KYIV: President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday Ukraine needs to strengthen its air defenses to protect people after its air defense units shot down 50 of 73 Russian drones launched overnight over many regions.
“An air alert has been sounded almost daily across Ukraine this week,” Zelensky said on Telegram messenger.
Over the past week Russia used more than 800 guided aerial bombs, about 460 attack drones, and more than 20 missiles of various types, Zelensky said.
“Ukraine is not a testing ground for weapons. Ukraine is a sovereign and independent state. But Russia still continues its efforts to kill our people, spread fear and panic, and weaken us,” he said.
The Ukrainian military said earlier on Sunday that air defense units had destroyed more than 10 Russian drones that were targeting Kyiv in an overnight attack.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries as a result of the attack, Kyiv’s military administration posted on Telegram.
Reuters witnesses heard explosions in Kyiv in what sounded like air defense units in operation.
“The UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) were flying in different directions toward Kyiv,” said Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration. “The air raid alert in the city lasted for more than three hours.”
There was no immediate comment from Russia about the attack.
Ukraine needs better air defenses, Zelensky says after Russian drone attack
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Ukraine needs better air defenses, Zelensky says after Russian drone attack
- Over the past week Russia used more than 800 guided aerial bombs, about 460 attack drones, and more than 20 missiles of various types
Bangladesh begins exhuming mass grave from 2024 uprising
- The United Nations says up to 1,400 people were killed in crackdowns as Hasina attempted to cling to power — deaths that formed part of her conviction last month for crimes against humanity
DHAKA: Bangladeshi police began exhuming on Sunday a mass grave believed to contain around 114 unidentified victims of a mass uprising that toppled autocratic former prime minister Sheikh Hasina last year.
The UN-supported effort is being advised by Argentine forensic anthropologist Luis Fondebrider, who has led recovery and identification missions at mass graves worldwide for decades.
The bodies were buried at the Rayerbazar Graveyard in Dhaka by the volunteer group Anjuman Mufidul Islam, which said it handled 80 unclaimed bodies in July and another 34 in August 2024 — all people reported to have been killed during weeks of deadly protests.
The United Nations says up to 1,400 people were killed in crackdowns as Hasina attempted to cling to power — deaths that formed part of her conviction last month for crimes against humanity.
Criminal Investigation Department (CID) chief Md Sibgat Ullah said investigators believed the mass grave held roughly 114 bodies, but the exact number would only be known once exhumations were complete.
“We can only confirm once we dig the graves and exhume the bodies,” Ullah told reporters.
- ‘Searched for him’ -
Among those hoping for answers is Mohammed Nabil, who is searching for the remains of his brother Sohel Rana, 28, who vanished in July 2024.
“We searched for him everywhere,” Nabil told AFP.
He said his family first suspected Rana’s death after seeing a Facebook video, then recognized his clothing — a blue T-shirt and black trousers — in a photograph taken by burial volunteers.
Exhumed bodies will be given post-mortem examinations and DNA testing. The process is expected to take several weeks to complete.
“It’s been more than a year, so it won’t be possible to extract DNA from the soft tissues,” senior police officer Abu Taleb told AFP. “Working with bones would be more time-consuming.”
Forensic experts from four Dhaka medical colleges are part of the team, with Fondebrider brought in to offer support as part of an agreement with the UN rights body the OHCHR.
“The process is complex and unique,” Fondebrider told reporters. “We will guarantee that international standards will be followed.”
Fondebrider previously headed the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team, founded in 1984 to investigate the tens of thousands who disappeared during Argentina’s former military dictatorship.
Authorities say the exhumed bodies will be reburied in accordance with religious rites and their families’ wishes.
Hasina, convicted in absentia last month and sentenced to death, remains in self-imposed exile in India.
