Russia, Ukraine Trade Major Attacks Ahead of Kremlin's WWII Celebrations

A site of a Russian air strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine May 5, 2026. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Zaporizhzhia region/Handout via REUTERS
A site of a Russian air strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine May 5, 2026. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Zaporizhzhia region/Handout via REUTERS
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Russia, Ukraine Trade Major Attacks Ahead of Kremlin's WWII Celebrations

A site of a Russian air strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine May 5, 2026. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Zaporizhzhia region/Handout via REUTERS
A site of a Russian air strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine May 5, 2026. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Zaporizhzhia region/Handout via REUTERS

Russia and Ukraine launched major attacks on each other on Friday, with a two-day unilateral ceasefire that Moscow had declared around its World War II commemorations appearing to be in tatters.

"On the Russian side, there was not even a token attempt to cease fire on the front," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, as Ukraine's air force reported downing 56 drones in the last hours.

"As we did over the past 24 hours, Ukraine will respond in kind today as well," Zelensky wrote on X.

Russia lobbed "more than 850 strikes with drones of various types" along with more than 140 strikes on Kyiv's frontline positions, Zelensky said.

Russia's defense ministry said it had downed 264 Ukrainian drones overnight, the first hours of the Kremlin's unilateral two-day ceasefire.

Ukraine had blasted Russia's temporary truce as a propaganda measure to protect the victory parade on May 9 -- one of the most important patriotic events for Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Hours before Russia's ceasefire began, Zelensky warned allies of Russia against attending the parade.

"We have also received messages from some states close to Russia, saying that their representatives plan to be in Moscow... A strange desire... in these days. We do not recommend it," Zelensky said.

"They want from Ukraine a permit to hold their parade so that they can go out onto the square safely for one hour once a year, and then go on killing," the Ukrainian leader added.

Zelensky had earlier proposed a counter-truce from May 6 that has gone unheeded.

With Moscow doubling down on its attacks on Ukraine in the last days, Kyiv has struck back.

The Russian defense ministry had, in turn, urged residents and diplomats to leave Kyiv, threatening a potential retaliatory strike in case of a Ukrainian attack during its ceasefire.

"We remind the civilian population of Kyiv and staff at foreign diplomatic missions once again of the need to leave the city in good time," AFP quoted the defense ministry as saying in a statement.

Britain's foreign office said Moscow's threats were "unwarranted, irresponsible and completely unjustified", adding that any attack on a diplomatic mission would be a further escalation in the war.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told Bloomberg TV that Berlin will not pull its embassy staff out from Kyiv.

Zelensky will also stay "in Kyiv" over the weekend, a senior source close to the Ukrainian president told AFP on condition of anonymity.

During the truce, Russia's defense ministry said it would "completely" halt fire along the frontline and stop long-range strikes on military infrastructure.

If Ukraine did not follow suit, Moscow would respond "in kind", the ministry said.

Russia marks World War II Victory Day each year on May 9 with a massive military parade through Red Square.

Putin has made memory of the war a central narrative of his 25-year rule and invoked it to justify his invasion of Ukraine.

In recent weeks, Kyiv, which has expanded its drone capabilities, has stepped up strikes on Moscow and deep inside Russia, hitting targets hundreds of miles from Ukraine.

The attacks have created unease in Russia ahead of the parade, normally a grand show of force displaying tanks and missiles, which marks the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.

Moscow has said it will omit military hardware from the procession for the first time in almost 20 years.

The number of foreign guests has also shrunk -- only the leaders of Belarus, Malaysia and Laos will attend, alongside leaders of two Russia-backed Georgian breakaway republics not recognized by the UN, according to the Kremlin.

Moscow has also started intermittent city-wide internet shutdowns lasting until Saturday.

Talks on ending what has spiraled into Europe's worst conflict since World War II have shown little progress and have been sidelined by the Iran conflict.

Moscow is demanding that Ukraine withdraw from four regions it claims as its own -- terms seen as unacceptable to Kyiv.



US Troops in Middle East Wait for the Next Big Moment

The USS George HW Bush aircraft carrier takes part in enforcing the US naval blockade on Iran (CENTCOM)
The USS George HW Bush aircraft carrier takes part in enforcing the US naval blockade on Iran (CENTCOM)
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US Troops in Middle East Wait for the Next Big Moment

The USS George HW Bush aircraft carrier takes part in enforcing the US naval blockade on Iran (CENTCOM)
The USS George HW Bush aircraft carrier takes part in enforcing the US naval blockade on Iran (CENTCOM)

By Helene Cooper, Eric Schmitt*

 

US President Donald Trump tasked some 50,000 troops to his war against Iran, sending them in aircraft carriers, destroyers, Marine expeditionary units and warplanes.

With parachutes in their packs and survival kits at their sides, they have been part of Trump’s declared mission against Iran “to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground.”

Now, the US military is on standby in the region, as the White House gives contradictory signals about the status of the war effort.

On Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that Operation Epic Fury, the name given to the US campaign, was “over.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the big effort was to help ships get through the Strait of Hormuz, though Trump later said that even that effort was paused.

Then on Wednesday, the president said on social media that he would end the war and offer safe passage to vessels through the strait if Iran “agrees to give what has been agreed,” without elaborating.

He added: “If they don’t agree, the bombing starts.”

The US Navy is still enforcing a blockade on all shipping in and out of Iranian ports imposed after Iran effectively closed the strait. A Navy warplane disabled an Iranian-flagged oil tanker that was trying to cross the blockade on Wednesday.

Before the war started in February, there were typically about 40,000 US troops at bases and on ships in the Middle East. But as Trump escalated the war, the number rose to more than 50,000, according to a US military official.

The precise number is complicated by the fact that Iran retaliated by attacking US bases, forcing the military to relocate troops to other bases and locations, including in the region, Europe and even the United States.

Here is a look at the US forces still assigned to the region.

82nd Airborne

About 2,000 paratroopers with the Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division are in the Middle East —Defense Department officials will not say where — as part of the buildup of forces.

The troops could be used in an effort to take Kharg Island, a hub for Iranian oil exports, though they would need more boots on the ground to hold it, officials said. And such an operation would come with the risk of US casualties.

Or the troops could be part of an effort to seize an airfield, military experts say, though it remains unclear what the United States would do with an airfield in Iran once it takes it.

Holding such a piece of territory in a country that is around a quarter of the size of the continental United States, with more than 90 million people, would be challenging.

31st Marine Expeditionary Unit

The arrival of 2,500 Marines and another 2,500 sailors helped keep the number of US troops in the region at over 50,000.

While it is still unclear what the Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit may do, US officials said that they could also be part of an effort to seize an island or other territory.

Special Operations Troops

Several hundred US Special Operations forces arrived in the Middle East in March in a deployment meant to give Trump additional options, two US military officials recently said.

As specialized ground troops, they could be used in a mission aimed at Iran’s highly enriched uranium at the Isfahan nuclear site.

The USS Abraham Lincoln and the USS George HW Bush, aircraft carrier strike groups, along with their accompanying flotillas of warships and more than 10,000 sailors and Marines, are on hand in the Arabian Sea. From there, they can strike Iran using missiles and fighter jets launched from the carriers.

The Bush replaced the Gerald Ford, which is heading to the Atlantic Ocean and eventually back to Norfolk, Virginia, one US official said. The Ford suffered a fire in its laundry facilities early in the war.

 

*The New York Times

 


3 Australian Women Back from Syria Face Slavery and Terrorism Charges over Alleged ISIS Links

An Australian woman returning from Syrian refugee camps where they have been staying since the ISIS's demise walks past members of the media as they arrive at the airport in Melbourne on May 7, 2026. (Photo by WILLIAM WEST / AFP)
An Australian woman returning from Syrian refugee camps where they have been staying since the ISIS's demise walks past members of the media as they arrive at the airport in Melbourne on May 7, 2026. (Photo by WILLIAM WEST / AFP)
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3 Australian Women Back from Syria Face Slavery and Terrorism Charges over Alleged ISIS Links

An Australian woman returning from Syrian refugee camps where they have been staying since the ISIS's demise walks past members of the media as they arrive at the airport in Melbourne on May 7, 2026. (Photo by WILLIAM WEST / AFP)
An Australian woman returning from Syrian refugee camps where they have been staying since the ISIS's demise walks past members of the media as they arrive at the airport in Melbourne on May 7, 2026. (Photo by WILLIAM WEST / AFP)

Three Australian women were refused bail when they appeared in courts on Friday charged with slavery and terrorism offenses after they arrived home from Syria with another 10 others whom police allege are linked to the ISIS group.

The four women and nine children, who have spent years in Roj camp in the Syrian desert, landed on two Qatar Airways flights from Doha on Thursday despite the Australian government warning they would face charges if they returned.

Kawsar Abbas, 53, and her daughter Zeinab Ahmed, 31, were charged in a Melbourne court in relation to allegations that their family bought a female Yazidi slave for $10,000, police said in a statement.

Their lawyers said they would apply for both women to be released on bail on Monday. Neither woman spoke during their brief court appearance. Bail was formally denied.

Abbas, her husband and children traveled in 2014 to Syria, which was then the center of ISIS’s co-called caliphate, police allege.

Abbas was complicit in buying the slave, who was kept in the family home, police allege.

The mother was charged with four crimes against humanity under Australian law, and the daughter was charged with two slavery crimes. Each charge carries a potential penalty of 25 years in prison.

Both women were detained by Kurdish forces in March 2019 and have been held with other family members at Roj camp since.

The camp in northeast Syria near the Iraq border houses mostly women and children who were displaced from areas that were once controlled by the ISIS group.

Janai Safar, 32, was arrested at Sydney Airport and charged with being a member of a terrorist organization and with entering or remaining in a region controlled by a terrorist organization. Each charge carries a potential maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

A judge refused to release her on Friday when she applied for bail in a Sydney court where she appeared via video link from a prison.

Her lawyer unsuccessfully argued that exceptional circumstances in her case warranted her release from custody. The lawyer submitted that both Safar and her 9-year-old son were likely both suffering from PTSD and the boy knew no one else in Australia.

Police allege she followed her ISIS-fighter partner to Syria in 2015 and had a child there. The partner reportedly died in 2017. Australia made it illegal to travel to the former Syrian ISIS stronghold of Raqqa without a legitimate reason from 2014 to 2017.

The Australian government has condemned the women for supporting ISIS militants by traveling to Syria and refused to help repatriate them.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Friday he had sympathy for the returned children, but none for the parents who could expect no government support.

“I have absolutely zero sympathy for these people,” Albanese told reporters. “I do have sympathy for the children, who are victims of decisions that their parents have made.”

“It is appropriate that they undergo support: children who've been subject and exposed to all sorts of horrors in those camps,” Albanese added.

Police have been investigating Australians’ potential involvement in atrocities in Syria for more than a decade.

Another 21 Australian women and children remain in Roj camp. Their supporters have told reporters they intend to repatriate them within weeks.

One of those women is banned from returning to Australia by a temporary exclusion order.

Australia can use such orders to prevent high-risk citizens from returning for up to two years.

The orders were created by laws introduced to in 2019 to prevent defeated ISIS fighters from returning to Australia. There are no public reports of an order being issued before.

Such orders can’t be made against children younger than 14. But Australia has ruled out separating children from their mothers.

Australian governments have repatriated Australian women and children from Syrian detention camps on two occasions. Other Australians have returned without government assistance.


20 Hikers Missing after Volcano Erupts in East Indonesia

This screen grab made from UGC footage courtesy of X user @SEACHICKEN_1059 taken on April 11, 2026 and made available on April 13 shows Sakurajima, one of Japan's most active volcanoes, erupting in Japan's Kagoshima Prefecture. (Photo by Handout / COURTESY OF @SEACHICKEN_1059 / AFP)
This screen grab made from UGC footage courtesy of X user @SEACHICKEN_1059 taken on April 11, 2026 and made available on April 13 shows Sakurajima, one of Japan's most active volcanoes, erupting in Japan's Kagoshima Prefecture. (Photo by Handout / COURTESY OF @SEACHICKEN_1059 / AFP)
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20 Hikers Missing after Volcano Erupts in East Indonesia

This screen grab made from UGC footage courtesy of X user @SEACHICKEN_1059 taken on April 11, 2026 and made available on April 13 shows Sakurajima, one of Japan's most active volcanoes, erupting in Japan's Kagoshima Prefecture. (Photo by Handout / COURTESY OF @SEACHICKEN_1059 / AFP)
This screen grab made from UGC footage courtesy of X user @SEACHICKEN_1059 taken on April 11, 2026 and made available on April 13 shows Sakurajima, one of Japan's most active volcanoes, erupting in Japan's Kagoshima Prefecture. (Photo by Handout / COURTESY OF @SEACHICKEN_1059 / AFP)

Twenty hikers, nine of them from Singapore, were reported missing Friday after Mount Dukono on Indonesia's eastern Halmahera island erupted, spewing a smoke cloud some 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) into the air, a rescue official told AFP.

"Our team is on its way. It is not yet confirmed if there are injured people. Based on reports, there are about 20 people being searched for," local rescue official Iwan Ramdani said by telephone.

He confirmed the 20 were all hikers, even though the area had been closed to visitors since April 17 after scientists observed an increase in volcanic activity.

Lana Saria, head of the government Geology Agency, said the early-morning eruption was accompanied by a "booming sound" and a thick smoke column rising some 10 km from the summit of Mount Dukono in the North Maluku province.

"The direction of the ash distribution leans northward, so residential areas and Tobelo City need to be vigilant for... volcanic ash rain," she said in a statement.

The smoke could be dangerous for public health, Lana added, and risked disrupting transportation services.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation, experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where tectonic plates collide.

Mount Dukono is currently on the third-highest alert level of Indonesia's four-tiered alert system.

Since December, the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) has recommended that tourists and climbers do not come within four kilometers of the volcano's Malupang Warirang Crater.