Ukrainian Drone Hits Upscale Moscow Highrise in Rare Attack

Debris dangles from a damaged apartment building on Mosfilmovskaya street after a Ukrainian drone attack in Moscow, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP)
Debris dangles from a damaged apartment building on Mosfilmovskaya street after a Ukrainian drone attack in Moscow, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP)
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Ukrainian Drone Hits Upscale Moscow Highrise in Rare Attack

Debris dangles from a damaged apartment building on Mosfilmovskaya street after a Ukrainian drone attack in Moscow, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP)
Debris dangles from a damaged apartment building on Mosfilmovskaya street after a Ukrainian drone attack in Moscow, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP)

A Ukrainian drone hit a residential high-rise building in an upscale Moscow neighborhood overnight into Monday, the Russian capital's mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.

The rare attack on heavily protected Moscow comes just days before Russia's grand annual May 9th parade, which this year will be held without military hardware amid a heightened threat from Ukrainian strikes.

"A drone crashed into a building in the area of the Mosfilmovskaya (street). There are no casualties," Sobyanin said, referring to an expensive district next to the Moscow film studio and some 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the Kremlin.

He added that the two drones that targeted Moscow have been repelled by the air defense forces.

Russian state broadcaster Rossiya-1 published a video showing collapsed walls and broken doors inside a damaged apartment.

Ukraine has fired drones into Russia throughout Moscow's more than four-year offensive, which has killed thousands and displaced millions.

Kyiv has in the past weeks stepped up its strikes targeting Russian oil infrastructure hubs: refineries, ports and depots.

But Ukrainian drones rarely reach Moscow, which is heavily guarded by numerous air defense systems.

Talks to end the war between the neighbors have gone nowhere.

Moscow is gearing up to hold its May 9th parade, which marks the victory over Nazi Germany. It has become a central event under President Vladimir Putin's long rule.

- Drone attacks -

Ukraine said Sunday it had hit several Russian ships -- a cruise missile carrier and three shadow fleet tankers -- as both sides fired hundreds of drones in a spree that killed at least eight people.

The two neighbors have been firing waves of explosive-packed drones at each other daily throughout the four-year war, as talks to end the conflict have gone nowhere.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday vowed to step up retaliatory strikes on Russian energy sites if Moscow did not halt its invasion.

"Russia can end its war at any moment. Prolonging the war will only expand the scale of our defensive operations," he said on social media.

The Ukrainian leader said his troops had struck a vessel equipped with cruise missiles at the port of Primorsk, in Russia's northwestern Leningrad region.

The region's oil export terminals have been hit several times in recent weeks, triggering massive fires that billow plumes of toxic black smoke into the atmosphere.

Kyiv says the strikes have knocked out billions of dollars' worth of Russia's vital export earnings.

Zelensky said Sunday three of Russia's so-called shadow tankers -- ageing vessels that ferry its sanctioned oil around the world -- were struck, one at Primorsk and two off the southern Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.

He posted night-vision footage of a naval drone approaching one tanker at Novorossiysk.

The Russian governor of the Leningrad region had earlier confirmed a fire at the port after Ukrainian attacks.

The extent of the damage was not immediately clear and Russian officials gave no details.

- 600 drones -

On the Russian side of the front line, two people were killed in the Belgorod border region, one near Moscow and a teenager in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine in separate attacks overnight and throughout Sunday.

In Ukraine, two were killed in the coastal Odesa region, one in the frontline Kherson region and another in an attack on the industrial city of Dnipro.

Photos from Dnipro showed the roof of a five-storey apartment block destroyed, wooden beams exposed and debris scattered into partially collapsed top-floor apartments.

Russia fired 268 drones and one ballistic missile in the overnight barrage, Kyiv's air force said.

Ukraine's army launched 334 drones at Russia, Moscow's defense ministry said.

Kyiv calls its attacks on Russia fair retaliation for Russia's nightly barrages of its cities.

Both sides deny targeting civilians.

Tens of thousands have been killed -- the vast majority in Ukraine -- since Russia invaded in February 2022.

In April, Russia fired a record number of long-range attack drones at Ukraine -- an average of more than 200 a day -- according to AFP analysis of data from Kyiv's air force.



Japan: US Marine Arrested on Suspicion of Murdering Woman

Military Osprey aircraft are seen at the US Marine Corps' Futenma Air Base in Ginowan City, Okinawa Prefecture, where the suspect involved in the robbery and murder is stationed (Reuters)
Military Osprey aircraft are seen at the US Marine Corps' Futenma Air Base in Ginowan City, Okinawa Prefecture, where the suspect involved in the robbery and murder is stationed (Reuters)
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Japan: US Marine Arrested on Suspicion of Murdering Woman

Military Osprey aircraft are seen at the US Marine Corps' Futenma Air Base in Ginowan City, Okinawa Prefecture, where the suspect involved in the robbery and murder is stationed (Reuters)
Military Osprey aircraft are seen at the US Marine Corps' Futenma Air Base in Ginowan City, Okinawa Prefecture, where the suspect involved in the robbery and murder is stationed (Reuters)

A US Marine stationed on Japan's southern island of Okinawa was arrested on suspicion of the murder of a Japanese woman, police said on Sunday.

The suspect "killed the 39-year-old woman at a hotel in Naha and stole her wallet on Saturday," a local police spokesman told AFP.

US Ambassador George Glass posted on social media that he had spoken with Japan's foreign ministry and Okinawa's governor to offer "our sincere condolences and pledging full cooperation as the investigation continues".

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called the crime "exceptionally brutal and vicious" on X.

The government has urged the US "to provide maximum cooperation with the investigation, enforce stricter discipline among US military personnel, and take thorough measures to prevent the recurrence of similar crimes," Takaichi said.

Public broadcaster NHK and other Japanese media outlets, citing investigation sources, reported that CCTV footage from near the scene showed a foreign man entering a room with a woman and later leaving with her belongings.

Police then found the 20-year-old man, who matched the description of the suspect seen in the footage, and asked him to accompany them voluntarily to a local police station where he was arrested, NHK reported.

He reportedly denied the charges.

The United States has around 54,000 military personnel stationed in Japan, mostly on Okinawa.

A series of crimes including rapes, assaults, hit-and-run and drink-driving accidents by US personnel have long sparked protests on Okinawa and have been a frequent thorn in relations between close security allies Japan and the US.

Last year, a Japanese court sentenced a US Marine accused of choking and attempting to rape a woman in her 20s to seven years in prison.

In 2017, a former US Marine and civilian military base worker was sentenced to life in prison for the rape and murder of a local woman in Okinawa.

In the same year, US Forces in Japan banned all personnel from consuming alcohol after a drunken US Marine crashed his vehicle into a mini-truck, killing its 61-year-old local driver.


US Carrier George H.W. Bush Visits Thailand after Middle East Deployment

The USS George H.W. Bush arrives near Phuket Deep Sea Port before docking for a rest stop following a long deployment in the Middle East, in Phuket, Thailand, October 4, 2026. REUTERS/Sooppharoek Teepapan
The USS George H.W. Bush arrives near Phuket Deep Sea Port before docking for a rest stop following a long deployment in the Middle East, in Phuket, Thailand, October 4, 2026. REUTERS/Sooppharoek Teepapan
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US Carrier George H.W. Bush Visits Thailand after Middle East Deployment

The USS George H.W. Bush arrives near Phuket Deep Sea Port before docking for a rest stop following a long deployment in the Middle East, in Phuket, Thailand, October 4, 2026. REUTERS/Sooppharoek Teepapan
The USS George H.W. Bush arrives near Phuket Deep Sea Port before docking for a rest stop following a long deployment in the Middle East, in Phuket, Thailand, October 4, 2026. REUTERS/Sooppharoek Teepapan

The US aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush arrived off Thailand's resort island of Phuket on Sunday with about 4,800 personnel aboard for a rest-and-recreation break after months of supporting US operations in the Middle East.

The Nimitz-class carrier had been operating in the Arabian Sea during the ⁠conflict with Iran, ⁠according to multiple media reports.

The carrier will anchor offshore, while crew members are expected to come ashore through Phuket Deep Sea ⁠Port and spend time on the popular southern resort island from October 4 to 9, local media reported.

The visit follows a five-day port call by the US carrier Abraham Lincoln at Laem Chabang in eastern Thailand last month, with about 5,000 sailors ⁠and ⁠Marines aboard.

A local mayor had estimated each US service member from the Lincoln could spend up to 3,000 baht ($89) per day during the visit, Reuters reported.

Thailand is the United States' only treaty partner in mainland Southeast Asia.


US Coast Guard Finds Debris from Medical Plane Carrying 6 People

A detail view of the US Coast Guard Cutter Valiant in Miami Beach, Florida, US March 6, 2025. REUTERS/Marco Bello/File Photo
A detail view of the US Coast Guard Cutter Valiant in Miami Beach, Florida, US March 6, 2025. REUTERS/Marco Bello/File Photo
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US Coast Guard Finds Debris from Medical Plane Carrying 6 People

A detail view of the US Coast Guard Cutter Valiant in Miami Beach, Florida, US March 6, 2025. REUTERS/Marco Bello/File Photo
A detail view of the US Coast Guard Cutter Valiant in Miami Beach, Florida, US March 6, 2025. REUTERS/Marco Bello/File Photo

The US Coast Guard said on Saturday it found debris from a medical transport plane that went missing while flying from Bermuda to Boston, with the six people on board still unaccounted for.

The Federal Aviation Administration told the Coast Guard in the early hours of Saturday that it had lost contact with a Gulfstream G100 with the tail number C-GRJP, the Coast Guard said in a news release.

"Coast Guard search crews located a debris field that has been confirmed to be associated with the missing aircraft," it said.

"Crews are continuing to search for the six people who were aboard the aircraft."

The plane carried four Canadian nationals and two Bermudian nationals, the Coast Guard said.

The aircraft operated by Canada-based Latitude Air Ambulance went missing around 1:30 am (1530 GMT), company spokesman Clarence Togeretz told AFP.

"It was carrying two pilots, two medical staff, one patient and a family member," Togeretz said.

The company has a fleet of 10 planes that provide repatriation and medical evacuation services, flying people back home from anywhere in the world, its website says.

The Coast Guard said search efforts would continue throughout the night and scheduled a news conference on Sunday morning to provide an update.