MOSCOW: Russia said Friday it had seen an increase in US drone flights over the Black Sea and vowed to respond, warning they could lead to “direct confrontation” with NATO.
It comes five days after the Kremlin accused the United States of being responsible for a Ukrainian missile attack on the annexed Crimean peninsula that killed four people, an incident that sent tensions soaring.
Russia’s defense ministry noted an increased number of “US strategic unmanned aerial vehicles over the waters of the Black Sea” and accused Washington of using the flights to help Ukraine strike Russian targets.
“This demonstrates the increasing involvement of the United States and NATO countries in the conflict in Ukraine on the side of the Kyiv regime,” it said.
“Such flights multiply the likelihood of airspace incidents with Russian Air and Space Force aircraft, which increases the risk of a direct confrontation between the alliance and Russia,” it added.
Defense Minister Andrei Belousov has instructed the army “to submit proposals on measures for an operational response to the provocations,” the defense ministry said.
The United States routinely carries out drone flights over the Black Sea, operations that it says are conducted in neutral airspace and in accordance with international law.
In March 2023, Russia intercepted a US MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea, raising fears of direct confrontation between the two nuclear powers at a time of increased tension over the Ukraine conflict.
Russia says US Black Sea drone flights risk direct clash with NATO
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Russia says US Black Sea drone flights risk direct clash with NATO
- Kremlin accused the United States of being responsible for a Ukrainian missile attack on the annexed Crimean peninsula that killed four people
Indonesia nursing home fire kills 16: official
JAKARTA: A fire at a nursing home on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi killed more than a dozen people, with three others injured, a local official said Monday.
Firefighters received the report of the blaze at 8:31 p.m. Sunday at a nursing home in the North Sulawesi provincial capital Manado, said the city’s fire and rescue agency chief Jimmy Rotinsulu.
“There were 16 deaths; three (people) had burn injuries,” he told AFP.
Many bodies of the victims were found inside their rooms, Jimmy said, adding that many of the elderly residents were likely resting in their rooms in the evening when the fire broke out.
Authorities managed to evacuate 12 people — all unhurt — and transfer them to a local hospital, he said.
Footage aired by local broadcaster Metro TV showed the fire engulfing the nursing home, while locals helped to evacuate an elderly person.
Deadly fires are not uncommon in Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago of more than 17,000 islands.
A fire tore through a seven-story office building in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta this month, killing at least 22 people.
In 2023, at least 12 people were killed in the country’s east after an explosion at a nickel-processing plant.
