Two Injured in Ukrainian Drone Attack in Moscow Region, Nearly 50 Flights Disrupted 

Damage is seen in a building following a drone attack in Moscow last week. (AP)
Damage is seen in a building following a drone attack in Moscow last week. (AP)
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Two Injured in Ukrainian Drone Attack in Moscow Region, Nearly 50 Flights Disrupted 

Damage is seen in a building following a drone attack in Moscow last week. (AP)
Damage is seen in a building following a drone attack in Moscow last week. (AP)

At least two people were injured on Monday when parts of a Ukrainian drone destroyed by Russian air defenses fell on a house in the Moscow region, the regional governor said. 

Nearly 50 plane flights in and out of the capital were disrupted after Russia said it jammed a Ukrainian drone in the Ruzsky district west of the capital and destroyed another one in the Istrinsky district nearby. 

Arrivals and departures from Moscow's four main airports - Vnukovo, Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Zhukovsky - were restricted, disrupting 45 passenger planes and two cargo planes, Russian aviation authority Rosaviatsia said. 

Russian officials have repeatedly cautioned that military drones flying over Moscow - which along with its surrounding region has a population of nearly 22 million people - could cause a major disaster. 

Drone air strikes deep inside Russia have increased since two drones were destroyed over the Kremlin in early May. Drone strikes on the Russian capital have become increasingly common in recent months. 

It is unclear what impact the drone attacks will have on perceptions of the war among the Russian population. Polling indicates support for the Russian military operation in Ukraine remains high, around 75%, though there are questions over how accurate polling is in Russia. 

Ukraine typically does not comment on who is behind attacks on Russian territory, although officials have publicly expressed satisfaction over them. 



‘Impossible’ for People’s Republic of China to Be Our Motherland, Taiwan President Says

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te visits Republic of China Military Academy, an officer training academy, for its 100th anniversary celebrations in Kaohsiung, Taiwan June 16, 2024. (Reuters)
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te visits Republic of China Military Academy, an officer training academy, for its 100th anniversary celebrations in Kaohsiung, Taiwan June 16, 2024. (Reuters)
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‘Impossible’ for People’s Republic of China to Be Our Motherland, Taiwan President Says

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te visits Republic of China Military Academy, an officer training academy, for its 100th anniversary celebrations in Kaohsiung, Taiwan June 16, 2024. (Reuters)
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te visits Republic of China Military Academy, an officer training academy, for its 100th anniversary celebrations in Kaohsiung, Taiwan June 16, 2024. (Reuters)

It is "impossible" for the People's Republic of China to become Taiwan's motherland because Taiwan has older political roots, the island's President Lai Ching-te said on Saturday.

Lai, who took office in May, is condemned by Beijing as a "separatist". He rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, saying that the island is a country called the Republic of China, which traces its origins back to the 1911 revolution that overthrew the last imperial dynasty.

The republican government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong's communists who set up the People's Republic of China, which continues to claim the island as its "sacred" territory.

Speaking at a concert ahead of Taiwan's national day celebrations on Oct. 10, Lai noted that the People's Republic had celebrated its 75th anniversary on Oct. 1, and in a few days it would be the Republic of China's 113th birthday.

"Therefore, in terms of age, it is absolutely impossible for the People's Republic of China to become the 'motherland' of the Republic of China's people. On the contrary, the Republic of China may be the motherland of the people of the People's Republic of China who are over 75 years old," Lai added, to applause.

"One of the most important meanings of these celebrations is that we must remember that we are a sovereign and independent country," he said.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not answer calls seeking comment outside of office hours.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a speech on the eve of his country's national day, reiterated his government's view that Taiwan was its territory.

Lai, who will give his own keynote national day address on Oct. 10, has needled Beijing before with historical references.

Last month, Lai said that if China's claims on Taiwan were about territorial integrity, then it should also take back land from Russia signed over by the last Chinese dynasty in the 19th century.