twitter on Sunday, quoting Depeche Mode's track "Enjoy the Silence".

"Words are very unnecessary. They can only do harm," his tweet said.

Ukraine last week published a flashy video depicting troops preparing for battle and reciting a rousing blessing, which was later aired as a recruiting clip.

Russia's defense ministry released video of what it said showed several Ukrainian armored vehicles in a field blowing up after being hit.

Russian forces killed 250 Ukrainian troops as well as destroying 16 tanks, three infantry fighting vehicles and 21 armored combat vehicles, the ministry said.

Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, who is in charge of Moscow's military operation in Ukraine, was in the area of the Ukrainian attack, the ministry said.

"(Gerasimov) was at one of the advanced command posts," the ministry said.

COUNTER-OFFENSIVE?

For months, Ukraine has been preparing for a counter-offensive against Russian forces which officials in Kyiv and CIA Director William Burns have said will pierce Russian President Vladimir Putin's hubris.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published on Saturday that he was ready to launch the counteroffensive but tempered a forecast of success with a warning that it could take some time and come at a heavy cost.

"I don't know how long it will take," he told The Journal. "To be honest, it can go a variety of ways, completely different. But we are going to do it, and we are ready."

After seeking tens of billions of dollars of Western weapons to fight Russian forces, the success or failure of the counter-offensive is likely to influence the shape of future Western diplomatic and military support for Ukraine.

Ukraine has in recent weeks sought to weaken Russian positions but its specific plans have been shrouded in secrecy as it seeks to strike yet another blow against the much larger military of Russia.

Moscow was last month struck by drones which Russia said was a Ukrainian terrorist attack while pro-Ukrainian forces have repeatedly crossed into Russia proper in recent days in the Belgorod region.

After a two-month lull, Russia has launched hundreds of drones and missiles on Ukraine since early May, chiefly on Kyiv, with Ukraine saying the targets were its military and critical infrastructure facilities.

WAR IN UKRAINE

Putin sent troops into Ukraine on February 24 last year in what the Kremlin expected to be swift operation but its forces suffered a series of defeats and had to move back and regroup in swathes of eastern Ukraine.

Russia now controls at least 18% of what is internationally recognized to be Ukrainian territory, and has claimed four regions of Ukraine as Russian territory.

For months, tens of thousands of Russian troops have been digging in along a front line which stretches for around 600 miles (1,000km), bracing for a Ukrainian attack which is expected to try to cut Russia's so-called land bridge to the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014.

Ukraine says it will not rest until it has ejected every last Russian soldier from its territory, and casts the invasion as an imperial-style land grab by Russia, the world's biggest nuclear power.

Russia says the war is escalating and says the West is fighting what amounts to a hybrid war against Russia which is aimed at sowing discord and ultimately carving up Russia's vast natural resources.

The West says it wants Ukraine to defeat Russia but denies that it wants to destroy Russia. US President Joe Biden said last year that a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia would mean World War Three.


Ukraine's Military Urges 'Silence' Ahead of Expected Counteroffensive

FILE PHOTO: A Ukrainian military helicopter takes off to carry out a mission, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, during military drills in the north of Ukraine, June 1, 2023. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Ukrainian military helicopter takes off to carry out a mission, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, during military drills in the north of Ukraine, June 1, 2023. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/File Photo
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Ukraine's Military Urges 'Silence' Ahead of Expected Counteroffensive

FILE PHOTO: A Ukrainian military helicopter takes off to carry out a mission, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, during military drills in the north of Ukraine, June 1, 2023. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Ukrainian military helicopter takes off to carry out a mission, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, during military drills in the north of Ukraine, June 1, 2023. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/File Photo

The Ukrainian military on Sunday renewed its plea for operational silence around a long-awaited counteroffensive against Russian forces, the latest in a stream of messages by Kyiv as it prepares for the assault.

Anticipation has mounted around what is expected to be a broad attack by Ukrainian forces to retake Russian-occupied territory in the east and south.

But Ukrainian officials have repeatedly discouraged public speculation over the operation, saying it could help the enemy.

Authorities in recent days have also cracked down on citizens sharing images or footage of air defense systems shooting down Russian missiles.

"Plans love silence. There will be no announcement of the start," the ministry said in a video posted to official Telegram channels, apparently referring to the counteroffensive.

The sleekly-produced footage featured masked and well-armed front-line troops holding their fingers against their lips, gesturing for silence amid the distant rumble of artillery and gunfire, Reuters reported.

It ended with images of soaring F-16 fighter jets - long coveted by Kyiv as it seeks to boost its air defense against Russian missiles and drones.

Kyiv's Western allies in recent months have provided weapons, armor and ammunition for the counteroffensive, which military experts have said could prove difficult against dug-in Russian forces.

In an interview published on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Kyiv was prepared for the operation but avoided making any predictions.

"To be honest, it can go a variety of ways, completely different," he told the Wall Street Journal. "But we are going to do it, and we are ready."

Other senior officials, including Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, have similarly sought to tamp down expectations.

In some cases, however, the military has also fed the anticipation. Social media outreach by Kyiv has often been intended to intimidate the Kremlin.


Netanyahu Accuses UN Nuclear Watchdog of 'Capitulating' to Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo: Israeli government
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo: Israeli government
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Netanyahu Accuses UN Nuclear Watchdog of 'Capitulating' to Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo: Israeli government
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo: Israeli government

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the International Atomic Energy Agency on Sunday of ineffectually policing Iran's nuclear activities and suggested the UN watchdog risked becoming politicized and irrelevant.

The unusual criticism followed an IAEA report last week that Iran had provided a satisfactory answer on one case of suspect uranium particles and re-installed some monitoring equipment originally put in place under a now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal.

With Iran having enriched enough uranium to 60% fissile purity for two nuclear bombs, if refined further - something it denies wanting or planning - Israel has redoubled threats to launch preemptive military strikes if international diplomacy fails.

"Iran is continuing to lie to the International Atomic Energy Agency. The agency's capitulation to Iranian pressure is a black stain on its record," Netanyahu told his cabinet in televised remarks, according to Reuters.

"If the IAEA becomes a political organization, then its oversight activity in Iran is without significance, as will be its reports on Iran's nuclear activity."

The IAEA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Wednesday, it reported that after years of investigation and lack of progress, Iran had given a satisfactory answer to explain one of three sites at which uranium particles had been detected.

Those particles could be explained by the presence of a Soviet-operated mine and lab there and the IAEA had no further questions, a senior diplomat in Vienna said.

In an apparent reference to this, Netanyahu said: "Iran's excuses ... regarding the finding of nuclear material in prohibited locations are not only unreliable, they are technically impossible."

However, the Vienna diplomat also told Reuters the IAEA's assessment remained that Iran carried out explosives testing there decades ago that was relevant to nuclear weapons.

After then US President Donald Trump quit the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, Tehran ramped up uranium enrichment. Israeli and Western officials say it could switch from enrichment at 60% fissile purity to 90% - weapons-grade - within a few weeks.

In a 2012 UN speech, Netanyahu deemed 90% enrichment by Iran a "red line" that could trigger preemptive strikes. Experts are divided, however, on whether Israel - despite having an advanced military believed to be nuclear-armed - can deal lasting damage to Iran's distant, dispersed and well-defended facilities.

"In the event that we reach decision-point, where the two options are the Iranians breaking out to a bomb or us taking action, we will take action," Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz, a member of Netanyahu's national security cabinet, said.


Khamenei Slams West, Blames Protests on 'Thugs and Villains'

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Photo: Supreme Leader's website
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Photo: Supreme Leader's website
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Khamenei Slams West, Blames Protests on 'Thugs and Villains'

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Photo: Supreme Leader's website
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Photo: Supreme Leader's website

Iran's supreme leader on Sunday defended his tough approach to the West, saying compromise would only invite further hostility from Iran's enemies and blaming recent anti-government protests on “thugs and villains.”

Ali Khamenei's remarks come amid an intensifying standoff with Western countries over Iran's nuclear program, which has made major advances in the five years since then-President Donald Trump withdrew the US from an international accord that restricted it.

Trump restored crippling sanctions on Iran that have contributed to a severe economic crisis without forcing any concessions from its leaders. Iran has also lent support to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, supplying armed drones that have wreaked havoc on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

“Some people are mistaken to think if we back down from our stances in certain cases that will cause the enmity of the US, the global arrogance, or Israel toward us to diminish," said Khamenei, who has the final say on all major Iranian policies. "This is a mistake."

He spoke at an annual speech marking the death of Ruhollah Khomeini, his predecessor.

Khamenei alluded to nationwide protests last fall sparked by the death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, who had been detained by the morality police for allegedly violating the country's strict dress code.

Iranian authorities have blamed the protests on a foreign conspiracy, without providing evidence, while the demonstrators said they were protesting over decades of repression and economic mismanagement.

“Thugs and villains did what they did and malicious individuals chanted such slogans," Khamenei said. "According to their plot they thought the Islamic Republic was finished and they could take the Iranian nation as servants. These fools, once again, were wrong. Once again, they failed to know our people.”


Belgian Prime Minister Briefly Knocked Out in Bike Fall

FILE PHOTO: Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo arrives for a European Union leaders' summit in Brussels, Belgium December 15, 2022.  REUTERS/Johanna Geron/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo arrives for a European Union leaders' summit in Brussels, Belgium December 15, 2022. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/File Photo
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Belgian Prime Minister Briefly Knocked Out in Bike Fall

FILE PHOTO: Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo arrives for a European Union leaders' summit in Brussels, Belgium December 15, 2022.  REUTERS/Johanna Geron/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo arrives for a European Union leaders' summit in Brussels, Belgium December 15, 2022. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/File Photo

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo fell from a bicycle and briefly lost consciousness but hospital tests revealed no lasting effects, national news agency Belga reported.
The incident happened when De Croo, 47, was on a bike ride with his son late on Saturday afternoon near his home in the Flanders region, according to Belga, citing the prime minister's office.
De Croo lost consciousness for a few moments and was taken to hospital for checks, Belga reported.
The accident was not expected to affect the premier's schedule for the coming week, Belga said.


5 Drones Shot Downed in Crimea's Dzhankoi

Firefighters work at a house on fire following a shelling, which, according to the regional governor, was by Ukrainian forces, in the village of Sobolevka, Belgorod region, Russia, in this handout image released June 2, 2023. Governor of Russia's Belgorod Region Vyacheslav Gladkov via Telegram/Handout via REUTERS
Firefighters work at a house on fire following a shelling, which, according to the regional governor, was by Ukrainian forces, in the village of Sobolevka, Belgorod region, Russia, in this handout image released June 2, 2023. Governor of Russia's Belgorod Region Vyacheslav Gladkov via Telegram/Handout via REUTERS
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5 Drones Shot Downed in Crimea's Dzhankoi

Firefighters work at a house on fire following a shelling, which, according to the regional governor, was by Ukrainian forces, in the village of Sobolevka, Belgorod region, Russia, in this handout image released June 2, 2023. Governor of Russia's Belgorod Region Vyacheslav Gladkov via Telegram/Handout via REUTERS
Firefighters work at a house on fire following a shelling, which, according to the regional governor, was by Ukrainian forces, in the village of Sobolevka, Belgorod region, Russia, in this handout image released June 2, 2023. Governor of Russia's Belgorod Region Vyacheslav Gladkov via Telegram/Handout via REUTERS

Five drones were shot down and four were jammed and did not hit their targets in Dzhankoi in Crimea, a Russian-installed official in the peninsula that Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014 said on Sunday.

There were no casualties but windows were broken in several houses, Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-backed head of Crimea's administration, said on the Telegram messaging app.

He added that one unexploded drone was found on the territory of a residential house, forcing the temporary evacuation of about 50 people in the area.

Reuters could not independently verify the report.

Russia has a military air base near Dzhankoi. Ukrainian officials have long said the city and surrounding areas have been turned into Moscow's largest military base in Crimea.


US Says 'Unsafe' Action by China Near American Ship In Taiwan Strait

  American destroyer USS Chung-Hoon (FILE/Reuters)
American destroyer USS Chung-Hoon (FILE/Reuters)
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US Says 'Unsafe' Action by China Near American Ship In Taiwan Strait

  American destroyer USS Chung-Hoon (FILE/Reuters)
American destroyer USS Chung-Hoon (FILE/Reuters)

A Chinese Navy ship maneuvered in an "unsafe manner" near an American destroyer transiting the Taiwan Strait, the US military said Saturday.

It is the second close encounter between American and Chinese military assets in less than 10 days, following what the US military said was an "unnecessarily aggressive maneuver" by one of Beijing's fighter's near one of Washington's surveillance planes last week.

The Chinese ship "executed maneuvers in an unsafe manner in the vicinity of Chung-Hoon," an American destroyer, during the Saturday transit, the US Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) said in a statement.

Beijing's ship "overtook Chung-Hoon on their port side and crossed their bow at 150 yards. Chung-Hoon maintained course and slowed to 10 (knots) to avoid a collision," the statement said, AFP reported.

It then "crossed Chung-Hoon's bow a second time starboard to port at 2,000 yards (meters) and remained off Chung-Hoon's port bow," coming within 150 yards at the closest point, the US military said, adding that the "US military flies, sails, and operates safely and responsibly anywhere international law allows."

The incident occurred as the Chung-Hoon sailed through the Taiwan Strait with a Canadian warship in a joint mission through the sensitive waterway that separates self-ruled Taiwan from China.

The Chinese military said it had monitored the passage, but made no mention of a close encounter.

"The relevant countries are intentionally creating trouble in the Taiwan Strait, deliberately stirring up risks, and maliciously undermining regional peace and stability," said Senior Colonel Shi Yi, the spokesman of China's Eastern Theatre Command.

US warships frequently sail through the strait. The last joint US-Canada passage was in September 2022.

China claims Taiwan as its territory -- vowing to take it one day, by force if necessary -- and has in recent years ramped up military and political pressure on the island.

The Taiwan Strait ship encounter followed what the US military characterized as a risky maneuver by a Chinese jet that "flew directly in front of and within 400 feet of the nose" of an RC-135 surveillance plane on May 26 over the South China Sea.

Beijing blamed US "provocation," with a foreign ministry spokeswoman saying the "United States' long-term and frequent sending of ships and planes to conduct close surveillance on China seriously harms China's national sovereignty and security."


Russian Missile Attack on Dnipro Kills 2-year-old, Injures 22

A handout photo made available by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine shows Ukrainian rescuers work on a place of rocket hit in the Dnipro area, central Ukraine, late 03 June 2023, amid the Russian invasion. EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE / HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine shows Ukrainian rescuers work on a place of rocket hit in the Dnipro area, central Ukraine, late 03 June 2023, amid the Russian invasion. EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE / HANDOUT
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Russian Missile Attack on Dnipro Kills 2-year-old, Injures 22

A handout photo made available by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine shows Ukrainian rescuers work on a place of rocket hit in the Dnipro area, central Ukraine, late 03 June 2023, amid the Russian invasion. EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE / HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine shows Ukrainian rescuers work on a place of rocket hit in the Dnipro area, central Ukraine, late 03 June 2023, amid the Russian invasion. EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE / HANDOUT

A 2-year-old girl was killed and 22 people injured, including five children, when a Russian missile struck near the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, the regional governor said on Sunday.
"Overnight, the body of a girl who had just turned two was pulled from under the rubble of a house," Serhiy Lysak wrote on the Telegram messaging channel.
Seventeen people were being treated in hospital after the attack on a residential area by Iskander short-range cruise missiles, Reuters quoted Lysak as saying.
Reuters could not independently verify the report. There was no immediate reaction from Moscow.
Mykola Lukashuk, head of the Dnipropetrovsk region council, said 17 children have died in the region since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
"No words can soothe the pain of parents who have lost the most precious thing in their lives," Lukashuk said.
The war has killed at least 485 children in Ukraine and injured nearly 1,500, the country's Office of the Prosecutor General said on Sunday on Telegram.
The missile hit between two two-story residential buildings in the Pidhorodnenska community, partially destroying them and damaging a number of houses, cars and infrastructure, Lysak said.
"Once again, Russia proves it is a terrorist state," Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on Saturday after the first reports of the explosions.
Moscow and Kyiv deny their military forces target civilians.
Pictures posted on social media showed rescue teams working at a shattered, smoldering building amid piles of twisted building materials.
Following the attack in Dnipro, Russia launched a new wave of overnight air strikes on the country. Ukraine's air force said on Sunday it destroyed more than half of the air targets.
Four of the six cruise missiles and three of the five Iranian-made Shahed drones launched by Russia were downed, the air force said on Telegram.
Kyiv's city military administration earlier said all Russia-launched targets approaching the capital had been intercepted. It was not immediately clear where the missiles and drones that were not destroyed hit.
Russia has repeatedly attacked Ukraine's capital since May, chiefly at night, ahead of a long-expected Ukrainian counteroffensive to reclaim territory, in what Ukrainian officials say is an attempt to inflict psychological distress on civilians.


NKorean Leader's Sister Vows 2nd Attempt to Launch Spy Satellite, Slams UN Meeting

Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. AP
Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. AP
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NKorean Leader's Sister Vows 2nd Attempt to Launch Spy Satellite, Slams UN Meeting

Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. AP
Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. AP

The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed again Sunday to push for a second attempt to launch a spy satellite as she lambasted a UN Security Council meeting over the North’s first, failed launch.

The North’s attempt to put its first military spy satellite into orbit last Wednesday failed as its rocket crashed off the Korean Peninsula’s western coast. An emergency meeting of the UN Security Council was still convened at the request of the US, Japan and other countries to discuss the launch because it had violated council resolutions banning the North from performing any launch using ballistic technology.

On Sunday, Kim’s sister and senior ruling party official, Kim Yo Jong, called the UN council “a political appendage” of the United States, saying its recent meeting was convened following America's “gangster-like request.”

She accused the UN council of being “discriminative and rude” because it only takes issue with the North’s satellite launches while thousands of satellites launched by other countries are already operating in space. She said her country’s attempt to acquire a spy satellite is a legitimate step to respond to military threats posed by the US and its allies.

“(North Korea) will continue to take proactive measures to exercise all the lawful rights of a sovereign state, including the one to a military reconnaissance satellite launch,” Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by state media.

In her earlier statement Friday, Kim Yo Jong said the North’s spy satellite “will be correctly put on space orbit in the near future" but didn't say when its second launch attempt would take place.

South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers Wednesday it will likely take “more than several weeks” for North Korea to learn the cause of the failed launch but it may attempt a second launch soon if defects aren’t serious.

Washington, Seoul and others criticized the North’s satellite launch for raising international tensions and urged it to return to talks.