World
Ukraine’s Zaluzhny touts drones as path to victory; Russia suffers strikes
Ukraine’s commander-in-chief has outlined a plan to massively scale up the use of unmanned systems to overcome Russia’s advantages in manpower and materiel and break the deadlock in this war.
The effectiveness of such systems was proved again last week as they sank a Russian missile corvette, grounded three planes and set an oil refinery on fire.
Russia, too, continued to attack Ukraine with drones and missiles, but it failed to capture new territory despite its superior resources and constant assaults on the eastern city of Avdiivka and Ukraine’s stronghold at Krynky on the left bank of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Western allies made progress on securing funding for the war.
The European Union finally approved a 50-billion-euro ($63bn) aid package for Ukraine, and the United States Senate unveiled a $118bn bill that includes $60bn for Ukraine.
Zaluzhny’s drone doctrine
“Unmanned systems … are almost the only tool for withdrawing from military operations of a positional form,” Ukrainian commander-in-chief Valerii Zaluzhny wrote in a doctrinal paper on Thursday, because traditional heavy armour and manpower are “increasingly a dream” for Ukraine’s armed forces.
He called for a “completely new state system of technological rearmament” that could “take up to five months”.
Zaluzhny’s new military doctrine dovetailed with the government’s pledge late last year to build 1 million first-person viewer drones and 11,000 medium- and long-range drones this year.
Ukraine has used such systems with devastating effect.
On January 31, Ukraine struck the Belbek airfield in western Crimea.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence said it intercepted 20 air-launched missiles, but Russians in Crimea filmed some of the missiles flying undisturbed directly over dormant air defence systems.
The following day, Ukraine struck Belbek again, this time damaging or destroying three Russian fighter planes on the ground, according to southern forces spokesperson Natalia Humenyuk.
One Russian military reporter described it as a complex, two-day operation targeting three airfields and involving decoy missiles, HARM radar-seeking missiles, Storm Shadow attack missiles and surface drones.
Those surface drones sank a Russian warship near Lake Donuzlav off western Crimea.
Footage released by Ukraine’s armed forces showed them repeatedly striking the Ivanovets, a 480-tonne missile corvette, crippling it and then destroying it in a pair of massive explosions. It was reportedly one of only three still operating in Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said his service’s drone unit Group 13 sank the Ivanovets using Magura V5 surface drones.
“There were six direct hits to the hull. … The ship overturned on its stern and sank,” he said.
Two days later, Ukraine’s Security Service struck the Rosneft refinery in Volgograd, one of the largest in Russia, apparently using two aerial drones. Footage showed at least four burning oil tanks destroyed.
Budanov said he believes the number of attacks would increase.
“Hypothetically, there is a plan by which all this happens. I believe that this plan includes all the main objects of critical infrastructure and objects of military infrastructure of the Russian Federation,” Budanov said.
Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuri Ignat suggested attacks on Crimea would continue to target airfields.
“Russia uses not only Belbek. About five airfields are actively used for attacks on Ukraine. These are planes of various modifications: MiG-31, … MiG-29, Su-27 and helicopters,” he said.
Ukraine has pursued other forms of asymmetric warfare.
Its military intelligence said a Russian Tu-95 bomber, who had reportedly taken part in raids on Ukraine, was shot dead in Russia.
Ukrainian hackers from the Prana Network broke into a Russian Defence Ministry server, stealing documents that revealed Russia had agreed to pay Iran $1.75bn for 6,000 Shahed drones.
Russia kept those drones flying into Ukraine throughout the week, accompanied by missiles.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Dnipropetrovsk was one of Russia’s main targets for those attacks.
“The danger is constant, high. Russia considers the region as one of the main targets for terrorist attacks. It is our enterprises, our economic potential, this region,” he said.
Dnipropetrovsk lies at the heart of Ukraine’s territories on the left bank of the Dnipro River and sits among the contested regions of Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson.
Help from allies
As if to vindicate Zaluzhny’s turn from conventional battlefield weapons, EU leaders confirmed they would not be able to provide Ukraine with 1 million artillery shells by March as promised.
European foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said 330,000 had been delivered and the number would reach about 524,000 by March.
“By the end of the year, the planned deliveries will reach more than 1 million because the figure in the pipeline amounts to 630,000,” Borrell said.
Some estimates have put Russian artillery shell production capacity at 6 million to 7 million a year. North Korea has reportedly delivered an additional 1 million more shells.
There was some good news for Ukraine on the financial front.
European leaders overcame objections from Hungary to approve 50 billion euros ($54bn) in financial aid for Ukraine over the next four years. The first 4.5 billion euros ($4.85bn) was to arrive in Ukraine in March as part of a total of 18 billion euros ($19bn) for Kyiv this year. That left the EU with 20 billion euros ($21.5bn) in military aid still to approve.
US senators on Sunday released a $118bn national security bill for discussion that included $60bn for Ukraine this year.
US President Joe Biden, a Democrat, requested the sum late last year, but congressional Republicans had tied any Ukraine aid to increased security on the border with Mexico.
Months of bipartisan negotiations produced sweeping reforms to asylum procedures, presidential parole to migrants and funding for border security.
“Now all indications are this bill won’t even move forward to the Senate floor,” said Biden on Tuesday, blaming Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump.
“He’s done nothing, I’m told, than reach out to Republicans in the House and Senate and threaten and intimidate them to vote against this proposal. And it looks like they’re caving, but they owe it to the American people to show some spine,” Biden said in a White House briefing.
Despite leading Ukraine’s armed forces to some spectacular successes, there was speculation that Zaluzhny was due to be replaced after Zelenskyy hinted at major changes in an interview that aired on Sunday night.
“A reset, a new beginning is necessary,” Zelenskyy told Italy’s state television Rai News.
“If we want to win, we must all push in the same direction, convinced of victory. We cannot be discouraged, let our arms fall. … That’s why I’m talking about restarting, replacement. I have something serious in mind, which is not about a single person but about the direction of the country’s leadership,” Zelenskyy said.
U.S. installations damaged in strikes
Iran has responded to the U.S.-Israeli assault on the country by launching drones and missiles at American targets across the Middle East, hitting embassies, killing U.S. soldiers, and damaging military bases and air defense infrastructure.
The New York Times has identified at least 17 damaged U.S. sites and other installations, several of which have been struck more than once since the war began. Our analysis is based on high-resolution, commercial satellite imagery, verified social media videos and statements by U.S. officials and Iranian state media.
The intensity of the retaliatory strikes has signaled that Iran was more prepared for the war than many in the Trump administration had anticipated, U.S. military officials say.
For this article, we are presenting satellite images to show the scale of the damage from Iran’s attacks on U.S. sites and installations. Many of these images have been circulating publicly on news sites and social media. But in cases where they have not been, we present the imagery we obtained from satellite image companies and show only a zoomed-out view of each location to limit the amount of detail viewable in those images.
Military sites
Iran has fired thousands of missiles and drones at both U.S. and allied country military sites across the region. The United States and its allies have intercepted most of them, U.S. officials say, but at least 11 American military bases or installations have been damaged — nearly half of all such sites in the region.
On Feb. 28, the first day of conflict, Iran targeted several U.S. military facilities, including Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia; Ali Al Salem Air Base and Camp Buehring Base in Kuwait; and Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the largest U.S. base in the Middle East.
Satellite images show extensive damage to buildings and communication infrastructure at several locations.
A video taken on March 1 shows an Iranian drone exploding near sports facilities at Camp Buehring in Kuwait. No casualties were reported.
It is difficult to estimate the full cost of damage inflicted by Iran’s retaliatory strikes. A Pentagon assessment provided to Congress last week put the cost of the single strike on the U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain on Feb. 28 at about $200 million, according to a congressional official.
On March 1, an Iranian drone struck a structure housing military personnel at the Shuaiba port in Kuwait, killing six American service members.
Satellite imagery shows the roof of that building partially collapsed.
An additional U.S. service member was killed in a separate Iranian strike on March 1 at a U.S. base in Saudi Arabia, bringing the toll to seven, the Pentagon said on Sunday.
The pace of Iranian attacks has slowed since the war’s opening days, but the strikes have continued. Al Udeid Air Base, Ali Al Salem Air Base, Al Dhafra Air Base, Camp Buehring and the Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters have all been struck more than once.
Missiles launched from Iran have flown as far away as Turkey. On March 4, NATO intercepted an Iranian ballistic missile headed toward Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, according to a senior U.S. military official. The base hosts a large U.S. Air Force contingent. Iran’s military denied firing the missile.
A second Iranian missile entered Turkish airspace and was shot down by NATO, according to a Turkish defense ministry statement on Monday.
Air defense and communication infrastructure
Among the costliest American losses to infrastructure have been to the air defense systems that protect U.S. and allied interests across the Middle East.
Iran has systematically targeted radar and communications systems, including components of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, known as THAAD, which uses a radar to track and intercept incoming aerial threats throughout the region.
At Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, an important hub for the U.S. Air Force in Jordan, satellite imagery from February shows radar equipment at the base’s southern edge. An image taken two days after the war began shows severe damage to what appears to be an air defense sensor.
Military budget and contract documents indicate a single radar unit of this type can cost up to half a billion dollars.
A video from Feb. 28 shows an Iranian drone striking the headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Manama, Bahrain, damaging what appears to be a communications radome, a weatherproof cover that protects radar and communication equipment.
Gulf nations have also bought air defense equipment from American companies and deployed them near critical infrastructure, including oil refineries. Those foreign radar systems share information with the U.S. military, forming what defense analysts describe as a de facto, expanded U.S. military sensor network.
Iran has targeted such sites where air defense equipment was recently observed, like the Al Ruwais facility in the United Arab Emirates. Satellite imagery of the site from last year shows a THAAD unit near storage structures.
A satellite image taken after Iranian attacks shows significant damage to the storage structures. The Times was unable to verify whether the mobile THAAD unit was inside the storage structures at the time of the strikes.
Near Umm Dahal in Qatar, a long range AN/FPS-132 radar — built at a cost of $1.1 billion to provide early warning coverage across a 3,000 mile radius — apparently sustained damage to its main radar structure, as seen in satellite imagery.
The full extent of damage to U.S. air defense and communication infrastructure remains unclear. Michael Eisenstadt, a director at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that the affected radars would be difficult to repair or replace.
But Seth G. Jones, a president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that the damage would most likely not significantly degrade U.S. military capabilities in this war. “The U.S. has such redundancy in collecting intelligence and other information from sensor networks, whether it’s land-based radars, aircrafts or space-based systems,” he said.
Diplomatic sites
Iran has also struck nonmilitary U.S. targets such as the consulate in Dubai, and embassies in Kuwait City, Kuwait, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, forcing temporary closures. There have been no reported injuries in any of these attacks.
On Saturday night, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad was targeted in a rocket attack. No casualties were reported. It was not immediately clear who was behind it and how much damage was caused. It is not included in The Times’s tally of damaged sites.
Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of the U.S. Central Command, said on March 7 that Iranian ballistic missile attacks had dropped 90 percent since the first day of the conflict and drone attacks by 83 percent. Despite the declining pace, Iran has continued to strike American targets across the region.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated Afghanistan as a “state sponsor of wrongful detention,” accusing the Taliban of “unjustly” detaining Americans and other foreign nationals.
In his announcement on Monday, Rubio said the Taliban continues to use “terrorist tactics” that he insisted “need to end.”
“I am designating Afghanistan as a State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention,” Rubio said in a statement. “The Taliban continues to use terrorist tactics, kidnapping individuals for ransom or to seek policy concessions. These despicable tactics need to end.”
The secretary also called on the terror group to free a pair of Americans who are “unjustly detained” in Afghanistan.
IRAN REGIME CITED AS TRUMP ADMIN SET TO DESIGNATE SUDAN’S MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD A TERROR GROUP
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated Afghanistan as a “state sponsor of wrongful detention.” (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“It is not safe for Americans to travel to Afghanistan because the Taliban continues to unjustly detain our fellow Americans and other foreign nationals,” he said. “The Taliban needs to release Dennis Coyle, Mahmoud Habibi, and all Americans unjustly detained in Afghanistan now and commit to cease the practice of hostage diplomacy forever.”
Coyle, 64, was detained more than a year ago without charges by the Taliban General Directorate of Intelligence, according to his family, noting that he still has not been charged. His family said he was legally working to support Afghan language communities as an academic researcher.
Habibi, a 38-year-old American citizen who was born in Afghanistan, was taken along with his driver from their vehicle in the capital of Kabul in August 2022 by the Taliban General Directorate of Intelligence, according to the State Department.
The FBI said Habibi was previously Afghanistan’s director of civil aviation and worked for the Kabul-based telecommunications company Asia Consultancy Group. The FBI said the Taliban detained 29 other employees of the company but has released most of them.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Taliban continues to use “terrorist tactics” that he insisted “need to end.” (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)
Habibi has not been heard from since his arrest, and the Taliban has not disclosed his whereabouts or condition, according to the State Department and FBI. The Taliban has previously denied it detained Habibi.
The U.S. is also calling for the return of the remains of Paul Overby, an author who was last seen close to Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan in 2014, according to Reuters, citing two sources familiar with the situation.
The State Department could restrict the use of U.S. passports for travel to Afghanistan if the Taliban does not meet the U.S. government’s demands, the sources told the outlet.
A passport restriction of this kind is currently only in place for North Korea.
The Taliban called the decision by Rubio to designate Afghanistan a “state sponsor of wrongful detention” regrettable, adding that it wanted to resolve the matter through dialogue.
STATE DEPARTMENT DEFENDS ‘PROACTIVE’ EVACUATION EFFORTS AGAINST DEMS’ CLAIMS OF DIPLOMATIC CHAOS
The Taliban called the decision to designate Afghanistan a “state sponsor of wrongful detention” regrettable. (Reuters/Ali Khara)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021 during the U.S. military’s chaotic withdrawal from the country that ended the 20-year war in the region.
Rubio gave the “state sponsor of wrongful detention” designation to Iran late last month, just one day before the U.S.-Israeli strikes on the country. He warned that the U.S. could restrict travel to Iran over its detention of U.S. citizens, but there have not been any restrictions yet.
“The Iranian regime must stop taking hostages and release all Americans unjustly detained in Iran, steps that could end this designation and associated actions,” Rubio said at the time.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Gérard Araud, the highly connected former French ambassador to the United States, said Ursula von der Leyn is exceeding the powers of her mandate by tapping into foreign policy while pushing a German-like approach in an interview with Euronews.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
From Ukraine peace negotiations to the ongoing war in Iran, von der Leyen has managed to grow her role closer to that of a head of state in a move not without controversy.
Von der Leyen was the first EU official to call for a political transition in Iran in line with the goals of the United States and Israel, who have openly called for regime change in Tehran, and have urged the bloc to seek a more pragmatic approach to foreign policy.
“She’s [acting outside of] her competence,” Araud said on Euronews’ interview programme 12 Minutes With on Tuesday, a day after von der Leyen addressed a conference of EU ambassadors in which she declared the world order conceived after the Second World War to be over and never to return.
**”**The Treaties of the European Union, which is the basis of the EU, do not give her any special competence in foreign policy,” he added, calling her remarks “surprising.”
In the same conference, von der Leyen made headlines in Brussels after she suggested the EU would always defend the rules-based system, but it can “no longer be a custodian of the old-world order” or assume its rules will shelter Europe in the future.
Araud said her comments are problematic as the EU seeks to cement new partnerships across the world by presenting itself as the last bastion of international rules and respect for fundamental values in a brutal, increasingly chaotic world.
“Europeans are the last flag bearers of international law,” he said. “It’s a bit like someone committing adultery while saying ‘I am in favour of the principles of marital fidelity’.’
In 2019, as von der Leyen assumed her first mandate, she vowed to make the European Commission a geopolitical actor. But her power moves into foreign policy have not gone unnoticed across European capitals, with relations with Israel becoming a point of tension between EU member states, seen as supportive, critics and the Commission.
Her complicated relationship with Kaja Kallas, the European foreign policy chief and EU High Representative, has also led to a cacophony of views when it comes to foreign policy, an area where the EU historically struggles to unite 27 voices.
Her positioning since the start of the war in Iran “is not in line with Spain, and it’s not in line with France, it’s a German line,” Araud said.
Araud, who made a name for himself in European diplomatic circles after a stint as French ambassador in the US from 2014 to 2019, said Trump has miscalculated the ramifications of attacking Iran, which he described as far more complicated than Venezuela, where the US was easily able to swap the leadership to a more friendly one.
“What is the goal of this operation? At the beginning, it was regime change, then it was the nuclear programme, and now it’s a question of destroying the Iranian military apparatus,” Araud said. “He thought he would encounter a situation closer to Venezuela, but that hasn’t worked…Iran has made the choice of waiting.”
The former French ambassador to Israel said he also worries Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “dragged the US” into a war without a clear plan and cautioned that Israel will not stop in its main objective of becoming the main player in the region, even if that means another round of military escalation and broader conflict in the region.
“There is a trauma after October 7th. For Israel, it cannot go back to the (scenario) that existed before that, and now it is about a new regime in the Middle East. Until now, they have been successful. But the biggest obstacle remains Iran.”
Asked how the war could end, he said Trump could play the TACO card — an acronym for Trump Always Chickens Out — which could see the US President declaring victory and settling for a half-cooked resolution. Still, Araud said he does not believe Israel will leave its objectives incomplete when it comes to Iran. “I don’t think they will stop,” he said.
SD Lottery Mega Millions, Millionaire for Life winning numbers for March 10, 2026
New synthetic opioid ‘cychlorphine’ linked to 16 overdose deaths across East Tennessee
Texas man facing execution for fatally stabbing girlfriend and her 8-year-old son
‘It’s really cool’: Utah selected to lead federal pilot program testing electric aircraft
VT Lottery Mega Millions, Gimme 5 results for March 10, 2026
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Indiana Members Credit Union announced as new anchor tenant at Bottleworks District
EXCLUSIVE: ICE says El Paso detention facility will stay open under new contractor after $1.2B deal scrapped
Von der Leyen ‘acting outside of competence,’ Araud tells Euronews
Wheelchair curler Steve Emt’s path from drunk driver to three-time Paralympian
Map: 2.3-Magnitude Earthquake Reported North of New York City
Trump stirs GOP primary drama with visit to Massie’s Kentucky home turf
-
Wisconsin1 week agoSetting sail on iceboats across a frozen lake in Wisconsin
-
Massachusetts1 week agoMassachusetts man awaits word from family in Iran after attacks
-
Pennsylvania6 days agoPa. man found guilty of raping teen girl who he took to Mexico
-
Florida1 week agoFlorida man rescued after being stuck in shoulder-deep mud for days
-
Detroit, MI5 days agoU.S. Postal Service could run out of money within a year
-
Miami, FL6 days agoCity of Miami celebrates reopening of Flagler Street as part of beautification project
-
Sports6 days agoKeith Olbermann under fire for calling Lou Holtz a ‘scumbag’ after legendary coach’s death
-
Virginia7 days agoGiants will hold 2026 training camp in West Virginia