World

Russia and Ukraine pummel each other’s defence industry amid land stalemate

Published

2 years ago

January 4, 2024

Russia and Ukraine pummel each other’s defence industry amid land stalemate

Russia launched a relentless barrage of missiles and drones into Ukraine during the last few days of 2023 and into the new year, revealing weaknesses in Ukrainian air defences that allowed dozens of people to be killed and hundreds wounded.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence said it was targeting military industry and infrastructure, something Ukrainian commander-in-chief Valery Zaluzhny confirmed; but many of the missiles landed on apartment buildings, shopping centres and a maternity hospital in city centres.

Even as Ukraine’s allies called for reinforcements in air defence, Ukraine responded punitively, launching drones into the Russian city of Belgorod that killed at least 26 people.

Overall, Russia was able to deliver greater volumes than Ukraine and attack more often, demonstrating the industrial might it has quietly nurtured under a barrage of Western sanctions.

Frustrating war on the ground

This aerial war played out against a static front line, where Russia now seems to have taken the initiative in assaulting Ukrainian positions – a reversal of the situation during last summer’s Ukrainian counteroffensive.

The slight changes on the military map were in Russia’s favour. Russian forces advanced north and south of Bakhmut, overrunning Bohdanivka and parts of Klishchiivka, villages Ukrainian troops won during weeks of bloody battles last summer, and from which they hoped to surround the occupied city.

But despite repeated assaults, Russian forces were unable to dislodge a Ukrainian bridgehead from the village of Krynky on the east bank of the Dnipro in Kherson.

Here, Ukrainian special forces have stolen a march on the Russians in recent weeks, occupying islands in the Dnipro delta along with a chunk of the riverbank, from where they have conducted counter-battery fire. Russian forces have lost 143 units of military equipment trying to pierce Ukrainian defences. Russian commanders have become so frustrated that they have reportedly ordered their troops to walk across Ukrainian minefields – a suicidal tactic known as the “Zhukov manoeuvre”.

Battle of missile factories

Even as these desperate battles played out on the flatlands of Europe’s most fertile country, Russia opened a new chapter in the air war on December 29.

Under cover of darkness, it unleashed a combination of at least 156 drones and missiles against Kyiv, Odesa, Lviv and Kharkiv. Ukraine’s armed forces said it was the largest single aerial attack on Kyiv. Military analysts said it was the largest series of missile and drone strikes against Ukraine in almost two years of full-scale war.

The Ukrainian Air Force shot down 114 of the missiles and drones, but could not prevent Russia from killing 39 people and injuring 159.

Twenty-four hours earlier, The New York Times had published an op-ed by a member of its editorial board, calling for Ukraine to negotiate. “Regaining territory is the wrong way to imagine the best outcome,” wrote Serge Schmemann.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba responded on X: “Today, millions of Ukrainians woke up to the loud sounds of explosions. I would like the whole world to hear these sounds of explosions … in all editorial offices that write about ‘fatigue’ or that Russia is allegedly ready for ‘negotiations’.”

US President Joe Biden, urging Congress anew to pass $61bn in military funding for Ukraine, said, “It is a stark reminder to the world that, after nearly two years of this devastating war, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s objective remains unchanged. He seeks to obliterate Ukraine and subjugate its people. He must be stopped.”

The attack appeared “to be a culmination of several months of Russian experimentation with various drone and missile combinations and efforts to test Ukrainian air defenses”, wrote the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington, DC-based think tank.

Until December 29, Russia had mainly or exclusively used drones, the ISW said, sacrificing these relatively cheap tools to probe aerial defences and figure out optimal flight paths. On this occasion, Russia used just 36 Shahed-type drones and 120 missiles of various types.

The experiment was a success, the ISW said, as Ukrainian forces failed to intercept a wide array of missiles.

The experiment was also the culmination of months of preparation in ramping up missile production. Ukraine’s military intelligence had estimated in November that Russia was able to produce about 100 missiles a month despite sanctions. This meant that Russia spent about a month’s worth of production capacity in a single night, making that scale of barrage unsustainable. It was also economically unsustainable. Ekonomichna Pravda, a Ukrainian business newspaper, estimated the cost to Russia of the drones and missiles at $1.27bn, using Forbes data. Russia’s entire 2024 defence and security budget is $157bn.

Revenge and counter-revenge

The next day, Ukraine said it launched more than 70 drones against Russian military infrastructure and defence industrial facilities near Moscow, Belgorod, Tula, Tver, and Bryansk cities. Russia’s Defence Ministry said it downed 32 drones, suggesting that many made it through.

Twenty-five people were reported killed in Belgorod. Geolocated footage showed smoke over Bryansk city the next day, suggesting Ukraine may have succeeded in hitting the Kremniy EL factory, Russia’s second-largest producer of microelectronics, most of whose output reportedly goes to the military.

Russia responded. On December 31, Ukraine said it shot down 21 out of 49 drones launched by Russia – an unusually small number, possibly because many were directed at Ukrainian front lines rather than civilian areas, Russia’s usual tactic. It also launched six S-300 missiles into central Kharkiv, injuring 28 people, and again attacked at 1am with drones, causing further damage to shops and cafes but not more casualties.

On January 1, Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 87 out of 90 Shahed drones launched from Crimea and Russia, targeting Odesa, Lviv and Dnipro. Later in the day, six Russian missiles hit Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, injuring 28 people.

Many of Ukraine’s allies called for more air defence systems to be provided, but only the United Kingdom pledged any, saying it was sending Ukraine 200 air-launched air defence missiles. “Putin is testing Ukraine’s defences and the West’s resolve, hoping that he can clutch victory from the jaws of defeat. But he is wrong,” British Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said.

Ukraine said it destroyed nine out of 10 Shahed drones launched by Russia overnight on January 1.

Another wave of drones and missiles came overnight on January 2, including 35 Shahed drones and 99 missiles of various types. Ukraine said it shot down all the drones and 72 of the missiles. In an important victory, it managed to shoot down all 10 Kh-47 Kinzhal hypersonic missiles using US-made Patriot air defence systems.

Ukraine responded with another air attack on Belgorod – launching at least 17 missiles and drones, killing one person – on January 2, and launched a dozen missiles and several drones into Belgorod the following day.

If nothing else, the pattern of Russian attacks confirmed Ukraine’s oft-stated position that if left in Russian hands, Crimea would remain a security threat to its southern regions. Many of the drones and missiles that hit Ukraine were launched from the occupied Crimea Peninsula.

“The costs and challenges of Ukraine’s defense vary dramatically if Crimea returns to Ukraine or remains in Russia’s hands,” wrote the ISW in a strategy paper. “If Ukraine liberates the peninsula along with Russian-occupied lines in the south … then the imminent threat to Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Odesa vanishes and the threat to Melitopol is dramatically reduced,” it said.

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World

Iran Live Updates: Global Markets Tumble After U.S. Warns War Could Last Weeks

Published

2 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

President Trump is meeting Germany’s leader at the White House after sidelining his European allies in the decision to attack Iran. Oil and gas prices surged and stock markets fell, after U.S. and Israeli officials signaled that strikes on Iran would intensify.

World

Ambassador Huckabee describes ‘best option’ for Americans looking to flee Israel

Published

3 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Ambassador Huckabee describes ‘best option’ for Americans looking to flee Israel

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U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee described what he believes is the “best option” for Americans looking to flee Israel amid the ongoing unrest across the Middle East.

Huckabee said overnight, “We are getting a lot of requests regarding evacuating from Israel from American citizens who are currently in Israel or who have family here,” and that there are “very limited” options available.

“As of now, the best is utilizing Israel’s Ministry of Tourism shuttle bus to Taba, Egypt and getting flights from there or going on to Cairo for flights back to the U.S.,” Huckabee said on X. “Not sure when Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv will reopen. Hopefully soon, but even when it does, there will be VERY limited flights with priorities to those who already were ticketed by El Al. Doubtful that other airlines will fly in/out for a while.”

“The Ministry of Tourism is operating buses to Taba. That crossing is further away, but it’s open 24/7. There are some flights from Taba, but there are also options to get to Cairo, and it’s operating normally except to Middle Eastern countries. To get out, it’s the best option for now,” Huckabee added.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, left, and emergency personnel at the site of an Iranian missile strike on a residential building in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 1, 2026. (Alex Brandon/Pool/AFP via Getty Images; Ronen Zvulun/TPX Images of the Day/Reuters)

Huckabee also said he does not recommend Americans exit via Jordan at this time, as “Flights are not consistent and access across the Allenby crossing has limited hours.”

“All of our personnel from [the] embassy are sheltering in place, but I realize you may need to get people out and back home and not continue to incur hotel costs,” the ambassador wrote.

NETANYAHU INSISTS US AND ISRAEL’S STRIKES ON IRAN WON’T LEAD TO ‘ENDLESS WAR’

People take shelter in Tel Aviv on Sunday, March 1, 2026, after Iran launched missile barrages following attacks by the U.S. and Israel on Saturday. (Ronen Zvulun/Reuters)

U.S. Embassy Jerusalem said in a statement early Tuesday morning that it is “not in a position at this time to evacuate or directly assist Americans in departing Israel.” It also mentioned the Israeli Ministry of Tourism’s buses to Taba.

“To be added to the passenger list for a shuttle, you must register via the Ministry’s evacuation form,” it said.

A firefighter works to put out a fire in Tel Aviv after Iran launched missiles into Israel on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (Tomer Appelbaum/Reuters)

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“The U.S. Embassy cannot make any recommendation (for or against) the Ministry of Tourism’s shuttle. If you choose to avail yourself of this option to depart, the U.S. government cannot guarantee your safety,” it added.

Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.

World

Is Iran expanding attacks to target energy and civilian sites in the Gulf?

Published

4 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Is Iran expanding attacks to target energy and civilian sites in the Gulf?

Hours after Israel and the United States launched attacks on Iran on Saturday, Tehran launched retaliatory strikes on Israel and US military assets located in several Gulf countries.

Iran has since struck targets in Israel as well as US military assets in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

While the Iranian attacks initially focused on US military assets, Gulf states said Tehran has expanded attacks targeting civilian infrastructure including hotels, airports and energy facilities.

What sites has Iran hit in Gulf countries?

US military assets

On Saturday, Bahrain said that a missile attack targeted the headquarters of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, located in the capital, Manama.

Kuwait’s Defence Ministry said that Ali al-Salem airbase came under attack by a number of ballistic missiles, all of which were intercepted by Kuwaiti air defence systems.

In Qatar, the Defence Ministry says it “thwarted” attacks on the country in accordance with a “pre-approved security plan”, intercepting “all missiles” before they reached the country’s territory. On Saturday, Iran had targeted the Al Udeid airbase, which hosts the US forces, the government said.

Over the past four days of the conflict, attacks on Gulf countries have intensified, and governments in the region say they have intercepted large numbers of Iranian missiles and drones.

Bahrain said its air defence systems have destroyed 73 missiles and 91 drones launched by Iran since the start of the latest conflict.

The UAE Defence Ministry spokesperson said that 186 missiles were launched and 172 of them were destroyed. One missile landed on UAE territory. Additionally, 812 Iranian drones were monitored, and 755 of them were intercepted.

Qatar’s Ministry of Defence said that three cruise missiles were detected and intercepted since Saturday. Additionally, 101 ballistic missiles were detected, and 98 were intercepted. Thirty-nine drones were detected, and 24 were intercepted. On Monday, the Qatari Defence Ministry said in a statement that the air force downed two Iranian SU-24 fighter jets.

US embassies

Early on Tuesday, a “limited fire” broke out at the US embassy in the Saudi capital of Riyadh after it was hit by two drones. The attack caused “minor material damage” to the compound, the Saudi Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

Black smoke was ⁠seen rising over Riyadh’s Diplomatic Quarter, which houses foreign missions, after the attack, the Reuters news agency reported.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kuwait released a statement on Tuesday saying that a “treacherous Iranian attack” targeted the US embassy building in Kuwait. This came a day after videos emerged that showed smoke emerging from near the embassy in Kuwait City.

The statement called the attack a “flagrant violation of all international norms and laws, including the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Vienna Convention of 1961 on Diplomatic Relations, which grant immunity to diplomatic buildings and their staff even in cases of armed conflict.”

On Monday, three US jets crashed in Kuwait. The US military blamed the crash on “friendly fire”, but a Kuwaiti statement did not give a reason for the incident.

The US embassy in Kuwait on Tuesday suspended operations until further notice, citing the “ongoing regional tensions”.⁠

Energy infrastructure

Qatar’s state-run energy firm and the world’s largest producer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), QatarEnergy, announced on Monday that it had halted LNG production following Iranian attacks on its operational facilities in Ras Laffan and Mesaieed in Qatar.

Iranian officials have publicly denied targeting QatarEnergy.

Saudi Arabia shut down operations at the Ras Tanura plant, its biggest domestic oil refinery operated by Saudi Aramco, after a fire broke out at the facility that officials said was caused by debris from the interception of two Iranian drones.

Iran’s Tasnim News Agency quoted an unnamed Iranian military source as saying: “The attack on Aramco was an Israeli false flag operation,” adding that Israel’s goal was “to distract the minds of regional countries from its crimes in attacking civilian sites in Iran.”

“Iran has announced frankly that it will target all American and Israeli interests, installations and facilities in the region, and has attacked many of them so far, but Aramco facilities have not been among the targets of Iranian attacks so far,” the source told the agency.

Tasnim quoted the source as saying: “According to data provided to us by intelligence sources, the port of Fujairah in the UAE is also one of the next targets of the Israelis in the false flag operation, and this regime intends to attack it.”

Airports

Airports have been targeted in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the UAE, and also in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq. Officials have blamed Iran for the strikes, though Tehran has not publicly claimed responsibility for the attacks on those facilities.

An Al Jazeera correspondent reported that Erbil International Airport was targeted twice on Saturday, with a drone attempting to target the airport and air defences intercepting and shooting it down.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari told a news conference on Tuesday that there were attempts to attack Hamad International Airport, but they all failed.

At Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport, at least one person was killed and seven wounded during what the facility’s authority called an “incident.”

The Dubai media office wrote in an X post that part of Dubai International Airport “sustained minor damage in an incident”, without specifying what the incident was or who was behind it.

The region’s airspace, one of the busiest in the world, has been closed in the wake of the conflict, stranding tens of thousands of travellers. About 20,000 passengers have been stranded in the UAE, while almost 8,000 people are also stuck in transit in Qatar as the airspace remains closed.

Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad, which together operate more than 1,000 flights daily, have suspended operations. Emirates on Monday announced limited flight resumption, but normal operations have not started.

Hotels and residencies

The Interior Ministry of Bahrain said on Saturday that several residential buildings in Manama had been hit, reporting on X that the civil defence was engaged in firefighting and rescue operations at the affected sites.

On Saturday, Iran fired 137 missiles and 209 drones across the UAE, its Ministry of Defence said, with fires and smoke reaching the Dubai landmarks of Palm Jumeirah and Burj Al Arab.

Videos circulating on social media showed smoke emerging from the entrance of a five-star luxury hotel, Fairmont The Palm, in the Palm Jumeirah area.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson al-Ansari said on Tuesday that Iranian targets are not just military, but all of the country’s territory. He did not go into detail about which parts of Qatar are specifically being targeted.

Al-Ansari said that all red lines have been crossed; from the north to the south of Qatar, Al Jazeera’s Laura Khan reported from Doha, Qatar.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran had targeted a hotel complex in Bahrain because it was hosting US soldiers.

“We are not targeting our brothers or neighbours in the Persian Gulf. But we are targeting US targets, and this is clear,” Araghchi said on Tuesday.

“We started by attacking their military bases, and they evacuated their military bases and moved them to hotels and created human shields for themselves. We try to target military personnel, infrastructure and facilities helping the US and its army in launching operations against Iran.”

Why is Iran targeting civilian infrastructure in the Gulf?

One of the reasons why the Iranians are resorting to hitting civilian infrastructure in neighbouring countries is to “demonstrate their military capabilities,” Luciano Zaccara, Iran and Gulf analyst at Qatar University, told Al Jazeera.

“Iran is retaliating against all the attacks, not in one place, but in almost 10 simultaneously,” he said.

“The other thing is the political message they want to give that if Iran is attacked, the impact will be global,” Zaccara said, noting that the main message is that not only Iran, but the economy of the whole region, will be affected.

“And neither the US, the region, nor the consumers of energy are able to continue this way,” he said.

Zaccara added: “But at this point, they [Iran] don’t care that much, considering that they have been under sanctions for a long time. So it’s not affecting the Iranian economy that much. And the fact that the oil price is going up – even though they export very little – means they are still surviving.”