KYIV, Ukraine: A Russian missile attack struck a hotel in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine on Wednesday evening, wounding 11 people, including journalists, according to local authorities.
The strike comes just ahead of the war’s second anniversary, with both Moscow and Kyiv accusing each other of inflicting dozens of civilian casualties in a sharp escalation of attacks.
“Two missiles hit a hotel in the center of Kharkiv. There were no military personnel there. Instead, there were 30 civilians, eleven of whom were wounded,” Mayor Igor Terekhov posted on Telegram.
One of the wounded is in “very serious condition,” he said, adding that Turkish journalists were among those hurt, without providing further details.
According to police, a journalist from a foreign publication had been wounded.
Several other buildings, including two apartment blocks, were also damaged in the latest strike.
Oleg Synegoubov, head of the Kharkiv regional military administration, said two Russian S-300 missiles hit the hotel around 10:30 p.m. (2030 GMT).
Nine of the 11 wounded were hospitalized and two were treated on-site, with a 35-year-old man the most seriously injured, he said.
Located about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the Russian border, Ukraine’s second-largest city has borne a heavy brunt of the war, seeing regular and often deadly aerial assaults.
Kyiv has warned it needs continued Western support and air equipment to sustain its air defense systems amid the intensifying drone and missile attacks launched by Russia.
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11 wounded in Russian strikes on Ukraine’s Kharkiv
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11 wounded in Russian strikes on Ukraine’s Kharkiv
- The strike comes just ahead of the war’s second anniversary, with both Moscow and Kyiv accusing each other of inflicting dozens of civilian casualties in a sharp escalation of attacks
China raises defense budget by 7 percent for 2026: official report
BEIJING: China said on Thursday its defense budget, the world’s second largest after the United States, will increase by seven percent in 2026, in line with expectations but slightly below last year’s.
Beijing plans to spend 1.9096 trillion yuan ($276.8 billion) on defense — around three times less than the US military budget.
The increase in military spending for the year was announced in a finance ministry budget report that was published on the sidelines of the annual “Two Sessions” political conclave.
It marks a degree of continuity as Beijing pursues a sweeping anti-graft purge of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) that included the ousting of top general Zhang Youxia in January.
Analysts told AFP the budget would finance military salary increases, training, drills around Taiwan, cyberwarfare capabilities and advanced equipment purchases, among other things.
China has maintained a steady increase in military spending of around seven to eight percent each year since 2016.
The United States is the world’s biggest military spender, shelling out $997 billion in 2024 compared with China’s $314 billion, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
China claims its defense policy is solely aimed at protecting its territory, which it says includes self-ruled Taiwan.
It has only one military base abroad, in Djibouti, in contrast to the several hundred held by the United States.
However, China’s military buildup is fueling an arms race in Asia and prompting some countries, particularly those with territorial disputes with China, to draw closer to Washington.
Beijing plans to spend 1.9096 trillion yuan ($276.8 billion) on defense — around three times less than the US military budget.
The increase in military spending for the year was announced in a finance ministry budget report that was published on the sidelines of the annual “Two Sessions” political conclave.
It marks a degree of continuity as Beijing pursues a sweeping anti-graft purge of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) that included the ousting of top general Zhang Youxia in January.
Analysts told AFP the budget would finance military salary increases, training, drills around Taiwan, cyberwarfare capabilities and advanced equipment purchases, among other things.
China has maintained a steady increase in military spending of around seven to eight percent each year since 2016.
The United States is the world’s biggest military spender, shelling out $997 billion in 2024 compared with China’s $314 billion, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
China claims its defense policy is solely aimed at protecting its territory, which it says includes self-ruled Taiwan.
It has only one military base abroad, in Djibouti, in contrast to the several hundred held by the United States.
However, China’s military buildup is fueling an arms race in Asia and prompting some countries, particularly those with territorial disputes with China, to draw closer to Washington.
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