Russia Says It Shot Down 36 Ukrainian Drones as Fighting Grinds on in Ukraine’s East

 A German-made self-propelled anti-aircraft (SPAAG), known as the Flakpanzer Gepard, takes position during exersices in Odesa region on October 17, 2023, amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. (AFP)
A German-made self-propelled anti-aircraft (SPAAG), known as the Flakpanzer Gepard, takes position during exersices in Odesa region on October 17, 2023, amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. (AFP)
TT

Russia Says It Shot Down 36 Ukrainian Drones as Fighting Grinds on in Ukraine’s East

 A German-made self-propelled anti-aircraft (SPAAG), known as the Flakpanzer Gepard, takes position during exersices in Odesa region on October 17, 2023, amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. (AFP)
A German-made self-propelled anti-aircraft (SPAAG), known as the Flakpanzer Gepard, takes position during exersices in Odesa region on October 17, 2023, amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. (AFP)

Russian air defense shot down over 30 Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea and the Crimean peninsula overnight Saturday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday.

“The air defense systems in place destroyed 36 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the Black Sea and the northwestern part of the Crimean peninsula,” the ministry wrote on Telegram.

Local authorities in the southern Krasnodar region bordering the Black Sea said that a fire broke out at an oil refinery in the early hours of Sunday, but did not specify the cause.

“The reasons for the incident are being established,” a statement from local authorities said, amid claims in local media outlets that the fire had been caused by a drone strike or debris from a downed drone.

Drone strikes and shelling on the Russian border regions and Moscow-annexed Crimea are a regular occurrence. Ukrainian officials never acknowledge responsibility for attacks on Russian territory or the Crimean peninsula.

In Ukraine, the country’s air force said Sunday it had shot down five Iranian-made Shahed exploding drones launched by Russia overnight.

Close to the front line in the country’s east, where Ukrainian and Russian forces are locked in a grinding battle for control, four police officers were wounded when a shell fired by Russian troops exploded by their police car in the city of Siversk, located in the partly occupied Donetsk province.

British intelligence assessed this weekend that Russia had suffered some of its biggest casualty rates so far this year as a result of continued “heavy but inconclusive” fighting around the town of Avdiivka, also in the Donetsk province. The UK Ministry of Defense's regular intelligence update on Saturday morning noted that Russia had committed “elements of up to eight brigades” in the area since it launched its “major offensive effort” in mid-October.

Also on Sunday, a prominent ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Russia might take action to seize assets of European Union member states it considers hostile if the EU proceeds with its plan to “steal” frozen Russian funds to support Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction efforts.

“A number of European politicians (...) have once again started talking about stealing our country’s frozen funds in order to continue the militarization of Kyiv,” Vyacheslav Volodin, the Chairman of the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, wrote on Telegram.

Volodin made the statement in response to an announcement on Friday by Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, on a proposal to use earnings from frozen Russian state assets to support Ukraine in its rebuilding.

Volodin asserted that Moscow would respond with measures that would inflict significant costs on the EU if it were to take action against Russian assets, a considerable portion of which are in Belgium.

“Such a decision would require a symmetrical response from the Russian Federation. In that case, far more assets belonging to unfriendly countries will be confiscated than our frozen funds in Europe,” Volodin said.



Supporters of Pakistan's Imran Khan Call off Protest

Policemen fire tear gas shells to disperse supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party during a protest to demand the release of former prime minister Imran Khan, in Islamabad on November 26, 2024. (Photo by Aamir QURESHI / AFP)
Policemen fire tear gas shells to disperse supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party during a protest to demand the release of former prime minister Imran Khan, in Islamabad on November 26, 2024. (Photo by Aamir QURESHI / AFP)
TT

Supporters of Pakistan's Imran Khan Call off Protest

Policemen fire tear gas shells to disperse supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party during a protest to demand the release of former prime minister Imran Khan, in Islamabad on November 26, 2024. (Photo by Aamir QURESHI / AFP)
Policemen fire tear gas shells to disperse supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party during a protest to demand the release of former prime minister Imran Khan, in Islamabad on November 26, 2024. (Photo by Aamir QURESHI / AFP)

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's party suspended street protests demanding his release from jail after a sweeping midnight raid by security forces in the capital Islamabad in which hundreds of people were arrested, local media reported on Wednesday.
Broadcaster Geo News, citing a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) statement, said the party had announced a "temporary suspension" of the protest, in which at least six people, including four paramilitary soldiers and two protesters, have been killed.
A PTI spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Thousands of protesters had gathered in the center of Islamabad on Tuesday after a convoy, led by Khan's wife Bushra Bibi, broke through several lines of security all the way to the edge of the city's highly fortified red zone.
Geo News and broadcaster ARY both reported that a massive raid was launched by security forces in a pitch-dark central Islamabad, where lights had been turned off and a barrage of teargas was fired. The protest gathering was almost completely dispersed, they reported.
On Wednesday morning, city workers were cleaning up debris and clearing some of the shipping containers that had blocked roads around the capital. The heavily fortified red zone was empty of protesters but several of their vehicles were left behind, including the remains of a truck from which Bushra Bibi had been leading the protests that appeared charred by flames, according to Reuters witnesses.
PTI had planned on staging a sit-in in the red zone until the release of Khan, who has been in jail since August last year.
PTI's president for the city of Peshawar in the party's northern stronghold of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said the party had called off the protest.
"We will chalk out the new strategy later after proper consultation,” Mohammad Asim told Reuters.
He said that Bushra Bibi as well as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, a key Khan ally, had returned "safely" to the province from the capital.
Pakistan's benchmark share index jumped more than 4% in intraday trade on Wednesday, recovering losses made on Tuesday when the index closed 3.6% down over the news of political clashes.
"With valuations remaining highly attractive, we expect the positive momentum to continue going forward," said Tahir Abbas, head of research at Arif Habib Limited, adding that the sharp rebound in the market was due to hopes of political stability restoring investor confidence.