PiperTheJournalist

A Ryanair flight bound for the Austrian capital Vienna had to land in the neighbouring Czech Republic late on Dec 30 after encountering GPS problems and poor visibility, the company said.

Russian servicemen are instructing their soldiers positioned closer to the frontline to shoot and torture the local population, according to an investigation by the 3rd Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU).

Russia’s once-dominant gas supply to Europe via Ukraine, which flowed for decades, is set to end on New Year’s Day with the collapse of a contract between the two warring countries that paid out billions to Moscow in gas revenue and to Kyiv in transit fees.

The shutdown of Russia’s oldest gas route to Europe ends a decade of fraught relations sparked by Russia’s seizure of Crimea in 2014.

The European Union redoubled its efforts to reduce its dependence on Russian energy after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in 2022 by seeking alternative sources.

The “rocket-drone” project has become a key goal for Zelensky in 2025. In November, he told the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliamentary body, that he wanted to see Ukraine produce 30,000 long-distance drones, and 3,000 “cruise missiles or missile-drones” over the next year.

These “missile-drones” are a new genre of weapons that Ukraine is pioneering.

Deploying new weapons to offset the lack of traditional ones isn’t a new move for Ukraine. Just as Ukraine has deployed UAVs to take on roles traditionally reserved for an air force, such as aerial surveillance and targeted bombing, the rocket-drones are evolving to perform functions of cruise missiles, which Ukraine doesn’t produce.

“They are basically the next evolution step of long-range deep-strike suicide UAVs,” says Fabian Hinz, a research fellow with the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies who specializes in missiles. “As with so many things, because of technology, the lines are blurring.”

In response to questions about the emails, the White House said, "The U.S. has been leading international efforts to get humanitarian aid into Gaza” and “this is and will continue to be a top priority.” It added that before U.S. “engagement, there was no food, water, or medicine getting into Gaza.”