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Russia, Ukraine Continue Air Attacks with Ceasefire Prospects Uncertain

Firefighters work at the site of an apartment building hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Chernihiv, Ukraine March 16, 2025. (Reuters)
Firefighters work at the site of an apartment building hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Chernihiv, Ukraine March 16, 2025. (Reuters)
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Russia, Ukraine Continue Air Attacks with Ceasefire Prospects Uncertain

Firefighters work at the site of an apartment building hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Chernihiv, Ukraine March 16, 2025. (Reuters)
Firefighters work at the site of an apartment building hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Chernihiv, Ukraine March 16, 2025. (Reuters)

Russia and Ukraine continued aerial attacks on each other, inflicting injuries and damages, officials said early on Sunday, as the fate of a proposed ceasefire to the three-year-old war remained uncertain.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he supported in principle Washington's proposal for a 30-day ceasefire with Ukraine but that his forces would fight on until several crucial conditions were worked out.

Both sides have since traded heavy aerial strikes, and Russia moved closer on battlefield to ejecting Ukrainian forces from their months-old foothold in the western Russian region of Kursk.

The Russian defense ministry said on Sunday that its air defense units destroyed a total of 31 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory.

Of those, 16 were downed over the southwestern region of Voronezh, nine over the territory of the Belgorod region and the rest over the Rostov and Kursk regions, the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.

In a Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian border region of Belgorod, three people were injured, including a 7-year-old, regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said earlier on the Telegram messaging app.

Two of the people were injured after a drone hit their house, sparking a fire in the Gubkinsky district of the region, while the other person was injured in a drone attack on the village of Dolgoye, Gladkov said.

Alexander Gusev, governor of Voronezh, said on Telegram that there was no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

The acting governor of the southern Russian region of Rostov said there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage reported there either.

In Ukraine, authorities reported several Russian drone strikes, including on the northern region of Chernihiv, where firefighters were battling a blaze at a high-rise building that was sparked by Russian drone attack, Ukraine's state of emergency service said.

Ukrainian media reported a series of explosions in the region surrounding the capital Kyiv, after Ukraine's air force issued warnings of a threat of drone attacks on Kyiv and a number of other central Ukrainian regions.

By 0300 GMT on Sunday, there was no official information about damage in the Kyiv region.

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Netanyahu Says He Will Seek to Dismiss the Head of Israel’s Internal Security Service

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends his trial on corruption charges at the district court in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP)
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends his trial on corruption charges at the district court in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP)
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Netanyahu Says He Will Seek to Dismiss the Head of Israel’s Internal Security Service

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends his trial on corruption charges at the district court in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP)
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends his trial on corruption charges at the district court in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday he will seek to dismiss the head of the country's internal security service this week, following a power struggle over the Hamas attack that sparked the war in Gaza.

Netanyahu said in a statement he has had “ongoing distrust” with Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar, and “this distrust has grown over time.”

The Shin Bet is responsible for monitoring Palestinian armed groups, and recently issued a report accepting responsibility for its failures around the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. But it also criticized Netanyahu, saying failed government policies helped create the climate that led to it.

The tensions boiled over this weekend when Bar’s predecessor, Nadav Argaman, said he would release sensitive information about Netanyahu if it is found that the prime minister had broken the law. Netanyahu accused Argaman of blackmail and filed a police complaint.

The Shin Bet did not have an immediate response to Netanyahu's announcement.

Netanyahu has resisted calls for an official state commission of inquiry into the Oct. 7 attack and has tried to blame the failures on the army and security agencies. In recent months, a number of senior security officials, including a defense minister and army chief, have been fired or forced to step down.

Bar had been one of the few remaining senior security officials since the Oct. 7 attack to remain in office.

Netanyahu said removing Bar from his position would help Israel “achieve its war goals and prevent the next disaster.” The prime minister is expected to appoint a loyalist in his place, slowing any momentum for the commission of inquiry.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, a good-governance civil society group, called Netanyahu’s announcement a “declaration of war on the rule of law” and claimed that he does not have the authority to take the step against Bar because of investigations into his own office.

Netanyahu is also angry that the Shin Bet is investigating members of his staff for their dealings with Qatar. The Shin Bet, and Bar, have been closely involved with the hostage negotiations during the war in Gaza.

Netanyahu recently removed Bar from the negotiating team and replaced him with a loyalist, Cabinet minister Ron Dermer. Israeli media have reported on deep policy differences between the negotiators, who have pushed for a hostage deal, and Netanyahu, who continues to threaten to resume the war.