Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna, who went missing in an occupied part of her country, died in Russian detention last month, Ukrainian authorities said earlier this week.

Roshchyna, who was 27, disappeared in August last year during a reporting trip to a Russian-occupied area in Ukraine. She was missing for months, with her loved ones having no idea what happened to her.

According to the Office of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General, Moscow only informed Roshchyna’s family she was detained in Russia in April, months after she was captured. 

“I have official documentation from the Russian side confirming the death of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna, who was illegally deprived of her liberty by Russia,” Ukraine’s human rights commissioner, Dmytro Lubinets, said in a statement.

Roshchyna’s colleagues said she traveled to the Russian-held territory – a dangerous ordeal for any Ukrainian – to report on the lives of people living under occupation. They said they believed the young journalist was killed by Russian authorities.

“We have every reason to believe that her death was either the result of a deliberate murder or the result of the cruel treatment and violence to which she was subjected during her time in Russian captivity,” Ukrainian journalists and media professionals said in a statement published in several Ukrainian media outlets.

The statement added that Roshchyna was healthy before her year-long imprisonment.

The Office of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General said it was investigating her death as a war crime combined with premeditated murder.

Journalist Evgeniya Motorevskaya, who worked with Roshchyna as the former editor of Hromadske, a Ukrainian media outlet, said the young reporter was determined to do her job as best as she could.

“For her, there was nothing more important than journalism. Vika was always where the most important events for the country took place. And she would have continued to do this for many years, but the Russians killed her,” she said in a statement published on Hromadske’s website, referring to Roshchyna by her diminutive.

Petro Yatsenko, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Coordination Center for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, said in a statement that some 25 Ukrainian journalists were being held in Russian captivity, and several others are considered missing.

The Ukrainian government says thousands of Ukrainians have been held in arbitrary detention in Russia. Lubinets, Kyiv’s human rights commissioner, said in July that 14,000 Ukrainian civilians were in Russian captivity, some of whom have been held since 2014 when the war broke out in eastern Ukraine and Russia annexed Crimea.

Yatsenko said that according to Russian authorities, Roshchyna died while being transferred from a detention facility in the southern Russian city of Taganrog to Moscow. He said the transfer was in preparation for her release as part of a prisoner exchange.

“Unfortunately, we did not have enough time,” he said in the statement.

Tetyana Katrychenko from the Media Initiative for Human Rights, a Ukrainian rights group, said the detention facility in Taganrog was known for its cruel treatment of detainees, according to a statement published on her social media.

“Taganrog … is known as one of the most brutal places of detention for Ukrainians in the Russian Federation. It is called hell on earth,” Katrychenko said, adding that Roshchyna was held in Taganrog from at least May to September 2024. “She was held in solitary confinement,” she added.

Roshchyna was awarded the 2022 Courage in Journalism Award by the International Women’s Media Foundation. Her work appeared in a number of media outlets including Ukrayinska Pravda, Hromadske and Radio Free Europe.

More than 60 people have been injured, several of them critically, in a drone attack in north-central Israel, according to first responders.

There were no immediate official reports of deaths from the attack, but the high number of injuries – with rescue service United Hatzalah saying it “provided assistance to over 60 wounded people” – makes it one of the bloodiest since the war started last October.

The news comes after Hezbollah said Sunday it had fired a swarm of attack drones on an Israeli infantry training camp in Binyamina, a town north of Tel Aviv that lies some 40 miles from the Lebanese border. The Lebanon-based militant group said the attack was in response to Israeli strikes in Lebanon Thursday that killed 22 people and injured 117, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

Hezbollah said it had targeted the Golani Brigade, an infantry unit of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that has been deployed in southern Lebanon. The Hezbollah statement came shortly after the militant group released an audio message from its slain leader Hassan Nasrallah calling on members to “defend your people, your family, your nation, your values and your dignity.”

Israeli air defence systems tend to be very reliable, but on Sunday, there were no reports of alerts in the Binyamina area at the time of the attack, raising questions of how the drone was able to penetrate so deep into the Israeli territory without being spotted.

The drone attack on Sunday comes two days after another attack in which the IDF said two drones were launched from Lebanon. It said it intercepted one of those drones, but did not specify what happened to the other one. In the attack Friday, warning sirens had activated and while a nursing home in the coastal city of Herzliya, central Israel, was damaged, no casualties were no reported.

Critical injuries reported

In Sunday’s attack, United Hatzalah said helicopters and ambulances had evacuated all the wounded, whose injuries it described as ranging from “critical” and “serious,” to “moderate and light.”

The Binyamina attack comes almost two weeks after Israel launched a ground operation in southern Lebanon. The IDF has insisted the operation is “localized” and “limited” – even though the reality on the ground suggests it might be preparing for a wider invasion.

The IDF has issued evacuation orders for a quarter of Lebanon’s territory and deployed units from four different IDF divisions to the border area, while also continuing an intense bombardment campaign.

The injured from Binyamina were transported to hospitals across Israel. The Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in north-central Israel said it was treating 36 casualties from what it described as a “UAV incident,” adding that there were “various degrees of injury.”

The Emek Medical Center in northern Israel said it was treating four injured people. Beilinson Hospital said it was treating a further three and Bnei Zion Medical Center in Haifa also said it was treating three.

Taiwan has condemned the latest round of Chinese military drills around the self-governing island as an “unreasonable provocation” after Beijing deployed warships and fighter jets in what it described as a “stern warning” to “separatist acts of Taiwan independence forces.”

The Chinese military’s Eastern Theater Command said Monday that the drills, involving joint operations of the army, navy, air force and rocket force, are being conducted in the Taiwan Strait – a narrow body of water separating the island from mainland China – as well as encircling Taiwan.

China’s military exercises around Taiwan, a democracy of 23 million people, have become increasingly frequent in recent years and have tended to coincide with events that have angered Beijing.

In August 2022, China launched a week of military drills following a visit to the island by then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Similar drills in May came after the inauguration of Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, whom Beijing has denounced as a “dangerous separatist.” The latest exercises are code-named Joint Sword-2024B, implying it’s a follow-up to the drills five months ago.

Ahead of the drills, the Eastern Theater Command released a propaganda video entitled “prepared for battle” on its social media accounts.

The roughly one-minute video shows fighter jets, warships and amphibious assault vessels in the air and at sea, and mobile missile launchers being moved into place. Accompanying text said the command is “prepared for battle at all times and can fight anytime.”

In a statement, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it strongly condemns the drills as an “unreasonable provocation” by China and said it has dispatched its own forces.

A statement from Taiwan’s presidential office called on China to “cease military provocations that undermine regional peace and stability, and stop threatening Taiwan’s democracy and freedom.”

President Lai had convened national security meetings to discuss responses to the drills, it added.

On Sunday, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning entered waters near the strategic Bashi Channel south of Taiwan, which separates the island from the Philippines, and that it anticipates the carrier to sail toward the western Pacific Ocean.

The drills came after President Lai gave a speech on Taiwan’s National Day Thursday, saying the island “is not subordinate” to China and that Beijing “does not have the right to represent Taiwan.”

The speech followed earlier comments, where Lai said it was “absolutely impossible” for Communist China to become Taiwan’s motherland and that Taiwan is already a “sovereign and independent country.”

Lai has long faced Beijing’s wrath for championing Taiwan’s sovereignty and rejecting the Chinese Communist Party’s claims over the island.

Despite having never controlled Taiwan, China’s ruling Communist Party has vowed to “reunify” with the self-governing democracy, by force if necessary. But many people on the island view themselves as distinctly Taiwanese and have no desire to be part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

Successive Chinese leaders have vowed to one day take control of Taiwan. But Xi Jinping, China’s most assertive leader in decades, has ramped up rhetoric and aggression against the democratic island, fueling tension across the strait and raising concerns for a military confrontation.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said it kicked off the Monday exercises  “with vessels and aircraft approaching Taiwan Island in close proximity from different directions.”

The drills focused on “sea-air combat-readiness patrol, blockade on key ports and areas, assault on maritime and ground targets, as well as joint seizure of comprehensive superiority,” according to a statement from the PLA’s Eastern Command.

The PLA did not say whether the drills involved live fire exercises, and, as of now, China has not launched any missiles. Previous drills in 2022 did include the launch of missiles.

A map released by the command shows drills taking place in nine areas surrounding Taiwan as well as its outlying islands that are closer to mainland China.

The drills also involved China’s Coast Guard, operating in areas around Taiwan and its outlying islands of Matsu and Dongyin, located just off China’s southeastern coast.

Between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. local time Monday, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry detected 25 Chinese aircraft, including 16 that crossed the Median Line, an informal demarcation point in the Taiwan Strait that Beijing does not recognize, but until recent years had largely respected.

A total of seven Chinese warships plus additional Coast Guard vessels were detected near the Taiwan Strait, according to the ministry.

The United States said it was “seriously concerned” by the military exercises, calling them a “response with military provocations to a routine annual speech” that “is unwarranted and risks escalation.”

“We call on the PRC to act with restraint and to avoid any further actions that may undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the broader region,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.

This story has been updated with additional information.

Thirteen pregnant Philippine women accused of illegally acting as surrogate mothers in Cambodia after being recruited online may face prison terms after they give birth, a senior Interior Ministry official said Saturday.

Interior Ministry Secretary of State Chou Bun Eng, who leads the country’s fight against human trafficking and sexual exploitation, said police found 24 foreign women, 20 Philippine and four Vietnamese, when they raided a villa in Kandal province, near the capital of Phnom Penh, on Sept. 23.

Thirteen of the Philippine women were found to be pregnant and were charged in court on Oct. 1 under a provision in the law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation, she said.

The law was updated in 2016 to ban commercial surrogacy after Cambodia became a popular destination for foreigners seeking women to give birth to their children.

Developing countries have been popular for surrogacy because costs are much lower than in countries such as the United States and Australia, where surrogate services could cost around $150,000.

The surrogacy business boomed in Cambodia after it was put under tight restrictions in neighboring Thailand, as well as in India and Nepal.

In July 2017, a Cambodian court sentenced an Australian woman and two Cambodian associates to 1 1/2 years in prison for providing commercial surrogacy services.

The new case is unusual because surrogates normally are employed in their own countries, not transported elsewhere.

Cambodia already has a bad reputation for human trafficking, especially in connection with online scams in which foreigners recruited for work under false pretenses are kept in conditions of virtual slavery and help perpetrate criminal fraud online against targets in many countries.

Details of the new surrogacy case remain murky, and officials have not made clear whether the women were arrested or whether anyone involved in organizing the scheme has been identified.

Chou Bun Eng told The Associated Press that the business that recruited the surrogates was based in Thailand, and their food and accommodation in Cambodia were arranged from there. She said the authorities had not yet identified the business.

She said the seven Philippine women and four Vietnamese women who were caught in the raid but who were not pregnant would be deported soon.

The 13 pregnant women have been placed under care at a hospital in Phnom Penh, said Chou Bun Eng. She added that after they give birth, they could be prosecuted on charges that could land them in prison for two to five years.

She said that Cambodia considered the women not to have been victimized but rather offenders who conspired with the organizers to act as surrogates and then sell the babies for money. Her assertion could not be verified, as the women could not be contacted and it is not known if they have lawyers.

The Philippine Embassy in Cambodia, in response to a local press account of the affair, issued a statement on Wednesday confirming most of the details related to what it called the “rescue of 20 Filipino women.”

“The Philippine Embassy ensured that all 20 Filipinos were interviewed in the presence of an Embassy representative and an interpreter in every step of the investigation process,” it said.

The THAAD defense system is one of the US military’s most powerful anti-missile weapons, capable of intercepting ballistic missiles at ranges of 150 to 200 kilometers (93 to 124 miles) and with a near-perfect success rate in testing.

Using a combination of advanced radar systems and interceptors, THAAD, short for Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, is the only US missile defense system that can engage and destroy short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles both inside or outside the atmosphere during their terminal phase of flight – or dive on their target.

THAAD interceptors are kinetic, meaning they take out incoming targets by colliding with them rather than exploding near the incoming warhead.

According to a report by the Congressional Research Service, the US military has seven THAAD batteries, each consisting of six truck-mounted launchers – with eight interceptors apiece – a powerful radar system and a fire control and communications component.

One of those prized batteries is now being dispatched to Israel to help bolster its already impressive ability to counter incoming missiles “following Iran’s unprecedented attacks against Israel on April 13 and again on October 1,” according to the Pentagon. But to do that, it needs US boots on the ground.

Through a broad command and control and battle management system, THAAD batteries can communicate with a range of US missile defenses, including Aegis systems – commonly found aboard US Navy ships – and Patriot missile defense systems that are designed to intercept shorter-range targets.

Those other missile defense systems are more numerous than THAAD, an illustration of the importance the Biden administration is placing on this deployment to Israel.

THAAD can be quickly deployed by US Air Force cargo aircraft like the C-17 and C-5, but the Pentagon did not give a timetable for when it will be active in Israel.

What makes THAAD so accurate?

What makes THAAD so accurate is the radar system that supplies its targeting information, the Army Navy/Transportable Radar Surveillance radar, or AN/TPY-2.

The radar system, which can deployed with the missile battery or already be in place on US Navy ships or at other installations, can detect missiles in two ways. In its forward-based mode it is configured to acquire and track targets at ranges of up to 3,000 kilometers (1,865 miles), and in its terminal mode it is aimed upward to acquire targets during their descent, according to the Missile Defense Project. Iran is about 1,700 kilometers (1,100 miles from Israel.)

“When it is put in place, it will actually add a layer to the existing Israeli air and missile defenses,” Leighton said.

Production models of the THAAD system have never failed to intercept incoming targets in testing, according to the Missile Threat Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

What about Israel’s other anti-missile systems?

Israel has multiple anti-missile systems already in place designed to shoot down incoming projectiles.

David’s Sling, a joint project of Israel’s RAFAEL Advanced Defense System and US defense giant Raytheon, uses Stunner and SkyCeptor kinetic hit-to-kill interceptors to take out targets as far as 300 kilometers away (186 miles), according to the Missile Threat Project.

Above David’s Sling are Israel’s Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 systems, jointly developed with the United States.

The Arrow 2 uses fragmentation warheads to destroy incoming ballistic missiles in their terminal phase – as they dive toward their targets – in the upper atmosphere, according to the CSIS.

Meanwhile, the Arrow 3 uses hit-to-kill technology to intercept incoming ballistic missiles in space, as THAAD can do.

The lowest level of projectiles fired at Israel is combatted by the Iron Dome defense system, made up of 10 batteries that each carry three to four maneuverable missile launchers.

This isn’t the first time Washington has sent a THAAD battery to Israel. One was dispatched in 2019 for an exercise.

Elsewhere THAAD deployments have also been watched closely by US rivals, most notably China.

The deployment of a THAAD battery to South Korea in 2017, as ballistic missile threats from North Korea ramped up, drew vehement opposition from Beijing, which experts said was worried that the powerful radar could be used to spy on activities well inside China.

The US has also deployed THAAD to Guam, to protect vital US military bases on the Pacific island from possible ballistic missile threats from North Korea or China.