Ukrainian Official Denies Russian Troops Take Border Village in Northeast 

A Ukrainian soldier guards his position while trucks with killed Russian soldiers driving to Russian territory, during repatriation in Sumy region, Ukraine, Friday, May 31, 2024. (AP) 
A Ukrainian soldier guards his position while trucks with killed Russian soldiers driving to Russian territory, during repatriation in Sumy region, Ukraine, Friday, May 31, 2024. (AP) 
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Ukrainian Official Denies Russian Troops Take Border Village in Northeast 

A Ukrainian soldier guards his position while trucks with killed Russian soldiers driving to Russian territory, during repatriation in Sumy region, Ukraine, Friday, May 31, 2024. (AP) 
A Ukrainian soldier guards his position while trucks with killed Russian soldiers driving to Russian territory, during repatriation in Sumy region, Ukraine, Friday, May 31, 2024. (AP) 

A local Ukrainian official on Monday denied a claim by the leader of Russia's Chechnya region that Russian forces led by a Chechen-based special forces unit had seized control of a border village in northeast Ukraine.

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said on Sunday the Akhmat-Chechnya unit spearheaded Russian troops in taking control of Ryzhivka in Sumy region.

The "large-scale planned advance" inflicted "significant losses on the Ukrainian side, which was forced to retreat," Kadyrov said.

However, Yuriy Zarko, a local official in Sumy, denied the presence of Russian troops in Ryzhivka on Monday in a comment to Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne.

Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Ukrainian government's Centre for Countering Disinformation, said on Telegram that Russian forces had tried to test Ukraine's defenses on the Ryzhivka front. Ukrainian forces are in control of the situation but the threat of Russian actions in the border area remains, he added.

Russia's Defense Ministry issued no statement on the action.

Ukraine's military has warned in recent weeks of a buildup of Russian forces around Sumy region in preparation for military action. A big Russian push in the northern region would stretch Ukraine's troops and open a new front in the war.

In May, Kadyrov said during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin that tens of thousands of his soldiers were prepared to fight for Russia in Ukraine and that some 43,500 troops had already served in Moscow's war against Ukraine.



Air Tankers Fight Los Angeles Fires from Frantic Skies

Water is dropped by helicopter on the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills section of Los Angeles, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Water is dropped by helicopter on the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills section of Los Angeles, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
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Air Tankers Fight Los Angeles Fires from Frantic Skies

Water is dropped by helicopter on the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills section of Los Angeles, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Water is dropped by helicopter on the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills section of Los Angeles, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

In the skies above Los Angeles, air tankers and helicopters silhouetted by the setting California sun dart in and out of giant wildfire plumes, dropping much-needed flame retardant and precious water onto the angry fires below.
Looking in almost any direction from a chopper above the city, AFP reporters witnessed half a dozen blazes -- eruptions of smoldering smoke emerging from the mountainous landscape like newly active volcanoes, and filling up the horizon.
Within minutes, a previously quiet airspace above the nascent Kenneth Fire had become a hotbed of frenzied activity, as firefighting officials quickly refocused their significant air resources on this latest blaze.
Around half a dozen helicopters buzzed at low altitude, tipping water onto the edge of the inferno.
Higher up, small aircraft periodically guided giant tankers that dumped bright-red retardant onto the flames.
"There's never been so many at the same time, just ripping" through the skies, said helicopter pilot Albert Azouz.
Flying for a private aviation company since 2016, he has seen plenty of fires including the deadly Malibu blazes of six years ago.
"That was insane," he recalled.
But this, he repeatedly says while hovering his helicopter above the chaos, is "crazy town."
The new Kenneth Fire burst into life late Thursday afternoon near Calabasas, a swanky enclave outside Los Angeles made famous by its celebrity residents such as reality television's Kardashian clan.
Aircraft including Boeing Chinook helitankers fitted with 3,000-gallon tanks have been brought in from as far afield as Canada.
Unable to fly during the first few hours of the Los Angeles fires on Tuesday due to gusts of up to 100 miles (160 kilometers) per hour, these have become an invaluable tool in the battle to contain blazes and reduce any further devastation.
Helicopters performed several hundred drops on Thursday, while conditions permitted.
Those helicopters equipped to operate at night continued to buzz around the smoke-filled region, working frantically to tackle the flames, before stronger gusts are forecast to sweep back in to the Los Angeles basin overnight.