A sweeping Ukrainian drone barrage reached deep into Russian territory on Saturday, prompting air-defence responses across multiple regions, disrupting flights and rattling cities including Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Russia's defence ministry said on Telegram that its anti-aircraft units intercepted and destroyed 339 Ukrainian drones over 13 hours, from 7am to 8pm local time, across 13 regions as well as above parts of the Black Sea. The ministry's list of affected areas stretched across central Russia and extended…

Rania AbushamalaMonday May 18, 2026 Saudi Arabia said on Sunday evening that its air defenses had intercepted and destroyed three drones after they crossed into the kingdom’s airspace from Iraq. Defense Ministry spokesman Turki al-Maliki said the drones were downed on Sunday morning after entering Saudi airspace from Iraqi territory. Maliki stressed that the kingdom “reserves the right to respond at the appropriate time and place.” Saudi Arabia “will take and implement all necessary operational measures to respond to any…

Monday May 18, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia on Monday sharply denounced drone strikes aimed at Saudi Arabia after Riyadh said it had intercepted and destroyed three drones that entered its airspace from Iraq. In a statement issued Monday, the Federal Government of Somalia called the incident a grave breach of Saudi sovereignty and warned that such attacks could undermine peace and stability across the region. Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense said the drones were stopped on Sunday morning after crossing into the kingdom’s…

Russia unleashed a sweeping daytime drone assault focused largely on western Ukraine, killing at least six people and injuring dozens more, according to the Ukrainian president, in what looked like a notable shift in Moscow’s long-running air attack pattern. For more than four years, Russian forces have hammered cities across Ukraine, though major drone and missile barrages have typically come under cover of darkness rather than in broad daylight. "Since midnight, at least 800 Russian drones have already been launched,"…

Russian drones struck critical infrastructure at Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa overnight, in an attack that damaged key facilities but, according to early reports, caused no injuries. Berths, warehouses, railway infrastructure and facilities used by port operators were hit in the assault, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. A cargo ship was also caught in the attack, with Ukraine’s seaports authority saying a strike hit the vessel’s hold and sparked a fire. Preliminary…

Flames tore through the Sheskharis oil terminal in Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk after overnight Ukrainian drone strikes, in what appeared to be one of the most consequential hits on Russia’s energy infrastructure in the more than four-year-old conflict. Russia’s defence ministry said Ukraine struck facilities at the maritime transhipment complex in Novorossiysk, damaging a mooring point used by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) and setting four oil product reservoirs ablaze, according to Russian media. The…

Russia launched nearly 1,000 drones at Ukraine over the past 24 hours, Ukraine’s air force said, after an unprecedented daytime barrage that left at least three people dead across the country. "Taking into account the night attack ... the enemy used almost 1,000 strike drones," the air force wrote on Telegram, saying the daytime strikes covered a broader geographic area than overnight raids and reached western parts of Ukraine, hundreds of kilometres from the front lines. Kyiv's air force reported it shot down 541 of the 556…

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DOHA, Qatar — Iran launched missiles and drones across the Gulf on Wednesday, claiming strikes on U.S. forces in Kuwait, as several Gulf states reported intercepts and casualties and maritime authorities said two commercial ships were hit near the Strait of Hormuz. The escalation comes hours before a United Nations Security Council vote on a Gulf Cooperation Council-backed resolution demanding Tehran halt attacks on its Arab neighbors. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it fired four missiles at the headquarters of…

Iran launches missiles and drones across Gulf as tankers struck near Hormuz; oil prices surge Iran fired missiles and drones at targets across the Gulf on Wednesday, including what it said were two missiles aimed at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, as regional militaries scrambled to intercept incoming threats and maritime authorities reported commercial ships hit near the Strait of Hormuz. The escalation, which Tehran described as the 37th wave of attacks on day 12 of the U.S.-Israel war “on Iran,” deepened fears over energy…