Overnight reports: Russia intercepts 112 drones; Musk's starship explodes again
It happened overnight. Here's what international agencies reported during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday. The air defense intercepted 112 Ukrainian drones, six of which were headed towards Moscow. The President of Latvia believes that the size of the armed forces needs to increase to over 38,000 soldiers. Meanwhile, the Starship spacecraft had another unsuccessful attempt, exploding during its return to Earth.
- Russian air defense destroyed or intercepted 112 Ukrainian drones within three hours.
- Elon Musk's SpaceX Starship spacecraft conducted its ninth test flight on Tuesday, exploding mid-air for the third consecutive time.
- "Latvia needs more soldiers, weapons and ammunition. We need to move towards more than 38,000 soldiers instead of the current 31,000," announced President Edgars Rinkēvičs.
A rough night in Russia: A swarm of drones approaches
Russian air defense destroyed or intercepted 112 Ukrainian drones within three hours, most of them over central or southern regions, according to a statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense on Wednesday.
Moscow's Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that six Ukrainian drones were neutralized while flying toward the Russian capital. Rescue teams are examining their fragments on the ground, he added.
Musk's rocket explosion
Elon Musk's SpaceX Starship spacecraft conducted its ninth test flight on Tuesday, exploding mid-air for the third consecutive time. The rocket flew further than during previous attempts but did not complete several other mission objectives.
Starship launched from Starbase in Texas with a slight delay due to technical issues. However, once airborne, it flew further than any previous missions, disintegrating over the Indian Ocean during re-entry.
The first-stage booster, Super Heavy, landed as planned in the Gulf of Mexico, but its engines failed when it was supposed to settle gently on the water. Another key element that failed was releasing dummy Starlink satellites during the flight; the Starship's mechanism did not release them. Additionally, about 20 minutes after the flight began, video connection with the craft was lost. Soon after, it was announced that the rocket had a leakage, went into an uncontrolled flight, and began spinning around its axis.
During re-entry, contact with it was lost, and the craft was destroyed. Because of this, SpaceX did not obtain the expected return-to-Earth measurements.
Latvia arms up
"Latvia needs more soldiers, weapons, and ammunition. Instead of the current 31,000 soldiers in various armed forces structures, we need to increase the number to over 38,000 in the long term," announced President Edgars Rinkēvičs.
The President, along with the commander of the armed forces, Gen. Kaspars Pudāns, visited areas by the Daugava River in the central part of the country near Jēkabpils, where the largest military training ground in the Baltic countries is being built, with an area of over 25,000 hectares, capable of accommodating NATO allied units. It is assumed that the first military exercises could be conducted on this terrain in 2026, or maybe even this year. Ultimately, after infrastructure expansion, about 2,000 soldiers could be stationed in the area.
"By the end of the year, the number of professional soldiers should increase by about 500," Rinkēvičs said.
Germany and France threaten
Germany and France threatened Serbia's President Aleksandar Vučić with refusing to recognize the election results if any fraud occurred during the process, reported TV Nova on Tuesday.
The announcement of early elections is the latest demand of the massive protests that have been ongoing in the country for over six months.
