Ukraine’s security service, the SBU, hit an electrical substation with a drone in Russia’s Kursk region near the border in a “successful attack,” an SBU official said Friday, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter.
The governor of the Kursk region said a Ukrainian drone dropped explosives on the substation in the Russian village of Belaya, cutting off the power supply nearby, including at a hospital. There was no immediate official comment from Kyiv. The drone hit Russian military targets connected to the substation, the SBU official said, sharing aerial footage showing blasts. The Washington Post could not immediately verify the claims.
Here’s the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war and its ripple effects across the globe.
The attack on the power facility sparked a blaze, and firefighters rushed to the site in the Kursk region of western Russia, the governor, Roman Starovoyt, wrote on Telegram. “Power will be restored as soon as it is safe to do so,” he added.
Air defenses shot down several other drones targeting Kursk, the governor and the Russian Ministry of Defense said, also blaming Kyiv. There were no initial reports of casualties. As Russia has reported a recent uptick in attempted drone attacks, Ukrainian officials have emphasized that targets inside Russia are part of the conflict.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich remains “defiant” six months after he was detained in Russia while on a reporting trip, his mother told CNN. “He’s smiling,” she said. “And I have to say, under all the circumstances, he’s doing really well.” The American journalist’s colleagues and employer have denied Russia’s espionage charges against him, as Washington and international news media advocates call for his release.
Russia will hike its military spending by about 68 percent in 2024, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, citing the draft budget for next year published by the Finance Ministry. “Obviously, such an increase is necessary because we are living in a state of hybrid warfare,” he said, “and this requires high spending.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the latest round of conscription for military service begins Sunday. The draft will take place across Russia, as well as in four regions in eastern and southeastern Ukraine that Moscow illegally annexed last year, even though parts of the territories are not under Russian control. The announcement said those conscripted in the fall campaign would not be sent to the battlefield in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with former Wagner commander Andrei Troshev and instructed him to work on forming volunteer units for the Ukraine war, Russian news agencies reported Friday. Troshev was considered a potential contender to intervene after a short-lived mutiny by Wagner chief Yevgeniy Prigozhin, who was killed in a plane crash in August. A former lieutenant colonel in Russia’s Internal Affairs Ministry, Troshev is one of the few top public figures of the mercenary group who was not listed on the passenger manifest of that plane, The Washington Post reported.
Poland said its aircraft did not cross the border into neighboring Belarus, denying accusations from Minsk that a Polish helicopter had violated its airspace. Tensions have simmered between Poland and Russian ally Belarus, with Warsaw moving troops to reinforce the border.
France will boost its support to Ukraine through industrial partnerships, French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu said after his Thursday visit to Kyiv. The minister led a delegation of French lawmakers and business executives from industries including drones, munitions and artificial intelligence. He said France hoped to “propose innovative solutions to the Ukrainian army and increasingly be in a position to make fewer transfers, but rather direct acquisitions, sometimes under French subsidy, for the Ukrainian army.”
