In a surprising move, Russian lawmakers are considering a draft bill that enlists bank employees to help combat Ukraine’s long-range drone attacks on Russian soil. The proposal suggests that trained bank staff could be tasked with shooting down these unmanned aircraft, reflecting the unconventional measures being considered amid the ongoing conflict.
This development comes amidst a significant surge in aerial warfare by both nations in a conflict that has stretched over four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Despite the heavy fighting, neither nation has managed to secure significant advances along the extensive 1250-kilometer front line.
In a related update, Anne Keast-Butler, the head of the UK’s intelligence agency GCHQ, delivered a stark assessment of the situation. She claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin is losing ground on the battlefield. Keast-Butler revealed new data indicating that nearly half a million Russian soldiers have perished since the conflict’s onset.
Ukraine continues to target Russian infrastructure, particularly oil depots and industrial sites, with its homegrown drones. In response, the Russian military has escalated its air assaults, launching almost 90 missiles alongside hundreds of drones at Kyiv last weekend in a bid to breach Ukraine’s air defenses.
Ukraine has pounded Russian targets, especially oil facilities and manufacturing plants, with its domestically produced drones. At the same time, the Russian military has intensified its aerial attacks, firing almost 90 missiles as well as hundreds of drones at Kyiv last weekend in an effort to overwhelm air defences.
The Ukrainian leader urged Trump and Congress in a letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press, to supply more Patriot PAC-3 missiles and other air defence systems, warning that deliveries to Ukraine are falling dangerously short as the Iran war diverts US stocks.
Ukraine has raised its drone interception rate to more than 90 per cent, the letter says, and Ukrainian specialists have helped countries in the Middle East — specifically the Gulf Arab region — strengthen air defences.
They have also helped at American military bases in the Mideast, the letter says.
But Ukraine cannot yet produce its own anti-missile defence systems, Zelenskyy said, and for that relies “almost exclusively on the United States.”
