Russia Says Ukraine Attacks Belgorod Region Again with Missiles and Drones 

This handout picture posted on January 2, 2024 on the official Telegram account of Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, shows aftermath of a missile strike on the region. (Photo by Handout / TELEGRAM / @VVGLADKOV / AFP)
This handout picture posted on January 2, 2024 on the official Telegram account of Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, shows aftermath of a missile strike on the region. (Photo by Handout / TELEGRAM / @VVGLADKOV / AFP)
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Russia Says Ukraine Attacks Belgorod Region Again with Missiles and Drones 

This handout picture posted on January 2, 2024 on the official Telegram account of Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, shows aftermath of a missile strike on the region. (Photo by Handout / TELEGRAM / @VVGLADKOV / AFP)
This handout picture posted on January 2, 2024 on the official Telegram account of Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, shows aftermath of a missile strike on the region. (Photo by Handout / TELEGRAM / @VVGLADKOV / AFP)

Ukraine launched 12 missiles and several drones in the early hours of Wednesday on Russia's southern region of Belgorod, Russia's defense ministry and local authorities said.

Regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said the situation "continues to remain tense" in Belgorod, where Russia says 25 civilians including five children were killed in Ukrainian attacks on Saturday.

There was no word of any casualties from the latest attacks. Gladkov said the extent of damage would be assessed throughout the day.

Ukraine's escalation of attacks on Belgorod over the New Year period has come as Russia launched some of its most intense strikes on Ukraine since the war began almost two years ago. Kyiv said on Tuesday that Russia had launched well over 300 attack drones and missiles of various kinds at cities across Ukraine since Friday.

Belgorod, like other Russian regions on the border with Ukraine, has seen frequent low-level attacks since the start of the war, but Saturday's was by far the deadliest. President Vladimir Putin said it would "not go unpunished".

One person was killed and seven more wounded in the region on Tuesday, Russian authorities said.

In Wednesday's attacks, Russia's defense ministry said Ukraine fired six Tochka-U ballistic missiles and six guided missiles launched from a Vilkha heavy multiple rocket launcher.

Gladkov said Ukraine also launched several drones on the region and the city of Belgorod, which is the administrative center of the region.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.



Russia: Man Suspected of Shooting Top General Detained in Dubai

An investigator works outside a residential building where the assassination attempt on Russian Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev took place in Moscow, Russia February 6, 2026. REUTERS/Anastasia Barashkova
An investigator works outside a residential building where the assassination attempt on Russian Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev took place in Moscow, Russia February 6, 2026. REUTERS/Anastasia Barashkova
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Russia: Man Suspected of Shooting Top General Detained in Dubai

An investigator works outside a residential building where the assassination attempt on Russian Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev took place in Moscow, Russia February 6, 2026. REUTERS/Anastasia Barashkova
An investigator works outside a residential building where the assassination attempt on Russian Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev took place in Moscow, Russia February 6, 2026. REUTERS/Anastasia Barashkova

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Sunday that the man suspected of shooting top Russian military intelligence officer Vladimir Alexeyev in Moscow has been detained in Dubai and handed over to Russia.

Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev, deputy head of the GRU, ⁠Russia's military intelligence arm, was shot several times in an apartment block in Moscow on Friday, investigators said. He underwent surgery after the shooting, Russian media ⁠said.

The FSB said a Russian citizen named Lyubomir Korba was detained in Dubai on suspicion of carrying out the shooting.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Ukraine of being behind the assassination attempt, which he said was designed to sabotage peace talks. ⁠Ukraine said it had nothing to do with the shooting.

Alexeyev's boss, Admiral Igor Kostyukov, the head of the GRU, has been leading Russia's delegation in negotiations with Ukraine in Abu Dhabi on security-related aspects of a potential peace deal.


Factory Explosion Kills 8 in Northern China

Employees work on an electric vehicle (EV) production line at the Volkswagen Anhui factory in Hefei, Anhui province, China, February 4, 2026. REUTERS/Florence Lo
Employees work on an electric vehicle (EV) production line at the Volkswagen Anhui factory in Hefei, Anhui province, China, February 4, 2026. REUTERS/Florence Lo
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Factory Explosion Kills 8 in Northern China

Employees work on an electric vehicle (EV) production line at the Volkswagen Anhui factory in Hefei, Anhui province, China, February 4, 2026. REUTERS/Florence Lo
Employees work on an electric vehicle (EV) production line at the Volkswagen Anhui factory in Hefei, Anhui province, China, February 4, 2026. REUTERS/Florence Lo

An explosion at a biotech factory in northern China has killed eight people, Chinese state media reported Sunday, increasing the total number of fatalities by one.

State news agency Xinhua had previously reported that seven people died and one person was missing after the Saturday morning explosion at the Jiapeng biotech company in Shanxi province, citing local authorities.

Later, Xinhua said eight were dead, adding that the firm's legal representative had been taken into custody.

The company is located in Shanyin County, about 400 kilometers west of Beijing, AFP reported.

Xinhua said clean-up operations were ongoing, noting that reporters observed dark yellow smoke emanating from the site of the explosion.

Authorities have established a team to investigate the cause of the blast, the report added.

Industrial accidents are common in China due to lax safety standards.
In late January, an explosion at a steel factory in the neighboring province of Inner Mongolia left at least nine people dead.


Iran Warns Will Not Give Up Enrichment Despite US War Threat

Traffic moves through a street in Tehran on February 7, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Traffic moves through a street in Tehran on February 7, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
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Iran Warns Will Not Give Up Enrichment Despite US War Threat

Traffic moves through a street in Tehran on February 7, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Traffic moves through a street in Tehran on February 7, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)

Iran will never surrender the right to enrich uranium, even if war "is imposed on us,” its foreign minister said Sunday, defying pressure from Washington.

"Iran has paid a very heavy price for its peaceful nuclear program and for uranium enrichment," Abbas Araghchi told a forum in Tehran.

"Why do we insist so much on enrichment and refuse to give it up even if a war is imposed on us? Because no one has the right to dictate our behavior," he said, two days after he met US envoy Steve Witkoff in Oman.

The foreign minister also declared that his country was not intimidated by the US naval deployment in the Gulf.

"Their military deployment in the region does not scare us," Araghchi said.