Ukraine's Top General, Defense Minister Visit Posts Near Front Line

FILE PHOTO: Colonel general Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, attends an interview with Reuters, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine January 12, 2024. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Colonel general Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, attends an interview with Reuters, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine January 12, 2024. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/File Photo
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Ukraine's Top General, Defense Minister Visit Posts Near Front Line

FILE PHOTO: Colonel general Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, attends an interview with Reuters, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine January 12, 2024. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Colonel general Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, attends an interview with Reuters, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine January 12, 2024. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/File Photo

Ukrainian army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov visited command posts near the front line to analyze the battlefield and boost defenses, the top general said on Sunday.
Kyiv's military is struggling to stave off Russian forces along the sprawling front line as Moscow's full-scale invasion passes its two-year mark.
"We analyzed the current situation in detail and discussed the necessary further steps, primarily the protection of troops from drones and strikes by aerial bombs as well as the strengthening of certain areas of the front," Syrskyi posted on Telegram along with images of himself and Umerov meeting commanders.
Syrskyi, who did not say when the visit took place, added that "the situation is complex and requires constant monitoring".
Russian forces last week captured the strategic eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka after a months-long assault and are pressing on several other areas along the front line, Ukrainian authorities say.

Kyiv's strategic industries minister said on Sunday Ukraine tripled its weapons production last year and 500 companies are now working in the country's defense sector.

Oleksandr Kamyshin said during a televised address that the figure included 100 state and 400 private companies and that Ukraine this year plans "to considerably increase ammunition production."

Ukraine also announced Sunday destroying 16 out of 18 attack drones launched overnight by Russia.

The air force said the Iranian-made drones had been shot down over eight regions across central, western and southern Ukraine, including the capital region.



Israel Doesn't Want Regime Change in Iran, Says FM

Iranians stand in front of a billboard carrying pictures of late Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Mohammad Bagheri, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) head Hossein Salami, Commander of the IRGC's Aerospace Force Amir Ali Hajizadeh, scientists Fereidun Abbasi, and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi during an anti-Israel rally in Tehran, Iran, 14 June 2025. (EPA)
Iranians stand in front of a billboard carrying pictures of late Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Mohammad Bagheri, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) head Hossein Salami, Commander of the IRGC's Aerospace Force Amir Ali Hajizadeh, scientists Fereidun Abbasi, and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi during an anti-Israel rally in Tehran, Iran, 14 June 2025. (EPA)
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Israel Doesn't Want Regime Change in Iran, Says FM

Iranians stand in front of a billboard carrying pictures of late Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Mohammad Bagheri, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) head Hossein Salami, Commander of the IRGC's Aerospace Force Amir Ali Hajizadeh, scientists Fereidun Abbasi, and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi during an anti-Israel rally in Tehran, Iran, 14 June 2025. (EPA)
Iranians stand in front of a billboard carrying pictures of late Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Mohammad Bagheri, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) head Hossein Salami, Commander of the IRGC's Aerospace Force Amir Ali Hajizadeh, scientists Fereidun Abbasi, and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi during an anti-Israel rally in Tehran, Iran, 14 June 2025. (EPA)

Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Sunday that the goal of its military campaign in Iran “is not a regime change.”

“This is for the Iranian people to decide,” Saar said in an interview on CNN. He said the Israeli security Cabinet set the objective as eliminating Iran's nuclear program and minimizing its ballistic missile threat.

“I believe what we are doing, as an ally for the US and for the Western civilization as a whole, is critical for stability in this part of the world,” Saar said, adding: “If we learn something from our history, when somebody says 'I'm going to eliminate the Jews,' take him at his word.”

He said Iran was within six months of being able to build as many as nine nuclear bombs.

Iran's foreign minister was scheduled to also be interviewed on CNN but had to cancel at the last minute, the network said.