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<!–> [–><!–> [–><!–>On a spring morning two months after Vladimir Putin’s invading armies marched into Ukraine, a convoy of unmarked cars slid up to a Kyiv street corner and collected two middle-aged men in civilian clothes.–><!–> –><!–> [–><!–> –><!–> [–><!–> –><!–> [–><!–> –><!–> [–><!–> –><!–> [–><!–> –><!–> –> <!–> [–> <!–> ]–> <!–> –><!–> –><!–> […] More
Moscow said it had retaken two villages outside the town of Sudzha in Russia’s Kursk region. Ukrainian officials did not immediately comment on the claim.Moscow is pressing its offensive to retake the full territory of Russia’s Kursk region from Ukraine as negotiations between the White House and the Kremlin continue over a possible cease-fire in the three-year war.Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Saturday that its forces had retaken two villages outside Sudzha, the main Russian town that Ukraine occupied since its surprise offensive into Russia last summer but appears to have lost in recent days. Ukrainian officials did not immediately comment on Russia’s newest claim and have not confirmed a retreat by its forces from Sudzha.Moscow’s advances on the Kursk front came a day after President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia called on Ukrainian forces still fighting in the region to lay down their arms. Mr. Putin said he would spare their lives if they surrendered.The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, reiterated Mr. Putin’s demand in comments to the state news agency Tass on Saturday.“It’s still valid,” Mr. Peskov said, although he added that “time was running out.”The Russian leader has said that Ukrainian forces are encircled in the region, an assertion that President Trump repeated in a message on Truth Social.But President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine denied that the Ukrainian troops were surrounded.“Our troops continue to hold back Russian and North Korean groupings in the Kursk region,” Mr. Zelensky said in a post Saturday on Facebook, referring to North Korean fighters who have been assisting Russia in Kursk. “There is no encirclement of our troops.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
The men are accused of supplying key parts in Iranian drones that killed three U.S. service members and injured dozens of others at an American military base in Jordan.The Justice Department has charged two men with illegally supplying parts used in an Iranian-backed militia’s drone attack in January that killed three U.S. service members and injured more than 40 others at an American military base in Jordan, federal prosecutors in Boston announced on Monday.Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi, 42, a dual U.S.-Iranian national of Natick, Mass., and Mohammad Abedini, 38, of Tehran, were charged with conspiring to export sophisticated electronic components to Iran, violating American export control and sanctions laws.Mr. Abedini was also charged with providing material support, resulting in death, to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of the Iranian military that the U.S. has designated a foreign terrorist organization.Mr. Sadeghi was arrested on Monday and made an initial appearance in the federal court in Boston. Mr. Abedini was arrested, also on Monday, in Italy by Italian authorities at the request of the United States.Iran has made serious advances in the design and production of military drones in recent years, and has stepped up its transfer to terrorist groups across the Middle East, including Hamas and Hezbollah.Iran has used its drone program to build its global importance and increase weapons sales but has suffered setbacks in its confrontation with Israel. In April, Iran launched an attack on Israel that largely failed. Israel intercepted most of the roughly 200 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
In the Garden State, where the rash of sightings started a month ago, residents are looking to the skies, wondering why they still don’t have definitive answers from officials.The day after Thanksgiving, Susan and Lorelai Woodruff saw approximately 10 brightly lit objects banking and turning quickly in the night sky above their home in Elsinboro, in southern New Jersey.Every night since, they say, the objects have been back, emitting a strange, humming whir and flashing red, green and white.“I think it’s like an invasion,” said Lorelai Woodruff, 52. “I feel like our privacy is kind of invaded.”A month after reports of mysterious flying objects began spreading across the state, investigations by federal, state and local agencies into what they are and where they are coming from are ongoing. Many residents, like the Woodruffs, believe the objects are drones and have been left frustrated and perplexed at the lack of answers from authorities.Emily Ferguson, 49, said a rash of sightings near her home in Mendham, in northern New Jersey, had been the talk of the town, and that her three children had started asking questions about them that she could not answer.“The kids are all asking, ‘What’s going on?’ and ‘Why do we have to close all of our blinds?’ which is something we never do,” Ms. Ferguson said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
Numerous sightings of flying objects in recent weeks have raised alarm, but federal law enforcement officials say that at least some were manned aircraft, such as airplanes or helicopters.After reviewing thousands of tips, federal law enforcement officials on Saturday reaffirmed that mysterious drones spotted in the Northeast in recent weeks pose no national security threat and in most cases are not even drones.Investigators reviewing video footage and interviews with witnesses have so far determined that at least some of the roaming objects were manned aircraft, such as airplanes or helicopters, that were misidentified as drones, according to officials from the F.B.I., Department of Homeland Security and Federal Aviation Administration, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity on Saturday because they were not authorized to speak publicly.Federal officials have received nearly 5,000 tips on drone sightings in recent weeks and deemed only 100 of them worthy of further investigation, an F.BI. official said.The rise of the drone sightings have caused alarm in communities across the Northeast. Here, what appear to be multiple drones over Bernardsville, N.J., earlier this month.Brian Glenn, via Associated PressThe U.S. officials said they had confirmed drone sightings over military bases in New Jersey, including Picatinny Arsenal, but they had no evidence the devices were operated by a foreign government or authority. U.S. national security officials have not been able to identify the operators of the drones.The rise of the drone sightings have caused alarm in communities in the Northeast as residents have increasingly looked to the sky with a cellphone in hand, hoping to learn more about the floating devices. State and local leaders have accused the Biden administration of not taking the drone sightings seriously. The airborne devices have captured the attention of Americans 22 months after a giant Chinese spy balloon drifted over the United States, causing a diplomatic crisis. President Biden eventually ordered it shot down.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
Reports of flying objects continue to occur throughout the region. State and local officials say they do not pose a threat but have provided few answers.Bright lights floating or flying in the night sky above New Jersey have captivated residents for nearly a month. Now the sightings, which many observers believe to be drones, have spread throughout the region.Federal authorities investigating the sightings have provided few answers about what the objects are or their origin, leaving residents unsettled and local leaders frustrated.U.S. officials on Thursday said that they had been unable to corroborate the reported drone sightings, and suggested that many of the objects might in fact be manned aircraft, such as airplanes or helicopters.But assurances from state and federal officials that the sightings do not indicate a threat to residents have done little to allay public concerns. Lawmakers have expressed frustration with the lack of information, and are urging the federal government to share more about its investigation.By Friday, drone sightings had been reported in several states across the region. In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul said she was investigating the matter with federal law enforcement agencies, as local officials received numerous reports of possible drones flying overhead.The governor, however, assured the public that there was nothing to fear. “At this time, there’s no evidence that these drones pose a public safety or national security threat,” Ms. Hochul said in a statement on social media.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
People across the state have reported seeing scores of large, low-flying objects in recent weeks. Officials haven’t said where they’re coming from, or why they’re here.Brightly lit against a dark night sky, the low-flying object wasn’t a star, and it wasn’t moving like a plane or a helicopter.Kat Dunbar spotted the strange object early one night several weeks ago while driving home with her children, and she was stumped.“I was like, ‘What is that? Is that a U.F.O.?’” said Ms. Dunbar, a 37-year-old acupuncturist and mother of three. “And we watched it the whole way home.”Then, she said, she thought nothing more about it. Until earlier this week, when similarly bright, large and buzzing objects began flying low over her home in Bedminster, N.J.They were drones, she realized. And since then, she said, they have been back every night. Usually she and her husband, Nick Dunbar, see the first drone not long after sunset. Then they keep coming, one after another: sometimes five or more, following the same flight path.“In the last week, it became a little bit of a menacing and, like, creepy thing,” Ms. Dunbar said.Ms. Dunbar is not alone. Drone sightings have been reported in at least 10 New Jersey counties since mid-November. They have been spotted flying over important infrastructure, like reservoirs, power lines and railroads, in people’s backyards and above highways. They often fly in groups and emit a loud humming noise that Mr. Dunbar, 39, described as similar to the sounds made by electric cars. The drones appear to be significantly larger than those widely available to hobbyists.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
Small unmanned craft were seen flying over four bases in England, the U.S. Air Force in Europe said in a statement. The Pentagon noted that there had not been “any significant mission impact.”A number of unidentified drones have been sighted flying over four bases used by the United States Air Force in Britain.The Air Force said in a statement that “small unmanned aerial systems continue to be spotted in the vicinity of and over” four air bases in England. It named the bases as R.A.F. Lakenheath and R.A.F. Mildenhall, both of which are in Suffolk; R.A.F. Feltwell in Norfolk; and R.A.F. Fairford in Gloucestershire.“To date, installation leaders have determined that none of the incursions impacted base residents, facilities or assets,” the statement added. “The Air Force is taking all appropriate measures to safeguard the aforementioned installations and their residents.”Asked about the drones in a news briefing on Tuesday, Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said that they were being “actively monitored.”He added: “The bottom line is it’s something that we’re going to take seriously. We’re continuing to look into it, but as of right now it has not had any significant mission impact.”The British Ministry of Defense said in a statement: “We take threats seriously and maintain robust measures at defense sites. We are supporting the U.S. Air Force response.”This is a developing story. More
The assault, which the Ukrainian Air Force said involved 188 drones, came as both sides intensify air bombardments.Ukraine’s military said on Tuesday that Russia launched 188 attack drones against the country overnight, calling it a record number as both sides intensify aerial assaults.The Ukrainian Air Force said that it had shot down 76 of the drones in the “massive attack” but that nearly all the rest had disappeared from radar. It was unclear how many of those drones had been intercepted by other means, such as electronic interference, and how many had struck targets.Some critical infrastructure was hit and residential buildings were damaged in several regions, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. Damage to the power grid in Ternopil, a city in western Ukraine, caused electricity and water outages, the local authorities said.Russia’s military has attacked Ukrainian cities with waves of drones almost every night since September in a campaign that analysts say is intended to test and wear down air defenses. The drones have also targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in a renewed effort to plunge the population into cold and darkness as winter sets in.The overnight drone assault, however, stood out for its sheer scale. It came as both Ukraine and Russia have been stepping up tit-for-tat air attacks over the past week.Last Tuesday, Ukraine struck deep inside Russia with U.S.-made missiles for the first time. Moscow vowed to respond and test fired an intermediate-range missile designed to deliver nuclear weapons, though it was not armed with nuclear warheads. The strikes represented a demonstration of force by both sides and shifted the focus away from ground assaults to a Cold War-style missile brinkmanship.On Tuesday, ambassadors from Ukraine and NATO’s member states were set to discuss a possible response to Russia’s use of the intermediate-range missile, which was fired at the city of Dnipro in central Ukraine. The strike caused little damage, but it raised alarm in Ukraine at a time when Moscow has been elevating threats of nuclear war.Ukrainian officials were expected to use the Tuesday meeting, to be held in Brussels, to reiterate their requests for allies to send more air-defense systems to counter Russian attacks.Months of Russian drone and missile bombardments have depleted Ukraine’s air defenses. In recent weeks, Russian drones have increasingly penetrated central Kyiv, home to government administration buildings and the presidential palace. The once rare buzz of drones flying overhead at night and the rat-tat-tat of heavy machine guns trying to take them down now echo regularly through the heart of the capital. More
