A view shows a damaged multi-storey residential building following an alleged Ukrainian drone attack in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Kazan, Russia on December 21, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Kyiv on Saturday (December 21, 2024) staged a major drone attack on the Russian city of Kazan, 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) from the frontier, the latest in a series of escalating aerial attacks in the nearly three-year conflict.

A drone smashed into a high-rise apartment building in Kazan, a city of more than 1.3 million, damaging a skyscraper but leaving no victims, local officials said.

Also read |Russian forces take control of Kostiantynopolske in eastern Ukraine, Defence Ministry says

Though attacks so far into Russian territory are rare, Kazan and the surrounding oil-rich region of Tatarstan have previously been targeted by Ukrainian drones.

Such strikes are seen as embarrassing for Russia, almost three years into its military offensive on Ukraine.

“Today Kazan suffered a massive drone attack,” Rustam Minnikhanov, the head of Tatarstan, said in a post on Telegram.

“While before industrial enterprises were attacked, now the enemy attacks civilians in the morning,” he added.

Videos on Russian social media networks showed drones hitting high rise buildings and setting off fireballs.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said two drones hit a 37-storey apartment block.

She said Ukraine had been targeting an unspecified industrial facility, but that it suffered no damage.

Ukraine, which has staged regular attacks on targets inside Russia since the start of the full scale military offensive in February 2022, did not immediately comment.

Russian civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia temporarily closed Kazan international airport, one of the country’s busiest.

Some residents were evacuated, but authorities did not provide figures, and all major public events in the area were cancelled as a precaution.

Alongside the two drones that hit the apartment block, three drones were shot down and three were suppressed by air defence systems, Zakharova said.

In a post on Telegram, she said Kyiv was taking out its “anger for tangible military defeats on the peaceful population of Russia.”

Russia’s defence ministry said Saturday that the army had captured a new village near the key city of Kurakhove in eastern Ukraine where Russian forces have made major advances in recent months.

The attack on Kazan comes a day after Russian strikes on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv killed one and wounded 13, and after five were killed by a Ukrainian attack on the Russian border region of Kursk, where its troops have been staging an offensive since August.

Rahul Gandhi
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi is visiting Parbhani on Monday (December 23, 2024) to meet the family members of Somnath Vyankat Suryawanshi, a law student who died in judicial custody after the violence broke out in Parbhani.

Mr. Gandhi will board a special flight from New Delhi to Nanded at 11 a.m. and from Nanded, at 1.15 p.m., he will drive by road to Parbhani. He is expected to reach the victim’s home in Parbhani by 2.45 p.m. and leave from Nanded to New Delhi the same evening by 5.15 p.m. He will be accompanied by Maharashtra State Congress president Nana Patole and senior Congress leaders like Vijay Wadettiwar.

Speaking to The Hindu, Maharashtra Pradesh Youth Congress chairman Akshay Jain said, “This Mr. Gandhi’s first official visit to Maharashtra after the State Assembly election… when unpleasant things happen in the society which should not happen in the first place, an Opposition leader’s visit can create pressure on the ruling government and give out a strong message that they are left with no choice but to take stringent action into the matter. The bureaucrats are trying to cover up the matter and it is quite clear how caste has played a major role in this case, along with other cases that has happened in the recent times in Maharashtra.”

On December 10, massive violence broke out in the Marathwada region of Parbhani where people indulged in arson, stone-pelting and vandalisation of public and private property. The incident happened during a bandh called to protest the vandalism of a replica of the Constitution placed in a glass box near a statue of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar near Parbhani Railway Station.

Suryawanshi, 35, hailing from the Wadar community, was one of the accused arrested in the case. Around 72 hours later, he was found dead in judicial custody, leading to massive furore. The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), CPI (Marxist), Republican Party of India (A), Republican Sena, Republican Party of India (K), and many other Dalit groups slammed the ruling Mahayuti regime for the incident.

Representative image
| Photo Credit: AP

At least 20 people were killed in attacks on Friday (December 20, 2024) on villages in central Mali that have been the target of jihadist groups, local officials and sources said Saturday.

“Six villages in the region of Bandiagara were attacked yesterday (Friday) by jihadists. Grain silos were burned, the local populations fled. There were also about 20 dead,” a local elected official who asked not to be named told AFP.

A Mali security official told AFP that five villages in Bandiagara were attacked. “We counted 21 dead and many injured,” the official added.

Bocary Guindo, a representative of a local youth association, said there had been at least 22 deaths in four villages and two other villages had been burned.

Mali since 2012 has faced attacks from groups linked to Al-Qaeda and Islamic State, as well as by separatist movements and criminal gangs. Last weekend seven people were killed during attacks in the centre of the country.

In September, jihadists attacked a police academy and stormed the military airport in Bamako, the first attack in the Malian capital since 2016.

After taking power in coups in 2020 and 2021, the military broke its historic alliance with former colonial ruler France and turned towards Russia. The military leaders also expelled a UN stabilisation force.

The attacks have undermined the junta’s claims that its new foreign partnerships and increased military effort have turned the tide against the jihadists. Various rights groups have also cited abuses committed against civilians by the army and its Russian allies.

Paty, 47, was killed by an Islamic extremist outside his school on Oct. 16, 2020, days after showing his class cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad during a debate on free expression. The assailant, an 18-year-old Russian of Chechen origin, was shot to death by police.

Those who have been on trial on terrorism charges at a special court in Paris since the end of November were accused, in some cases, of providing assistance to the perpetrator and, in others, of organizing a hate campaign online before the murder took place.

The 540-seat courtroom was packed for the verdict, which marked the final chapter of the Paty trial. Heavy surveillance was in place, with more than 50 police officers guarding the proceedings.

Seated in the front row was Paty’s 9-year-old son, accompanied by family members. As the lead judge, Franck Zientara, delivered sentences one after the other, emotions in the room ran high.

“I am moved, and I am relieved,” said Gaëlle Paty, Samuel Paty’s sister, as she addressed a crowd of reporters after the verdict. “Hearing the word ‘guilty’ — that’s what I needed.”

“I spent this week listening to a lot of rewriting of what happened, and it was hard to hear, but now the judge has stated what really happened, and it feels good,” she added, her voice breaking as tears filled her eyes.

Families of the accused reacted with gasps, cries, shouts, and ironic clapping, prompting the judge to pause multiple times and call for silence.

“They lied about my brother,” shouted one relative. Another woman, sobbing, exclaimed, “They took my baby from me,” before being escorted out by police officers.

The seven-judge panel met or went above most of the terms requested by prosecutors, citing “the exceptional gravity of the facts.”

Naïm Boudaoud, 22, and Azim Epsirkhanov, 23, friends of the attacker, were convicted of complicity in murder and sentenced to 16 years in prison each. Neither can be paroled for two thirds of their term, about 10 years. Boudaoud was accused of driving the attacker to the school, while Epsirkhanov helped him procure weapons.

Brahim Chnina, 52, the Muslim father of the schoolgirl whose lies sparked the events leading to Paty’s death, was sentenced to 13 years for association with a terrorist enterprise. Prosecutors had sought 10 years for him.

Abdelhakim Sefrioui, a Muslim preacher, was given 15 years for organizing a hate campaign online against Paty.

The shocking death of the 47-year-old teacher left an indelible mark on France, with several schools now named after him.

The trial had begun in late November. The defendants were accused of assisting a perpetrator or organizing a hate campaign online in lead-up to the murder.

At the time of the attack, there were protests in many Muslim countries and calls online for violence targeting France and the satirical French newspaper Charlie Hebdo. The newspaper had republished its caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad a few weeks before Paty’s death to mark the opening of the trial over deadly 2015 attacks on its newsroom by Islamic extremists.

The cartoon images deeply offended many Muslims, who saw them as sacrilegious. But the fallout from Paty’s killing reinforced the French state’s commitment to freedom of expression and its firm attachment to secularism in public life.

Chnina’s daughter, who was 13 at the time, claimed that she had been excluded from Paty’s class when he showed the caricatures on Oct. 5, 2020.

Chnina sent a series of messages to his contacts denouncing Paty, saying that “this sick man” needed to be fired, along with the address of the school in the Paris suburb of Conflans Saint-Honorine. In reality, Chnina’s daughter had lied to him and had never attended the lesson in question.

Paty was teaching a class mandated by the National Education Ministry on freedom of expression. He discussed the caricatures in this context, saying students who did not wish to see them could temporarily leave the classroom.

An online campaign against Paty snowballed, and 11 days after the lesson, Anzorov attacked the teacher with a knife as he walked home, and displayed the teacher’s head in a post on social media. Police later fatally shot Anzorov as he advanced toward them, armed.

Chnina’s daughter was tried last year in a juvenile court and given an 18-month suspended sentence. Four other students at Paty’s school were found guilty of involvement and given suspended sentences; a fifth, who pointed out Paty to Anzorov in exchange for money, was given a 6-month term with an electronic bracelet.

Sefrioui, the preacher on trial, had presented himself as a spokesperson for Imams of France although he had been dismissed from that role. He had filmed a video in front of the school with the father of the student. He referred to the teacher as a “thug” multiple times and sought to pressure the school administration via social media.

Some of the defendants expressed regrets and claimed their innocence on the eve of the verdict. They did not convince Paty’s family.

“It’s something that really shocks the family,” lawyer Virginie Le Roy said ahead of the verdicts. “You get the feeling that those in the box are absolutely unwilling to admit any responsibility whatsoever.”

“Apologies are pointless, they won’t bring Samuel back, but explanations are precious to us,” Le Roy said. “We haven’t had many explanations of the facts.”

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Saturday (December 21, 2024) announced plans for an official tour to China in mid-January, following his recent visit to India.

Mr. Dissanayake’s announcement came days after he and Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya met with Qin Boyong, Vice-Chairwoman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) here on Tuesday and Wednesday, and reaffirmed the island nation’s commitment to advancing high-quality development under China’s multi-billion dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

“I will be going to China in mid-January,” Mr. Dissanayake told reporters in Kandy, a central district town.

Mr. Dissanayake’s visit to India last week marked his first overseas trip since assuming the presidency on September 21.

Upon his return to Colombo, a senior Chinese official met with President Dissanayake, confirming that preparations for his upcoming visit to Beijing were underway.

China has expressed its continued support for Sri Lanka. Mr. Dissanayake has expressed gratitude to China for its support to restructure its international debt.

BRI is a mega connectivity project that connects China with Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Russia and Europe.

India is opposed to BRI, a pet project of Chinese President Xi Jinping to further the global influence of China with investments to build infrastructure projects. New Delhi has protested against Beijing for building the $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), stated to be the flagship project of the BRI, through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in violation of its sovereignty.

India is also vocal about its criticism of BRI projects stating they should be based on universally recognised international norms, good governance, and the rule of law and follow principles of openness, transparency and financial sustainability.

India, the U.S. and several other countries raised concerns over the BRI as China doled out huge loans to smaller countries for infrastructure projects without taking into consideration their ability to pay back the money. BRI has raised concerns after China acquired Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port for a 99-year lease as a debt swap.

A local resident rides a bicycle near a destroyed bridge, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in the town of Pokrovsk, near a front line in Donetsk region, Ukraine December 19, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Russian troops have captured the village of Kostiantynopolske in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, the Defence Ministry said on Saturday (December 21, 2024).

Reuters could not independently confirm the report about the village, called Ostrovsky by Russia.

The settlement lies 10 km southwest of Kurakhove, which Russian troops have stormed and are threatening to encircle, according to DeepState, a Ukrainian group mapping the fighting.

Meanwhile, Ukraine brought the war into the heart of Russia on Saturday morning with drone attacks that local authorities said damaged residential buildings in the city of Kazan in the Tatarstan region, over 1,000 km from the front line.

The press service of Tatarstan’s governor, Rustam Minnikhanov, said that eight drones attacked the city. Six hit residential buildings, one hit an industrial facility and one was shot down over a river, the statement said.

A video posted on local Telegram news channel Astra, verified by The Associated Press, shows a drone flying into the upper floors of a high-rise building.

Local authorities said there were no casualties. Flights were halted at Kazan’s airport and all mass gatherings cancelled on Saturday and Sunday.

The attacks, which Ukraine didn’t acknowledge in keeping with its security policy, comes after a Ukrainian attack Friday on a town in Russia’s Kursk border region using U.S.-supplied missiles killed six people, including a child.

Moscow sent 113 drones into Ukraine overnight into Saturday, Ukrainian officials said. According to Ukraine’s Air Force, 57 drones were shot down during the attacks. A further 56 drones were “lost,” likely having been electronically jammed.

The governor of Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, Oleh Syniehubov, said eight persons were wounded on Friday night in drone attacks on the regional capital, also called Kharkiv.