RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Drones now capable of missions that used to be assigned exclusively to planes — Putin

Modern-day drones can perform missions that only combat planes used to be able to take on, Russian President Vladimir Putin said as he met with college students majoring in drone technology.

The president held the meeting at the Rudnevo industrial park, where Moscow-based colleges hold professional training for students studying how to assemble and operate drones. The students told Putin about their inventions and skills.

"Modern unmanned aerial vehicles are gradually but fundamentally changing the principles of military operations," Putin said. "They can gain greater speed, their engines are becoming very powerful, and their range is increasing."

He said drones made by the Russian defense industry can now travel at a speed of up to 700 km/hour.

"And they can perform missions that only army, combat aviation used to be able to perform before," the president said.

He also pointed to the ability of modern drones to "confront larger aircraft."

"It's just a different equipment and a completely different life in aviation. It's very promising," the president said.

He thanked the students for what they are mastering UAV technologies that will save the lives of people engaged in the special military operation.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russian guided bomb hits apartment building in Ukraine's Kharkiv, injures 10

A Russian guided bomb struck a five-storey apartment block in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, late on Wednesday, starting fires and injuring at least 10 people, local officials said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the strike, the latest in a long series of attacks on the city, underscored the need for more help from Ukraine's Western backers. He pointed to Iran's strike on Israel as an example of allies working together.

He said that in order to stop Russian strikes, "Ukraine must receive the necessary, and most importantly, sufficient help from the world, from our partners.

"Every leader knows exactly what needs to be done. It's important to be decisive," Zelenskiy said in a posting on the Telegram messaging app.

Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said the bomb hit between the third and fourth floors of the building in the city's Saltivka district.

"Several floors have been destroyed. An apartment by apartment search is under way. People could be under the rubble," Syniehubov said in a video posted online.

Pictures posted online showed cars ablaze outside the apartment block and firefighters making their way through smoke rubble to get inside the building. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov put the injury toll at 10, including a three-year-old child. He said guided bombs had struck two city districts.

Located 30 km (18 miles) from the Russian border, Kharkiv has been a frequent target of Russian forces throughout the more than 2-1/2-year-old war.

In Kyiv, the head of the capital's military administration said fragments from a downed Russian drone damaged an apartment building in one of the capital's eastern districts. There was no indication of any casualties.

Russia denies targeting civilians, but has regularly struck towns and cities behind the front line.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy referred to the help the United States and other partners provide Israel to fend off attacks.

"Every time in the Middle East, during criminal Iranian strikes, we see how the international coalition acts together," he said, echoing comments he made during an April raid launched by Iran on Israel.

Zelenskiy also issued the latest of a series of calls for more help to be agreed at a meeting this month in Germany devoted to providing Ukraine with military assistance. U.S. President Joe Biden is to attend the meeting.

Tass/Reuters