Russia Launches Waves of Drone Attacks on Kyiv, Ukraine’s Military Says

 Ukrainian service personnel use searchlights as they search for drones in the sky over the city center during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine September 30, 2024. (Reuters)
Ukrainian service personnel use searchlights as they search for drones in the sky over the city center during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine September 30, 2024. (Reuters)
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Russia Launches Waves of Drone Attacks on Kyiv, Ukraine’s Military Says

 Ukrainian service personnel use searchlights as they search for drones in the sky over the city center during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine September 30, 2024. (Reuters)
Ukrainian service personnel use searchlights as they search for drones in the sky over the city center during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine September 30, 2024. (Reuters)

Russia launched several waves of drones targeting Kyiv early on Monday, with air defense units successfully defending the city during the attack which lasted over five hours, Ukraine's military said.

Reuters' witnesses heard numerous blasts in the Ukrainian capital in what sounded like air defense systems in operation and saw objects being hit in the air.

All the drones that Russia launched at Kyiv were either destroyed by defense systems or neutralized by electronic warfare, Serhiy Popko, the head of Kyiv's military administration said on the Telegram messaging app.

According to preliminary information, there were no casualties and no damage reported, he added. Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said drone debris fell by a residential building with emergency services working on site.

The Ukrainian air force said on Monday that it shot down 67 out of 73 drones and one of three missiles launched by Russia during the attack.

Governor Ruslan Kravchenko reported no damage to critical or residential infrastructure in the region surrounding the capital. He said that the attack caused fires in five districts of the region, but there were no casualties.

Mykolaiv governor Vitaliy Kim said the attack caused a fire at a critical infrastructure facility in the southern region.

Russia has launched multiple air attacks on Kyiv and Ukraine throughout September, targeting Ukraine's energy, military and transport infrastructure in attacks which have killed dozens of civilians.

Russia denies targeting civilians in the full-scale invasion it called a "special operation" when it was launched in February 2022.



Trump Says He Might Demand Panama Hand over Canal

This handout picture released by the Panama Canal Authority on August 30, 2024, shows the container ship MSC Marie, of 366 meters long and 51 meters wide, transiting the Panama Canal in Panama. (Handout / Panama Canal Authority / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Panama Canal Authority on August 30, 2024, shows the container ship MSC Marie, of 366 meters long and 51 meters wide, transiting the Panama Canal in Panama. (Handout / Panama Canal Authority / AFP)
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Trump Says He Might Demand Panama Hand over Canal

This handout picture released by the Panama Canal Authority on August 30, 2024, shows the container ship MSC Marie, of 366 meters long and 51 meters wide, transiting the Panama Canal in Panama. (Handout / Panama Canal Authority / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Panama Canal Authority on August 30, 2024, shows the container ship MSC Marie, of 366 meters long and 51 meters wide, transiting the Panama Canal in Panama. (Handout / Panama Canal Authority / AFP)

President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday accused Panama of charging excessive rates for use of the Panama Canal and said that if Panama did not manage the canal in an acceptable fashion, he would demand the US ally hand it over.

In an evening post on Truth Social, Trump also warned he would not let the canal fall into the "wrong hands," and he seemed to warn of potential Chinese influence on the passage, writing the canal should not be managed by China.

The post was an exceedingly rare example of a US leader saying he could push a sovereign country to hand over territory. It also underlines an expected shift in US diplomacy under Trump, who has not historically shied away from threatening allies and using bellicose rhetoric when dealing with counterparts.

The United States largely built the canal and administrated territory surrounding the passage for decades. But the US government fully handed control of the canal to Panama in 1999 after a period of joint administration.

"The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the US," Trump wrote in his Truth Social post.

"It was not given for the benefit of others, but merely as a token of cooperation with us and Panama. If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question."

The Panamanian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.