A residential building destroyed by shelling in the settlement of Borodyanka in the Kyiv region, Ukraine March 3, 2022. Picture taken with a drone. REUTERS/Maksim Levin
A residential building destroyed by shelling in the settlement of Borodyanka in the Kyiv region, Ukraine March 3, 2022. Picture taken with a drone. REUTERS/Maksim Levin
Ukraine's top government economic adviser Oleg Ustenko said on Thursday that invading Russian forces have so far destroyed at least $100 billion worth of infrastructure, buildings and other physical assets.
Ustenko, chief economic adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, told an online event hosted by the Peterson Institute for International Economics that the war has caused 50% of Ukrainian businesses to shut down completely, while the other half are operating at well below their capacity.
According to Reuters, he said the damage estimate is "very approximate" and includes roads, bridges, hospitals, equipment and other assets.
Asked how such a reconstruction effort could be financed, Ustenko said part of it could come from Russian assets that are frozen throughout the world, including Russian central bank assets held outside the country and immobilized by Western sanctions. The seized assets of wealthy Russian oligarchs could also be transferred to a reconstruction fund, he added.
Asked about the resilience of Ukraine's financial system, and bank payment operations, Ustenko said: "Look, we are doing, I would say, OK under the current circumstances."
He said Ukraine's fiscal reserves are currently at about $27.5 billion, down from about $30 billion before the invasion.
Despite some pressure on the hryvnia currency, Ukrainians in areas not occupied by Russian forces are able to access cash via ATMs and supermarket cashiers without the long lines seen in the first two days of the war, and credit card and other electronic payment systems are working normally, he added.
"Even in those cities surrounded by now by the Russian army...(residents) are able use their cards," Ustenko said.
Ukraine Unleashes One of its Heaviest Drone Bombardments of Russiahttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5288791-ukraine-unleashes-one-its-heaviest-drone-bombardments-russia
Destroyed military vehicles and anti drone nets at a road between frontline towns of Druzhkivka and Kostiantynivka, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine June 24, 2026. REUTERS/Anatolii Stepanov
Ukraine Unleashes One of its Heaviest Drone Bombardments of Russia
Destroyed military vehicles and anti drone nets at a road between frontline towns of Druzhkivka and Kostiantynivka, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine June 24, 2026. REUTERS/Anatolii Stepanov
Russian air defenses intercepted 660 Ukrainian drones in a major nighttime attack on 12 Russian regions as well as the Russia-held Crimean peninsula, the Black Sea and the Azov Sea, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Friday.
It appeared to be one of the biggest drone attacks on Russia and the illegally annexed Crimea since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago, The Associated Press reported. The previous biggest Ukrainian attack over the past year was 556 drones on May 17.
In an effort to turn the tables on Russia’s grinding war of attrition, Ukrainian long-range drones have for months been battering targets, including oil production and energy facilities, behind the front line and deep inside Russia. The campaign has choked Russian fuel supplies and military deliveries, stalling Russia's efforts on the battlefield, Western officials and analysts say, and heaped pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Initial damage reports from Russia after the overnight attack provided scant information. Russia’s Defense Ministry usually doesn't say what was targeted in Ukraine’s drone attacks, nor does it detail any damage.
Successful drone attacks hearten Ukraine The major attack came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X that he had ordered “a 40-day influence operation,” believed to mean an escalation of attacks, aimed at “compelling (Russia) to end the war” after US peace efforts over the past year yielded no breakthrough.
The successful strikes, including hitting targets in Moscow and St. Petersburg, have buoyed Ukraine.
A serviceman of the 148th Separate Artillery Zhytomyr Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine fires a CAESAR self-propelled howitzer towards Russian troops at a position on the front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine June 23, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
Zelenskyy said he got further promises of foreign support when he attended a recent summit of G7 leaders, including from US President Donald Trump, and that the promised aid will help Ukraine step up its effort to force Putin to the negotiating table.
A NATO summit next month could be another key moment in beefing up Ukraine's military.
A Russian chemical plant is reportedly hit In the Tula region just south of Moscow, a private house was damaged by the attack and a woman was wounded, Tula Gov. Dmitry Milyaev said in an online statement as reports of damage caused by the attack began to emerge.
He also said a power line was damaged and an unspecified industrial facility in the city of Novomoskovsk.
Russian independent online outlet Astra reported that a chemical plant and a hydroelectric plant in Novomoskovsk were attacked and caught fire. The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify the report, and there was no official confirmation.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin also reported that 47 Ukrainian drones were downed as they flew toward the Russian capital. He did not report any casualties or damage.
Ukraine says 2 civilians were killed in Russian attacks Two people were killed and seven others injured in Russian attacks on the northeastern Kharkiv region over the previous 24 hours, regional head Oleh Syniehubov said Friday.
Russian forces struck the city of Kharkiv and 16 other settlements across the region using guided aerial bombs and drones of various types, Syniehubov said.
Ukraine’s Defense Forces overnight stopped 174 of 189 Russian drones, the Ukrainian air force said. However, four of seven Iskander-M ballistic missiles that were fired got through air defenses and struck various locations, it said.
Ukrainian officials reported damage to energy facilities, homes and other civilian infrastructure in the capital, Kyiv, the southern Odesa region and Sumy in the northeast.
SKorea Says to Train 500,000 'Drone Warriors' to Counter NKoreahttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5288787-skorea-says-train-500000-drone-warriors-counter-nkorea
SKorea Says to Train 500,000 'Drone Warriors' to Counter NKorea
Motorists commute on a road along the Hangang River in Seoul on June 24, 2026. (Photo by Jade GAO / AFP)
South Korea will rapidly expand its drone and counter-drone capabilities to counter North Korea, including by training 500,000 "drone warriors" and distributing tens of thousands of unmanned systems across frontline units, the Defense Ministry said on Friday.
Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said the military planned to produce 110,000 drones by 2029 for deployment across the army, navy, air force and marines, but the ministry later revised this to about 60,000, with around 11,000 to be introduced in 2026.
According to Reuters, it said the systems would be issued across services, aiming to make drones a standard item for individual soldiers.
"Drones should no longer be equipment used by a limited number of units, but a universal combat tool," Ahn told a briefing, adding they should be used by troops like a "second personal weapon."
Ahn said Seoul would rely on 100% domestically produced components rather than Chinese parts in building the systems, in response to security concerns.
The announcement comes as both Koreas accelerate efforts to build drone capabilities, shaped by lessons from conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, where unmanned systems have emerged as game changers on the battlefield.
"Low-cost drones operated in large numbers are fundamentally changing the nature of warfare," Ahn said, warning North Korea was also advancing unmanned systems, increasing threats to military and civilian facilities in the South.
South Korea's plan includes expanding counter-drone systems such as lasers and high-power microwave weapons, and shifting operations so each service can conduct surveillance and strike missions using drones rather than relying on a centralized command.
A senior defense official said the military would also move quickly to acquire more than 20,000 low-cost, expendable drones and introduce AI-based swarm systems and loitering munitions.
The ministry said it would revamp procurement rules to speed up adoption of civilian technology and position the military as a major buyer to help build a domestic drone ecosystem.
The expansion comes amid political sensitivity over drone operations under the previous administration. A South Korean court this month sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison over a military drone incursion into North Korea that prosecutors said was aimed at justifying his 2024 martial law bid.
Current President Lee Jae Myung's government dismantled the drone operations command in the fallout from those allegations, with the plans on Friday aiming to replace it with a new organization focused on policy, capability development and support while leaving operations to individual military units.
South Korea also faces pressures from demographic decline, pushing the military to rely more on automation and unmanned systems to sustain combat capabilities.
Venezuelans Hunt for Survivors after Quakes Kill at Least 235https://english.aawsat.com/world/5288778-venezuelans-hunt-survivors-after-quakes-kill-least-235
Volunteers search for possible victims in a collapsed building following twin earthquakes in Caraballeda, La Guaira state, some 40 km northeast of Caracas, on June 25, 2026. (Photo by Federico PARRA / AFP)
Venezuelans Hunt for Survivors after Quakes Kill at Least 235
Volunteers search for possible victims in a collapsed building following twin earthquakes in Caraballeda, La Guaira state, some 40 km northeast of Caracas, on June 25, 2026. (Photo by Federico PARRA / AFP)
Rescuers used heavy machinery and their bare hands on Friday in a race to save survivors of deadly twin earthquakes in Venezuela that killed at least 235 people, hurt thousands and flattened scores of buildings.
International rescuers and aid have begun arriving to help a nation struggling to respond two days after its strongest quake in well over a century struck west of Caracas.
Rubble from collapsed buildings had trapped more than 200 people under debris, National Assembly chief Jorge Rodriguez said Thursday.
At the site of one of those flattened buildings, workers used sledgehammers to break the debris and called for "absolute silence" in order to hear survivors, AFP footage showed.
Health Minister Carlos Alvarado reported the death toll had risen to at least 235, with around 4,300 people injured.
Rescue efforts have moved slowly, with bodies still visible under debris hours after the quakes, while time ran out for some of those who were trapped and injured.
But help has begun to arrive, with a senior American military official landing in Venezuela's capital Caracas to oversee US relief efforts.
Nations around the world have pledged send rescuers, money and aid, with the United States saying it was deploying two warships, transport planes and helicopters and mobilizing $150 million in aid.
A view shows a heavily damaged apartment building following an earthquake in Catia La Mar, La Guaira state, about 30 km northwest of Caracas, on June 25, 2026. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
In the worst-hit state of La Guaira, north of Caracas, Amparo del Giudice dug with her bare hands at a huge mound of concrete in search of her son.
"It is a lot of rock, and with bare hands it is impossible," she said, exasperated and flailing at the rubble.
Elsewhere, a young girl died after crying out for help for hours as onlookers listened helplessly, local residents told AFP.
"We need people... military personnel, to come and help so we can get her out," said resident Dani Rizo, 48.
The dead include foreigners, with Two Spaniards, one Portuguese national, two Brazilians, one Italian-Venezuelan, and two Chinese nationals are among those killed.
The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs also reported on Friday that 80 Spaniards remain unaccounted for.
A rescue worker, speaking off the record, told AFP conditions were precarious, with a shortage of trained personal and significant technical limitations.
Interim president Delcy Rodriguez visited La Guaira on Thursday after the area was declared a "disaster zone."
AFP reporters witnessed residents looting a local supermarket in the city.
Venezuela's director of the International Rescue Committee, Nicole Kast, described the situation as catastrophic.
Offers of support poured in from around the world, with Switzerland, Spain, France, Portugal and Mexico among those sending specialists and rescue teams to Venezuela.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier promised a "whole-of-government response. It'll be big, it'll be fast, and it'll be effective."
Washington is closely involved in oil-rich Venezuela after US forces ousted and arrested president Nicolas Maduro in January.
China, India, Brazil and even war-battered Iran offered help, while Pope Leo XIV has sent an initial 100,000 euros in aid to the country.
UN chief Antonio Guterres said he was "deeply saddened" by the disaster as the global body vowed to assist Venezuela.
Venezuela's northern coast sits on a boundary between the Caribbean and South American tectonic plates, but has not experienced a significant quake since 1997, when 73 people died. Another quake in 1967 killed 236 people.
Wednesday's 7.5-magnitude earthquake was the most powerful since October 29, 1900, when a 7.7-magnitude tremor struck offshore.
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