Russian Military Downs Drones in Southern Belgorod, Kursk Regions

 Local resident Natalia Latysheva, 60, stands inside her house destroyed by recent shelling, which local Russian-installed authorities called a Ukrainian military strike, in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the town of Yasynuvata (Yasinovataya) in the Donetsk region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, July 6, 2024. (Reuters)
Local resident Natalia Latysheva, 60, stands inside her house destroyed by recent shelling, which local Russian-installed authorities called a Ukrainian military strike, in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the town of Yasynuvata (Yasinovataya) in the Donetsk region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, July 6, 2024. (Reuters)
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Russian Military Downs Drones in Southern Belgorod, Kursk Regions

 Local resident Natalia Latysheva, 60, stands inside her house destroyed by recent shelling, which local Russian-installed authorities called a Ukrainian military strike, in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the town of Yasynuvata (Yasinovataya) in the Donetsk region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, July 6, 2024. (Reuters)
Local resident Natalia Latysheva, 60, stands inside her house destroyed by recent shelling, which local Russian-installed authorities called a Ukrainian military strike, in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the town of Yasynuvata (Yasinovataya) in the Donetsk region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, July 6, 2024. (Reuters)

Russian air defense units downed seven Ukrainian drones each on Saturday in the southern Belgorod and Kursk regions on the Ukrainian border, officials and the military said.

The Russian Defense Ministry said seven drones were intercepted over Belgorod region, which is subjected to nearly daily Ukrainian attacks.

Alexei Smirnov, governor of Kursk region, further north and west, also reported seven drones had been downed over his region.

He said Ukrainian forces had shelled about 10 villages over the course of the day.



Trump Says Biden Left Him ‘Inspirational-Type’ Letter 

US President Donald Trump delivers remarks on AI infrastructure at the Roosevelt room at White House in Washington, US, January 21, 2025. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump delivers remarks on AI infrastructure at the Roosevelt room at White House in Washington, US, January 21, 2025. (Reuters)
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Trump Says Biden Left Him ‘Inspirational-Type’ Letter 

US President Donald Trump delivers remarks on AI infrastructure at the Roosevelt room at White House in Washington, US, January 21, 2025. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump delivers remarks on AI infrastructure at the Roosevelt room at White House in Washington, US, January 21, 2025. (Reuters)

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said former President Joe Biden left him a "nice" letter inside the Resolute Desk at the White House, continuing an inauguration day tradition.

Trump told reporters he opened the letter on Monday evening and was thinking of making it publicly available. He said Biden advised him to enjoy his term and emphasized the importance of the role.

"It said, 'To Number 47,'" Trump said. "It was a very nice one .... just basically a little bit of an inspirational-type letter. Enjoy it. Do a good job. Important, very important how important the job is."

Trump, who was inaugurated to his second term in the White House on Monday, said he felt he should let people see the letter because it was "a positive" for Biden.

Trump found the handwritten letter in the desk on Monday during a ceremony in the Oval Office after a journalist asked if he had received a message from Biden. He held it up for the cameras, showing a handwritten "47," saying he would read it privately before deciding whether to release its contents.

Trump, the first president since Grover Cleveland in the late 1800s to serve nonconsecutive terms, left a letter for Biden when he took office in January 2021. Biden said it was a "very generous" letter but never released it publicly.

Former President Ronald Reagan started the modern letter-writing tradition in 1989, leaving one for his vice president and successor, George H.W. Bush, on stationery marked "Don't let the turkeys get you down."