Ukraine Says It Defeated Russian Drone Attack on Kyiv 

People take cover inside a subway station during an air raid alert at night, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, December 19, 2023. (Reuters)
People take cover inside a subway station during an air raid alert at night, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, December 19, 2023. (Reuters)
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Ukraine Says It Defeated Russian Drone Attack on Kyiv 

People take cover inside a subway station during an air raid alert at night, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, December 19, 2023. (Reuters)
People take cover inside a subway station during an air raid alert at night, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, December 19, 2023. (Reuters)

Russia launched its fifth air attack this month targeting Kyiv and air defense systems destroyed all drones on approach to the capital, Ukrainian military officials said early on Wednesday.

Ukraine's Air Force said air defense systems destroyed 18 out of 19 attack drones launched at Kyiv, Odesa, Kherson and other regions of Ukraine. It was not immediately clear how many were destroyed over Kyiv.

"According to preliminary information, there were no casualties or destruction in the capital," Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app.

The Ukrainian air force also said that Russia attacked the Kharkiv region in the east with two surface-to-air guided missiles. There were no casualties as a result of the assault, it added.

There was no immediate comment from Russia.

Russia started carrying out strikes on Ukraine's energy, military and transport infrastructure in regions far from the front line in October 2022, six months after Moscow troops failed to take over Kyiv and withdrew to Ukraine's east and south.

Most of southeastern Ukraine remained under air raid alerts at 2300 GMT, with Ukraine's air force saying that the Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovohrad regions were under threat of Russian ballistic missile attacks.



Social Platform X Suspends New Account on Behalf of Iran's Supreme Leader

A handout photo made available by the Iranian supreme leader's office shows Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei speaking during an event in Tehran , Iran, 27 October 2024. EPA/HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by the Iranian supreme leader's office shows Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei speaking during an event in Tehran , Iran, 27 October 2024. EPA/HANDOUT
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Social Platform X Suspends New Account on Behalf of Iran's Supreme Leader

A handout photo made available by the Iranian supreme leader's office shows Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei speaking during an event in Tehran , Iran, 27 October 2024. EPA/HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by the Iranian supreme leader's office shows Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei speaking during an event in Tehran , Iran, 27 October 2024. EPA/HANDOUT

The social platform X has suspended a new account on behalf of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei that posted messages in Hebrew.
The account was suspended early Monday with a brief note appended to it saying: “X suspends accounts which violate the X Rules.” It wasn’t immediately clear what the violation was. The Elon Musk-owned social media company did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
The move came after Israel openly attacked Iran for the first time this weekend. Khamenei said in a speech on Sunday that Israel’s strikes — in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack this month — “should not be exaggerated nor downplayed,” while stopping short of calling for retaliation.
The X account opened Sunday with a message in Hebrew reading: “In the name of God, the most merciful,” a standard Islamic greeting.
Khamenei’s office has maintained multiple accounts for the 85-year-old supreme leader on X for years and has sent messages in a variety of languages in the past.
A second message corresponded to a speech Khamenei gave on Sunday and was sent on his English account as: “Zionists are making a miscalculation with respect to Iran. They don’t know Iran. They still haven’t been able to correctly understand the power, initiative, and determination of the Iranian people.” The message referred to Israel’s attack Saturday on Iran.
This isn’t the first time Khamenei has seen a suspension or removal from social media. In February, Meta removed Facebook and Instagram accounts for the supreme leader over his support of the militant group Hamas after its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
Social media platforms like X and Facebook have been blocked in Iran for years, requiring Iranians to use virtual private networks to access them.