"Strengthening air defense capabilities is clearly an urgent priority for Iran at the moment," expert Hongda Fan told Newsweek.

Russia launched a massive attack on Ukraine overnight into Saturday with hundreds of drones, killing at least one person, part of a stepped-up bombing campaign that has dashed hopes for a breakthrough in efforts to end the more than 3-year-old war.

By Guy Faulconbridge, Andrew Osborn and Dmitry Antonov MOSCOW (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to ramp up arms shipments to Ukraine is a signal to Kyiv to abandon peace efforts, Russia said on Thursday,

Yuliia Svyrydenko becomes Ukraine's new prime minister amid President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's executive branch shake with Russian war in fourth year.

Under a scheme first trialled last year and dubbed "Army of Drones: Bonus" (also known as "e-points"), units can earn points for each Russian soldier killed or piece of equipment destroyed. And like a killstreak in Call of Duty, or a 1970s TV game show, points mean prizes.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday predicted the Russian economy would withstand the European Union's latest sanctions package and said Moscow would intensify its strikes against Ukraine.

Europe will not back down in its support for Ukraine. The EU will keep raising the pressure until Russia ends its war,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in a statement.

EU agrees on 'one of its strongest' Russia sanctions packages after Slovakia lifts veto * UK sanctions Russian intelligence units involved in cyberattacks * Ukrainian drones reportedly attack Moscow for second night in a row * Ukrainian hackers wipe databases at Russia's Gazprom in major cyberattack,

Officials have warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that a demographic crisis could mean the country he leads will be short millions of workers by the end of the decade.

Three days earlier, the war had spilled across the breadth of Russia as the Ukrainians smuggled a fleet of cheap drones across the border and used them to attack several military airfields, damaging or destroying Russian warplanes worth billions of dollars.