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Ukraine Says it Downed 2 Missiles, 60 Drones During Russia's Overnight Attack

Rescuers stand at a site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine August 27, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer
Rescuers stand at a site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine August 27, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer
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Ukraine Says it Downed 2 Missiles, 60 Drones During Russia's Overnight Attack

Rescuers stand at a site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine August 27, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer
Rescuers stand at a site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine August 27, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer

Ukraine said it shot down two missiles and 60 drones over nine regions in an overnight attack, after Russia stepped up its assault on Ukraine's energy infrastructure earlier this week.
More than 2-1/2 years since Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv is pushing the West for additional air defense and support in jointly shooting down targets over Ukraine to repel such attacks, Reuters said.
On Thursday, Ukraine destroyed 60 out of 74 Russia-launched attack drones and two out of five missiles. The air force said it lost track of 14 more drones, which likely fell on Ukrainian territory.
About 15 drones launched by Russia in its third attack on the Ukrainian capital in four days did not reach their targets, Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said on Thursday.
Drone debris damaged the windows and doors of an apartment building and caused a fire in a non-residential building which was extinguished, Popko said in a statement after the latest Russian airstrikes on Ukraine, which were mainly overnight.
Kyiv regional governor Ruslan Kravchenko said the drones caused no damage to critical infrastructure in the Kyiv region, and city and regional authorities reported no casualties.
Falling debris also caused a fire on the grounds of a private enterprise in the central region of Cherkasy, the regional governor said. Some 75 rescuers tackled the fire that had spread over 2,700 square meters (29,00 square feet) by Thursday morning, Ukraine's state emergency service said.
Russia, which began its full-scale invasion in February 2022, attacked energy facilities across Ukraine on Monday in airstrikes which Ukrainian officials said involved more than 200 missiles and drones.
The renewed assault on the power grid has forced Kyiv to rely on emergency and planned power cuts this week to try to stabilize the system.

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France's Macron to Visit Serbia With a Possible Deal to Sell French Warplanes

French President Emmanuel Macron (Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron (Reuters)
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France's Macron to Visit Serbia With a Possible Deal to Sell French Warplanes

French President Emmanuel Macron (Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron (Reuters)

French President Emmanuel Macron starts a two-day state visit to Serbia on Thursday with the focus on the possible sale of 12 Rafale multi-purpose fighter jets to the country, which has maintained close ties to Russia despite its invasion of Ukraine.
Macron is to meet populist President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade on Thursday evening, when the deal reportedly worth 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) is expected to be announced, The Associated Press said.
An official in Macron’s office, who was not authorized to be identified according to French presidential policy, said the warplane talks are part of a larger strategy of ″bringing Serbia closer to the EU.″
Serbia needs to upgrade its fleet and the Rafale is a ″strategic choice″ for Belgrade, which could choose to rely only on Russian equipment instead, the official said.
Serbia is formally seeking European Union membership, but under Vucic’s increasingly autocratic rule it has made little progress in the fields of rule of law and democratic reforms, which are the main preconditions for membership in the 27-nation bloc.
In a letter to the Serbian public published in the local media on Thursday, Macron sought to encourage the Balkan nation to pursue its EU future but noted that “the perspective of joining the European Union does not seem to be as attractive as it should.” He cited “concerns and fatigue over the rhythm of accession talks but also sometimes a sort of resentment, even mistrust” of the EU.
“I come here to Serbia again today with a simple message: The European Union and its nations need to have a strong and democratic Serbia in their ranks, and Serbia needs a strong and sovereign European Union to defend and promote its interests with respect of its identity,” Macron said in the letter, published in the liberal Danas newspaper.
Macron also warned that after Russia attacked Ukraine, Serbia’s “balancing game” between the world powers is an “illusion.” He said Serbia will only be able to protect its interests and preserve its identity as part of the EU.
Serbia has been considering the purchase of the new Rafale jets for more than two years, since neighboring Balkan rival Croatia purchased 12 used fighter jets of the same type for about 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion).
The potential acquisition of Rafale jets would allow Serbia to modernize its air force, which consists mainly of Soviet-made MiG-29 fighters and aging Yugoslav combat aircraft.
Russia has been a traditional supplier of military aircraft, including combat helicopters, to Serbia, which has refused to join international sanctions against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
The rapid arming by the Serbian military has worried some of its neighbors following the bloody breakup of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Serbia is almost completely surrounded by NATO member countries.
Selling Rafales to Russian ally Serbia, which has occasionally expressed an aggressive stance toward its Balkan neighbors, has raised some concerns, one of which is how France plans to prevent sophisticated Rafale technology from being shared with Russia.
Asked if there would be a clause restricting the use of the Rafales, the French official said ″in any contract there are clauses that set a framework for the use of such material."
Macron's talks with Vucic will include simmering tensions in the Balkans, especially in the former Serbian province of Kosovo which declared independence in 2008.
Macron’s itinerary also includes a visit to a museum and an economic forum on artificial intelligence in the northern town of Novi Sad on Friday. Also on the agenda is a possible agreement with French energy provider EDF on cooperation in the field of nuclear power plant technology.