MOSCOW — A Ukrainian drone attack on a house in a Russian border village killed five people, including two children, the regional governor said Saturday.

The drone hit a house in the village of Gorodishche, a tiny village in Russia’s Kursk region, just a few meters from the border with Ukraine.

“To our great grief, five people were killed … including two small children. Another two members of the family are in a serious condition,” Kursk governor Alexei Smirnov said in a post on Telegram.

The attack was with a “copter”-style drone, he added, a small device that can be fitted to carry grenades or other explosives that are dropped over targets.

Both sides have used drones, including larger self-detonating craft with ranges of up to hundreds of kilometers, extensively throughout the conflict which began in February 2022.

Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on Russian territory this year, targeting both energy sites that it says fuel Russia’s military, as well as towns and villages just across the border.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a major new land offensive on Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region last month in what he said was an operation to create a “buffer zone” and push Ukrainian forces back to protect Russia’s border Belgorod region from shelling.

The Kursk region, where Saturday’s attack occurred, lies further north, across from Ukraine’s Sumy region, which Kyiv controls. 
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BELGRADE, Serbia — An attacker with a crossbow wounded a Serbian police officer guarding the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade on Saturday, Serbia’s interior ministry said. The officer responded by fatally shooting the assailant.

Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said in a statement that the attacker shot a bolt at the officer, hitting him in the neck. He said the officer than “used a weapon in self-defense to shoot the attacker, who died as a result of his injuries.”

The policeman was conscious when he was transported to Belgrade’s main emergency hospital, where an operation to remove the bolt from his neck will be performed, it said.The identity of the attacker is still being determined.

“All the circumstances of the attack and possible motives are being investigated,” Dacic said.

Serbia has maintained close relations with Israel amid its armed intervention in Gaza.
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OXFORD, England, — Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and his wife took a trip down memory lane Friday, the final day of their weeklong stay in Britain, with a visit to the medieval university city of Oxford where they both studied in the 1980s.

The imperial couple’s formal state visit concluded Thursday with a goodbye from King Charles and Queen Camilla at Buckingham Palace, but they squeezed in a trip to Oxford before flying home.

The 64-year-old emperor attended Oxford’s Merton College in 1983-1986, while his wife Empress Masako, 60, studied international relations in the late 1980s down the road at Balliol College.

Tracing its history back to 1096, the University of Oxford is the oldest in the English-speaking world, famous as a prestigious seat of learning which has educated dozens of British prime ministers including the current one, Rishi Sunak.

At Balliol, Naruhito and Masako met Oxford University’s chancellor Chris Patten and the master of the college, Helen Ghosh, as well-wishers waved Japanese and British flags.

Naruhito was due later to plant a cherry tree at Merton College, in what will be the final part of a trip that has been focused on celebrating the cultural, business and military ties between Japan and Britain.

Before his trip, Naruhito had said he was looking forward to visiting Oxford with his wife as it would be the first time they would spend time there together in the city with its winding lanes and honey-colored gothic spires.

Both had a memorable time at Oxford, the emperor said, with his wife particularly fond of the city’s majestic buildings and beautiful gardens.
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Kyiv, Ukraine — Lacking sufficient anti-aircraft systems to repel Russia’s unrelenting attacks, Ukraine is pushing its European allies to establish a no-fly zone in the west of the country by deploying air defense systems in neighboring Poland and Romania, officials told AFP.

Kyiv would like to create a safe space in western Ukraine where industry, energy infrastructure and civilians can be protected against the massive destruction unleashed by Russian strikes in recent months.

“I don’t understand why NATO doesn’t deploy Patriot systems along the Polish border,” said lawmaker Oleksiy Goncharenko, referring to U.S.-manufactured air defense systems.

“After all, Russian missiles have already entered Polish and Romanian airspace. This would protect the borders of Poland and Romania, and this would create a safe zone in the west and south of Ukraine,” he added.

That request was mirrored by several Ukrainian civilian and military officials who spoke to AFP in Kyiv during a trip organized last week by the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) and local think tank New Europe Center.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba opened the debate in May, saying there was “no legal, security or moral argument that stands in the way of our partners shooting down Russian missiles over the territory of Ukraine from their territory.”

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has spent months pushing for more air defenses from his Western partners, but fresh supplies have only trickled in.

Recent victories for Kyiv include Romania’s promise of a Patriot missile defense system, and the United States has said it will prioritize sales of anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine for the next 16 months to allow it to replenish its stocks.

But time is running out for Ukraine, which has seen half its national electricity production capacity destroyed in recent months.

Every week, Russian missiles and drones strike the energy network, causing daily power outages that affect almost the entire population.

Critical energy situation

Russia focused on shelling Ukraine’s energy distribution networks during the winter of 2022-23, but has recently been destroying energy production facilities, which are much more costly and take years to repair or rebuild.

Moscow is also targeting the country’s energy reserves.

A European diplomatic source says Russian determination was underlined when it struck a facility storing gas 3 kilometers underground in the west of Ukraine.

“In the energy sector, the situation is really hard,” said a senior Ukrainian security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding he fears it will deteriorate further as winter approaches.

The official said talks were “in progress” with Western allies on a no-fly zone over western Ukraine using Patriot systems in Poland or Romania, “but that is not a simple decision.”

Western countries have been highly cautious about any moves that could lead to direct clashes with Russian forces and drag them into a wider war, which “makes this process slow and silent,” the official said.

But the subject could be discussed at the next NATO summit in Washington in early July, according to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanishyna.

“We are doing everything we can to mobilize enough air defense elements to allow us to continue to be functional throughout the war,” she told AFP.

Kyiv does not expect any progress towards joining NATO, however, with Washington and Berlin still strongly opposed for fear of further antagonizing Russia.

“The chances of getting an invitation are close to zero,” said a Ukrainian diplomatic source.

But he said that Ukraine’s allies felt a “sense of guilt” about this, which plays into Kyiv’s hands.

That “puts pressure on our allies,” he said, to make “other strong decisions as alternatives.”
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washington — The recent defense pact between Russia and North Korea could present a diplomatic opportunity for the United States and China to work together for stability on the Korean Peninsula, an issue of mutual interest to both countries, some experts say.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said Monday that China would be “somewhat anxious” about enhanced cooperation between Russia and North Korea, adding that Chinese officials have “indicated so in some of our interactions, and we can see some tension associated with those things.”

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters after the Russia-North Korea summit last week in Pyongyang that concern about the new defense agreement between the two countries “would be shared by the People’s Republic of China” — China’s official name.

During their keenly watched summit, Russian President Vladmir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty, vowing to challenge the U.S.-led world order.

Under the treaty, the two countries, which share a short border along the lower Tumen River, are now required to provide military assistance using all available means if either of them is attacked by a third country.

High-precision weapons

Putin further raised the stakes in this newly cemented relationship, saying he is not ruling out the possibility of Russia providing high-precision weapons to North Korea.

According to some experts in Washington, China’s frustration with its two neighbors could make room for a Sino-American effort to dissuade Russia and North Korea from moving forward with their nascent defense pact.

Patrick Cronin, the Asia-Pacific security chair at the Hudson Institute, told VOA’s Korean Service earlier this week that there is a way for the U.S. to find “some common ground” with China on this issue.

He explained that it is in China’s interest not to see the transfer of Russia’s advanced, offensive military technologies to North Korea, which could be destabilizing on the Korean Peninsula.

“That opens up a common ground for the United States to deal with China to limit any destabilizing transfer of technology to the Korean Peninsula,” he said.

Joseph DeTrani, who served as the special envoy for six-party denuclearization talks with North Korea from 2003 to 2006, told VOA’s Korean Service on Wednesday that the U.S. and China need to come together on this issue.

DeTrani said North Korea has to be on the list of “the issues of mutual concern” between the top two powers, as the U.S. pursues dialogue with China on subjects such as artificial intelligence and trade.

Dennis Wilder, who served as senior director for East Asia affairs at the White House’s National Security Council during the George W. Bush administration, was more cautious about the possibility of U.S.-China coordination.

Wilder told VOA’s Korean Service this week that the current state of U.S.-China relations makes Beijing averse to working with Washington on North Korea.

“No, they have no interest in joining with us, considering how they feel we are treating them,” Wilder said. “I very much doubt that the Chinese would be interested. A far possibility would be that they might want to share information, but that would be the only place.”

No ties to call on

Robert Gallucci, who was the chief U.S. negotiator during the 1994 North Korea nuclear crisis, offered a similar view.

“We don’t have a relationship with Beijing right now that we could call on,” he said earlier this week.

Gallucci told VOA’s Korean Service that China will not appreciate the possibility of its influence on North Korea being undercut.

Gary Samore, who served as the White House coordinator for arms control and weapons of mass destruction during the Obama administration, told VOA’s Korean Service via email on Wednesday that China might have a limited influence on what is happening between Russia and North Korea, although Washington and Beijing share an interest in keeping things calm on the Korean Peninsula.

“I expect that Beijing will discourage any military assistance from Russia to North Korea that could be destabilizing,” he said. “Whether Putin or Kim Jong Un will respect China’s wishes, I can’t say.”

Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told VOA’s Korean Service via email earlier this week that “in principle, China welcomes Russia to consolidate and develop traditional friendly relations with relevant countries,” without referring to North Korea.

Meanwhile, Washington is holding out hope that Beijing can still leverage its historical ties with Pyongyang to drive a solution.

“We urge Beijing to use its influence to encourage the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] to refrain from destabilizing behavior and return to the negotiating table,” a State Department spokesperson told VOA’s Korean Service on Wednesday.
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brussels — European Union leaders agreed on Thursday to nominate Ursula von der Leyen of Germany for a second five-year term as president of the European Commission, the EU’s powerful executive body.

At a summit in Brussels, the bloc’s 27 national leaders also picked former Portuguese Premier Antonio Costa as the future chair of their European Council meetings and selected Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas as the next EU foreign policy chief.

The leadership package represents continuity for the 27-member bloc, with centrist pro-EU factions keeping hold of top posts despite a far-right surge in elections to the European Parliament earlier this month.

The deal was announced by the current European Council president, Charles Michel, on social media.

The trio won broad backing from leaders, but diplomats said right-wing Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni abstained from the vote on von der Leyen and voted against Costa and Kallas.

Von der Leyen’s nomination still needs approval from the European Parliament in a secret ballot – widely seen as a trickier proposition than her endorsement by EU leaders.

At the summit, the EU also signed a security agreement with Ukraine, debated how to bolster EU defenses against Russia and agreed on the bloc’s strategic priorities for the next five years.

The security deal underlines EU support for Kyiv fighting off Moscow’s invasion for a third year, despite gains by the far-right in European elections, uncertainty created by French snap elections and the U.S. presidential vote in November.

The agreement lays out the EU’s commitments to help Ukraine in nine areas of security policy, including arms deliveries, military training, defense industry cooperation and demining.

“These commitments will help Ukraine defend itself, resist destabilization and deter future acts of aggression – more concrete proof of the EU’s unshakable resolve to support Ukraine for the long haul,” Michel said.

The leaders will reiterate their pledge to support Ukraine as long as it takes, saying that “Russia must not prevail” and that Ukraine must get back the land annexed by Moscow.

Defense debate

The war in Ukraine laid bare the EU’s lack of preparedness for a conflict as the bloc struggles to supply Kyiv with enough weapons against Russia, prompting calls for more EU coordination of defense systems and investment in defense industries.

Diplomats said von der Leyen told the summit that between 1999 and 2021, the EU increased military spending by 20%, China by 600% and Russia by 300%, even before Moscow’s massive rise in military spending after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

According to diplomats, von der Leyen told leaders the EU needed to invest 500 billion euros ($535.30 billion) in defense over the next 10 years. Financing options included national contributions, dedicated revenue streams — called the EU’s own resources — and joint borrowing, von der Leyen said.

Investment in defense is part of the EU’s “strategic agenda” that the leaders aimed to agree on before dinner on Thursday — a document that tells EU institutions what European governments want them to focus on during their 2024-29 term.

Apart from defense, the agenda calls for a more competitive EU to withstand economic pressure from China and the United States and for preparing the bloc for enlargement that would include Ukraine, Moldova and the Western Balkans.
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