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Attacks in Russian-occupied Ukrainian Regions Leave 27 Dead

A firefighter works at a site of a household items shopping mall hit by a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kherson, Ukraine June 6, 2024. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Kherson region/Handout via REUTERS
A firefighter works at a site of a household items shopping mall hit by a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kherson, Ukraine June 6, 2024. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Kherson region/Handout via REUTERS
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Attacks in Russian-occupied Ukrainian Regions Leave 27 Dead

A firefighter works at a site of a household items shopping mall hit by a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kherson, Ukraine June 6, 2024. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Kherson region/Handout via REUTERS
A firefighter works at a site of a household items shopping mall hit by a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kherson, Ukraine June 6, 2024. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Kherson region/Handout via REUTERS

Russia-installed officials in the partially occupied Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Luhansk say Ukrainian attacks left at least 27 people dead as Russia and Ukraine continued to exchange drone attacks overnight into Saturday.
A Ukrainian attack Friday on the small town of Sadove in Ukraine’s partially occupied Kherson region killed 22 and wounded 15 people, Moscow-backed governor Vladimir Saldo said.
Russian state news agency Tass cited Saldo as saying that Ukrainian forces first struck the town with a French-made guided bomb, then attacked again with a US-supplied HIMARS missile. He said Ukrainian forces had “deliberately made a repeat strike to create greater numbers of casualties” when “residents of nearby houses ran out to help the injured”.
Further east, Leonid Pasechnik, the Russia-installed governor in Ukraine’s partially occupied Luhansk region, said Saturday that two more bodies had been pulled from the rubble following Friday’s Ukrainian missile attack on the regional capital, also called Luhansk, bringing the death toll to five. Pasechnik also said 60 people were wounded in the attack.
According to The Associated Press, Ukraine did not comment on either assault.
Meanwhile, drone attacks between Russia and Ukraine persisted.
Ukraine launched a barrage of drones across Russian territory overnight Friday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Saturday. 25 drones were reportedly destroyed over Russia’s southern Kuban and Astrakhan regions, the western Tula region, and the Moscow-annexed Crimean peninsula.
On Saturday morning, officials said air defenses for the first time shot down Ukrainian drones over the North Ossetia region in the North Caucasus, some 900 km (560 miles) from the frontline in Ukraine’s partially occupied Zaporizhzhia region.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense said that one drone had been destroyed, whereas regional Gov. Sergei Menyailo reported three downed drones over the region. Menyailo said that the target was a military airfield.
Ukrainian air defense overnight shot down nine out of 13 Russian drones over the central Poltava region, southeastern Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions, and the Kharkiv region in the northeast, Ukraine’s air force said Saturday.
Dnipropetrovsk regional Gov. Serhiy Lysak said the overnight drone attack damaged commercial and residential buildings.

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World

South Korean Court Issues Fresh Arrest Warrant for Ex-president Yoon

South Korea's former impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol (C) arrives at a court to attend a hearing to review his arrest warrant requested by special prosecutors, in Seoul on July 9, 2025. Kim Hong-Ji, AFP
South Korea's former impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol (C) arrives at a court to attend a hearing to review his arrest warrant requested by special prosecutors, in Seoul on July 9, 2025. Kim Hong-Ji, AFP
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South Korean Court Issues Fresh Arrest Warrant for Ex-president Yoon

South Korea's former impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol (C) arrives at a court to attend a hearing to review his arrest warrant requested by special prosecutors, in Seoul on July 9, 2025. Kim Hong-Ji, AFP
South Korea's former impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol (C) arrives at a court to attend a hearing to review his arrest warrant requested by special prosecutors, in Seoul on July 9, 2025. Kim Hong-Ji, AFP

A South Korean court issued a fresh arrest warrant for ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday, extending the former leader's detention while facing charges linked to his 2024 attempt to impose martial law.

Prosecutors indicted Yoon in November on several charges of aiding the enemy, alleging that he ordered drone flights over North Korea to strengthen his effort to declare military rule.

The arrest warrant for that case was set to expire on January 18, but Friday's order extends it by a maximum of six months.

"The warrant was issued under concerns he could destroy evidence," an official from the Seoul Central District Court told AFP.

Yoon has been in custody for months while several criminal trials take place.

He briefly suspended civilian rule in South Korea on December 3, 2024, prompting massive protests and a showdown in parliament. He was officially removed from office in April.

Yoon became South Korea's first sitting president to be taken into custody when he was detained in January last year after resisting arrest for weeks, using his presidential security detail to thwart law enforcement.

He was released on procedural grounds in March while his insurrection trial continued, but detained again in July over concerns he might destroy evidence related to that case.

Prosecutors are also seeking a 10-year prison term for Yoon on obstruction of justice charges. A Seoul court is expected to deliver a verdict in that case on January 16.

World

Iran Tells Trump Any Intervention A 'Red Line', Vows Response

The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. (Reuters)
The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. (Reuters)
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Iran Tells Trump Any Intervention A 'Red Line', Vows Response

The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. (Reuters)
The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. (Reuters)

Iran on Friday warned against any US intervention in the country, vowing a response after President Donald Trump said he would come to the aid of protesters in the Iranian republic.

"Any interventionist hand that attacks Iran's security under any pretext whatsoever will be exposed to a response," Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to the supreme leader, wrote on X. "Iran's security is a red line."

World

Police in Finland Arrest 2 in Connection with Damage to Undersea Telecom Cable

A Border Guard helicopter and a Coast Guard patrol ship Turva seize the Fitburg vessel suspected of a subsea cable breach in the Gulf of Finland on 31 December 2025, in this handout picture obtained on January 1, 2026. Finnish Police/Handout via REUTERS
A Border Guard helicopter and a Coast Guard patrol ship Turva seize the Fitburg vessel suspected of a subsea cable breach in the Gulf of Finland on 31 December 2025, in this handout picture obtained on January 1, 2026. Finnish Police/Handout via REUTERS
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Police in Finland Arrest 2 in Connection with Damage to Undersea Telecom Cable

A Border Guard helicopter and a Coast Guard patrol ship Turva seize the Fitburg vessel suspected of a subsea cable breach in the Gulf of Finland on 31 December 2025, in this handout picture obtained on January 1, 2026. Finnish Police/Handout via REUTERS
A Border Guard helicopter and a Coast Guard patrol ship Turva seize the Fitburg vessel suspected of a subsea cable breach in the Gulf of Finland on 31 December 2025, in this handout picture obtained on January 1, 2026. Finnish Police/Handout via REUTERS

Finnish authorities have arrested two people in connection with damage to an undersea telecommunications cable in the Gulf of Finland that occurred earlier this week between the capitals of Finland and Estonia, police said Thursday.

The damage was discovered early Wednesday in Estonia’s exclusive economic zone. The cable belongs to Finnish telecommunications service provider Elisa and is considered to be critical underwater infrastructure, The Associated Press said.

Helsinki police have opened an investigation into aggravated criminal damage and aggravated interference with telecommunications.

Officials placed two other people under travel bans as a result of the ongoing investigation, Helsinki police said in a statement Thursday.

The individuals’ connections to the ship was not immediately clear and police would not release their nationalities or other details.

The ship, named the Fitburg, was flagged in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It had been traveling from Russia to Israel. The 14 crew members hail from Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan and were detained by Finnish authorities.

Finnish National Police Commissioner Ilkka Koskimäki said earlier this week that the ship was dragging its anchor for hours when it was discovered in Finland’s exclusive economic zone. He noted investigators are not speculating on whether a state-level actor was behind the damage.

Finnish Customs discovered structural steel in the cargo that originated in Russia and falls under sanctions imposed by the European Union, the agency said in a statement.

"Import of such sanctioned goods into the EU is prohibited under EU sanctions regulations," the statement said. “Finnish Customs continues to investigate the sequence of events and the applicability of EU sanctions legislation to this case.”

The undersea cables and pipelines that crisscross one of the busiest shipping lanes in Europe link Nordic, Baltic and central European countries. They promote trade and energy security and, in some cases, reduce dependence on Russian energy resources.

Finnish authorities last year charged the captain and two senior officers of a Russia-linked vessel, the Eagle S, that damaged undersea cables between Finland and Estonia on Christmas Day in 2024.

The Finnish deputy prosecutor general said in an August statement that charges of aggravated criminal mischief and aggravated interference with communications were filed against the captain and first and second officers of the oil tanker. The officers, whose names were not made public, denied the allegations, the statement said.

The Kremlin previously denied involvement in damaging the infrastructure, which provides power and communication for thousands of Europeans.

The Eagle S was flagged in the Cook Islands but had been described by Finnish customs officials and the European Union’s executive commission as part of Russia’s shadow fleet of fuel tankers. Those are aging vessels with obscure ownership, acquired to evade Western sanctions during the war in Ukraine and operating without Western-regulated insurance.

For the West, such incidents are believed to be part of widespread sabotage attacks in Europe allegedly linked to Moscow following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.