Two Killed in Series of Russian Attacks on Ukraine

Ukrainian rescuers work at the site of a Russian strike on a residential area a day before, in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, 03 January 2026. (EPA)
Ukrainian rescuers work at the site of a Russian strike on a residential area a day before, in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, 03 January 2026. (EPA)
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Two Killed in Series of Russian Attacks on Ukraine

Ukrainian rescuers work at the site of a Russian strike on a residential area a day before, in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, 03 January 2026. (EPA)
Ukrainian rescuers work at the site of a Russian strike on a residential area a day before, in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, 03 January 2026. (EPA)

Russia bombarded Ukraine early Monday, killing two people in the Kyiv region, authorities said on the eve of a diplomatic summit in France.

A countrywide siren was issued just after midnight, while Ukraine's military said air defenses were operating in several places.

In the capital, a private medical facility caught fire as a result of the Russian strikes, killing one person and wounding three others, the State Emergency Service of Kyiv said. It released images of rescuers removing people on stretchers from a gutted building, said AFP.

Another pre-dawn attack on the neighboring city of Fastiv killed one man in his 70s, according to Kyiv regional governor Mykola Kalashnyk.

The strikes caused power outages in the area, with backup systems activated to maintain water and heating supplies, the official said, as temperatures dropped to -8C.

The attacks came on the eve of a meeting of European leaders in Paris as they seek a breakthrough on a peace plan Kyiv says is "90 percent" ready.

To lay the groundwork, security advisers from 15 countries, including Britain, France and Germany as well as representatives from NATO and the European Union, gathered in Kyiv over the weekend.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff joined the talks virtually, a Ukrainian official told AFP, though the United States' large-scale military attack on Venezuela earlier in the day overshadowed proceedings.

Another preparatory meeting, between chiefs of staff, is scheduled for Monday.

Diplomatic efforts to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II have gained pace in recent weeks, though both Moscow and Kyiv remain at odds over the key issue of territory in a post-war settlement.

Russia, which occupies around 20 percent of Ukraine, is pushing for full control of the country's eastern Donbas region as part of a deal.

But Kyiv has warned that ceding ground will embolden Moscow and said it will not sign a peace deal that fails to deter Russia from invading again.

Bombarded daily and losing ground, Ukraine has responded with its own drone attacks launched towards Russian territory, targeting in particular energy infrastructure that funds the war effort.

Russia's defense ministry said it has downed Ukrainian drones targeting the Moscow region every day of 2026, and claims to have shot several hundred -- an unusually high number -- over the weekend.

The Kremlin published a video of a downed drone it said Ukraine had launched at the home of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Novgorod region, adding that the property was not damaged and the leader was elsewhere at the time.

Kyiv refuted the allegation, and its European allies expressed skepticism.

Asked about it on Sunday, US President Donald Trump said that "something" had happened near Putin's residence, but after reviewing the evidence, American officials did not believe it had been targeted by Ukraine.

"I don't believe that strike happened," Trump said in response to a reporter's question aboard Air Force One.

Russia has also accused Kyiv of firing drones at a hotel and cafe in the Moscow-held part of Ukraine's southern Kherson region early Thursday, killing what it said were 28 people celebrating the New Year. Ukraine says it was a military gathering.

Moscow accuses Kyiv of being insincere in its peace efforts, while Ukraine says Russia is trying to scupper the diplomatic momentum to end the conflict.

Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, describing it as a "special military operation" to prevent the expansion of NATO.

Russia made bigger advances on the battlefield last year than any other year since it launched its invasion, according to an AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War.



Iran Arrests Man Accused of Running Starlink Internet Network

 A man leaves a subway train past an image of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP)
A man leaves a subway train past an image of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP)
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Iran Arrests Man Accused of Running Starlink Internet Network

 A man leaves a subway train past an image of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP)
A man leaves a subway train past an image of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP)

Iranian authorities have arrested a man accused of leading a network that sold access to the internet via Starlink terminals, a technology that is banned in Iran, the ISNA news agency reported on Friday.

Iran has been digitally sealed off from the rest of the world by a complete internet blackout since the start of the Middle East war.

To get around those restrictions, some Iranians have turned to Starlink terminals from the US company SpaceX, which connect to the internet via satellites.

Doing so is a criminal offence in Iran punishable with prison time.

"A 37-year-old man, who had put in place a network in several provinces of the country to sell access to the unrestricted internet via Starlink, has been arrested" in Shiraz, ISNA reported, citing a deputy police commander for Fars province.

It did not say when the arrest took place.

Iranians were previously placed under an 18-day internet blackout in January, the longest so far, amid anti-government protests during which thousands were killed.

At the time, the authorities managed to disrupt the operation of Starlink terminals.

Under Iranian law, people found guilty of "the use, transportation, purchase or sale of electronic internet communication devices such as Starlink" used to access banned content can be jailed for up to two years in prison.


Middle East War ‘Benefits No One and Harms Many’, Merz

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Bardufoss in connection with Cold response 2026, in Bardufoss, Norway, 13 March 2026. (EPA)
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Bardufoss in connection with Cold response 2026, in Bardufoss, Norway, 13 March 2026. (EPA)
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Middle East War ‘Benefits No One and Harms Many’, Merz

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Bardufoss in connection with Cold response 2026, in Bardufoss, Norway, 13 March 2026. (EPA)
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Bardufoss in connection with Cold response 2026, in Bardufoss, Norway, 13 March 2026. (EPA)

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday that the Middle East war must end "as soon as possible" as the conflict "benefits no-one and harms many economically, including us".

Asked whether Europeans should make direct contact with Iran to ask for the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened, Merz said: "We are making every effort to end this war... all diplomatic channels are being used."

Speaking at a press conference in Norway alongside his Norwegian and Canadian counterparts Jonas Gahr Store and Mark Carney, Merz stressed that Germany shared the "important goals of the United States and Israel".

"Iran must not threaten Israel and other neighbors," Merz said, adding that Tehran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs must end and that the country "must stop supporting terrorism at home and beyond".

However, Merz added that "with each day of war, more questions arise than answers" and that "a convincing plan is needed" on conducting the war.

"We are witnessing a dangerous escalation. Iran is indiscriminately attacking states in the region, including close partners and allies of our own country, Germany," the chancellor said.

"The Strait of Hormuz has become impassable. We condemn this in the strongest possible terms.

"We have no interest in an endless war," Merz added. "We need a perspective for a peaceful order now."


Iran’s New Supreme Leader Wounded, Likely Disfigured, Hegseth Says

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a press conference at CENTCOM headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, USA, 05 March 2026. (EPA)
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a press conference at CENTCOM headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, USA, 05 March 2026. (EPA)
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Iran’s New Supreme Leader Wounded, Likely Disfigured, Hegseth Says

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a press conference at CENTCOM headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, USA, 05 March 2026. (EPA)
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a press conference at CENTCOM headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, USA, 05 March 2026. (EPA)

Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is wounded and likely disfigured, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday, questioning Khamenei's ability to govern after nearly two weeks of US and Israeli attacks on Iran.

No images have been released of Khamenei since an Israeli strike at the start of the war that killed much of his family, including his father and wife. His first comments came in a statement read out by a television presenter on Thursday. In the statement, he vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz shut and called ‌on neighboring ‌countries to close US bases on their territory or risk Iran targeting ‌them.

"We ⁠know the new ⁠so-called not so supreme leader is wounded and likely disfigured. He put out a statement yesterday. A weak one, actually, but there was no voice and there was no video. It was a written statement," Hegseth told a briefing.

"Iran has plenty of cameras and plenty of voice recorders. Why a written statement? I think you know why. His father - dead. He's scared, he's injured, he's on the run and he lacks legitimacy."

An Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday that the newly appointed supreme leader was lightly injured, but ⁠was continuing to operate, after state television described him as war-wounded.

Hegseth was joined ‌by General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs ‌of Staff, at a briefing in which they emphasized US military strikes to knock out Iran's missile and ‌drone capabilities and its navy.

'NO QUARTER'

During the briefing, Hegseth said that the United States would show ‌no mercy in the war.

"We will keep pressing, keep pushing, keep advancing. No quarter, no mercy for our enemy," Hegseth said.

"No quarter" is the refusal to spare the life of someone who has expressed their intention to surrender - something prohibited by law.

"International humanitarian law prohibits the use of this procedure, that is, ordering that there shall ‌be no survivors, threatening the adversary therewith, or conducting hostilities on this basis," according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Hegseth has moved to ⁠reshape the top ranks ⁠of the military justice system, replacing the judge advocates general for the Army, Navy and Air Force.

The United States has carried out strikes against more than 6,000 targets in Iran over the past 14 days. Almost two weeks of US-Israeli bombings have killed around 2,000 people in Iran.

A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the Pentagon was sending an additional warship, along with the Marines on board, to the Middle East. The Pentagon has previously said additional troops would be heading to the region.

But despite the US attacks on Iran, more Iranian drones were reported flying into Kuwait, Iraq, the UAE, Bahrain and Oman. Additionally, six US service members were killed on Friday when a US military refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq, in an incident the US said involved another aircraft but was not the result of hostile or friendly fire.

Since the US and Israel started carrying out strikes against Iran on February 28, 11 US troops have been killed.