South Korea’s military said North Korea on Saturday fired one suspected long-range missile from its capital toward the sea, a day after it threatened to take strong measures against South Korea and the U.S. over their joint military exercises. The Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul said the ballistic missile was fired at around 5:22 p.m. from an area in Sunan, the site of Pyongyang's international airport. It didn't immediately say where the weapon landed. North Korea’s Foreign Ministry on Friday threatened with "unprecedently" strong action against its rivals, after South Korea announced a series of planned military exercises with the United States aimed at sharpening their response to the North’s growing threats. Toshiro Ino, Japan’s vice minister for defense, said the missile was expected have landed in waters within Japan’s exclusive economic zone, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Oshima island. Oshima lies off the western coast of the northernmost main island of Hokkaido. “We are doing our utmost, working closely with the U.S., to gain information, analyze and take appropriate vigilance and surveillance measures to protect the lives and property of our people,” he told reporters. The launch was North Korea’s first since Jan. 1, when it test-fired a short-range weapon. It followed a massive military parade in Pyongyang last week, where troops rolled out more than a dozen intercontinental ballistic missiles as leader Kim Jong Un watched in delight from a balcony. The unprecedented number of missiles underscored a continuation of expansion of his country’s military capabilities despite limited resources while negotiations with Washington remain stalemated. Those missiles included a new system experts say is possibly linked to the North’s stated desire to acquire a solid-fuel ICBM. North Korea’s existing ICBMs, including Hwasong-17s, use liquid propellants that require pre-launch injections and cannot remain fueled for prolonged periods. A solid-fuel alternative would take less time to prepare and is easier to move around on vehicles, providing less opportunity to be spotted. It wasn’t immediately clear whether Saturday’s launch involved a solid-fuel system. “North Korean missile firings are often tests of technologies under development, and it will be notable if Pyongyang claims progress with a long-range solid-fuel missile,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. “The Kim regime may also tout this launch as a response to U.S. defense cooperation with South Korea and sanctions diplomacy at the United Nations.” North Korea is coming off a record year in weapons demonstrations with more than 70 ballistic missiles fired, including ICBMs with potential range to reach the U.S. mainland. The North also conducted a slew of launches it described as simulated nuclear attacks against South Korean and U.S. targets in response to the allies’ resumption of large-scale joint military exercise that had been downsized for years. North Korea’s missile tests have been punctuated by threats of preemptive nuclear attacks against South Korea or the United States over what it perceives as a broad range of scenarios that put its leadership under threat. Kim doubled down on his nuclear push entering 2023, calling for an “exponential increase” in the country’s nuclear warheads, mass production of battlefield tactical nuclear weapons targeting “enemy” South Korea and the development of more advanced ICBMs. The North Korean statement on Friday accused Washington and Seoul of planning more than 20 rounds of military drills this year, including large-scale field exercises, and described its rivals as “the arch-criminals deliberately disrupting regional peace and stability.” The statement came hours after South Korea’s Defense Ministry officials told lawmakers that Seoul and Washington will hold an annual computer-simulated combined training in mid-March. The 11-day training would reflect North Korea’s nuclear threats, as well as unspecified lessons from the Russia-Ukraine war, according to Heo Tae-keun, South Korea’s deputy minister of national defense policy. Heo said the two countries will also conduct joint field exercises in mid-March that would be bigger than those held in the past few years. South Korea and the U.S. will also hold a one-day tabletop exercise next week at the Pentagon to sharpen a response to a potential use of nuclear weapons by North Korea. The exercise, scheduled for Wednesday, would set up possible scenarios where North Korea uses nuclear weapons, explore how to cope with them militarily and formulate crisis management plans, South Korea’s Defense Ministry said. North Korea has traditionally described U.S.-South Korea military exercises as rehearsals for a potential invasion, while the allies insist that their drills are defensive in nature. The United States and South Korea had downsized or canceled some of their major drills in recent years, first to support the former Trump administration’s diplomatic efforts with Pyongyang and then because of COVID-19. But North Korea’s growing nuclear threats have raised the urgency for South Korea and Japan to strengthen their defense postures in line with their alliances with the United States. South Korea has been seeking reassurances that United States will swiftly and decisively use its nuclear capabilities to protect its ally in face of a North Korean nuclear attack. In addition to expanding and evolving military exercises with South Korea, the United States has also expressed commitment to increase its deployment of strategic military assets like fighter jets and aircraft carriers to the Korean Peninsula in a show of strength. In December, Japan made a major break from its strictly self-defense-only post-World War II principle, adopting a new national security strategy that includes preemptive strikes and cruise missiles to counter growing threats from North Korea, China and Russia. ___ Associated Press writer Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo contributed to the report.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday sent a frigate armed with the country's latest Zircon hypersonic missile on a trans-ocean cruise in a show of force as tensions with the West escalate over the war in Ukraine. Russia touts that the Zircon missile can evade any Western air defenses by flying at an astounding 7,000 miles per hour (11,265 km/h). Here is a glance at the ship and its weapons. Read more: EU hails high gas storage levels despite Russian cuts THE PRIDE OF THE RUSSIAN NAVY Commissioned by the navy in 2018 following long trials, the Admiral Gorshkov is the first ship in the new series of frigates which were designed to replace the aging Soviet-built destroyers as a key strike component of the Russian navy. Armed with an array of missiles, the ship is 130-meters (427-feet) long and has a crew of about 200. In 2019, it circled the world oceans on a 35,000-nautical mile journey. INTENSIVE TESTS The Admiral Gorshkov has served as the main testbed for the latest Russian hypersonic missile, Zircon. In recent years, the Zircon has undergone a series of tests, including being launched at various practice targets. The military declared the tests successful and Zircon officially entered service last fall. Zircon is intended to arm Russian cruisers, frigates and submarines and could be used against both enemy ships and ground targets. It is one of several hypersonic missiles that Russia has developed. THE NEW WEAPON Putin has hailed Zircon as a potent weapon capable of penetrating any existing anti-missile defenses by flying nine times faster than the speed of sound at a range of more than 1,000 kilometers (over 620 miles). Putin has emphasized that Zircon gives the Russian military a long-range conventional strike capability, allowing it to strike any enemy targets with precision. Russia's hypersonic weapons drive emerged as the U.S. has been working on its own Conventional Prompt Global Strike capability that envisions hitting an adversary’s strategic targets with precision-guided conventional weapons anywhere in the world within one hour. Putin heralded Zircon as Russia's answer to that, claiming that the new weapon has no rival, giving Russia a strategic edge. Months before ordering the invasion of Ukraine, Putin put the U.S. and its NATO allies on notice when he warned that Russian warships armed with Zircon would give Russia a capability to strike the adversary's “decision-making centers” within minutes if deployed in neutral waters. Speaking via video link during Wednesday's sendoff ceremony, Putin again praised Zircon as a “unique weapon” without an “equivalent for it in any country in the world.” In response, the Pentagon said it is monitoring the ship, and did not think it presented a threat that could not be countered. “We are aware of the reports regarding the Russian launch of a frigate, the Admiral Grorshkov. We will continue to routinely monitor its activities as we maintain awareness of our operating environment," said Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Roger Cabiness. "While we do not comment on specific capabilities or speculate on hypotheticals, the Department of Defense remains confident in our ability to deter our adversaries and defend United States national security interests at any time, in any place.” Read more: Russia says phone use allowed Ukraine to target its troops OTHER RUSSIAN HYPERSONIC WEAPONS Russia has already commissioned the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicles for some of its ground-based intercontinental ballistic missiles that constitute part of Russia’s strategic nuclear triad. Putin has hailed the Avangard's ability to maneuver at hypersonic speeds on its approach to target, dodging air defenses. The Russian military has also deployed the Kinzhal hypersonic missiles on its MiG-31 aircraft and used them during the war in Ukraine to strike some priority targets. Kinzhal reportedly has a range of about 1,500 kilometers (about 930 miles). PATROL DUTY Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Putin on Wednesday that the Admiral Gorshkov will patrol the Atlantic and Indian Oceans and the Mediterranean, but didn’t give further details. Shoigu said the Admiral Gorshkov's crew will focus on “countering the threats to Russia, maintaining regional peace and stability jointly with friendly countries.” He added the crew will practice with hypersonic weapons and long-range cruise missiles “in various conditions." Some military experts say a single, hypersonic missile-armed warship is no match for the massive naval forces of the U.S. and its allies. But others noted that the frigate's potential deployment close to U.S. shores could be part of Putin's strategy to up the ante in the Ukrainian conflict. “This is a message to the West that Russia has nuclear-tipped missiles that can easily pierce any missile defenses,” pro-Kremlin political analyst Sergei Markov wrote in a commentary.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry warned Thursday that if the United States confirms reports that it plans to deliver sophisticated air defense missiles to Ukraine, it would be “another provocative move by the U.S.” that could prompt a response from Moscow. Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a weekly briefing that the U.S. had “effectively become a party” to the war in Ukraine, following reports that it will provide Kyiv with Patriot surface-to-air missiles, the most advanced the West has yet offered to help repel Russian aerial attacks. Growing amounts of U.S. military assistance, including the transfer of such sophisticated weapons, “would mean even broader involvement of military personnel in the hostilities and could entail possible consequences,” Zakharova added. She did not specify what the consequences might be. U.S. officials said Tuesday that Washington was poised to approve sending a Patriot missile battery to Ukraine, finally agreeing to an urgent request from Ukrainian leaders desperate for more robust weapons to shoot down incoming Russian missiles that have crippled much of the country’s vital infrastructure. An official announcement is expected soon. Operating and maintaining a Patriot battery requires as many as 90 troops, and for months the U.S. has been reluctant to provide the complex system because sending American forces into Ukraine to operate the systems is a nonstarter for the administration of President Joe Biden. Even without the presence of U.S. service members to train Ukrainians on use of the system, concerns remain that deployment of the missiles could provoke Russia or risk that a fired projectile could hit inside Russia and further escalate the conflict. Before reports emerged on the delivery of Patriot systems, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, which is chaired by President Vladimir Putin, warned that if Patriots enter Ukraine “along with NATO personnel, they will immediately become a legitimate target for our armed forces.” Read: Russian drone strikes damage 5 buildings in Ukraine capital Asked Wednesday whether the Kremlin backs that threat, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov answered yes, but added in a conference call with reporters that he would refrain from more detailed comment until the U.S. officially announces the Patriot delivery to Ukraine. Two defense officials said Russia’s warnings would not change the calculation about what weapons the U.S. would provide. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk publicly about the issue. Ukraine has so far been cautious in reacting to the reports. Hanna Maliar, Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, told reporters Thursday in Kyiv that the delivery of such weaponry remains “sensitive not only for Ukraine, but for our partners,” and that only President Volodymyr Zelenskyy or Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov would make any official announcement on such an agreement. White House and Pentagon leaders have said consistently that providing Ukraine with additional air defenses is a priority, and Patriot missiles have been under consideration for some time. As the winter closed in and the Russian bombardment of civilian infrastructure escalated, official said, the idea became a higher priority. Ukraine’s electricity provider said Thursday that the country’s energy system had a “significant deficit of electricity,” and that emergency shutdowns had been applied in some areas as temperatures hover around or below freezing. The state-owned grid operator Ukrenergo warned in a statement on Facebook that damage caused to energy infrastructure by Russian attacks is being compounded by harsh weather, including snow, ice and strong winds. Maximum temperatures in the capital were forecast to barely climb above freezing heading into the weekend, with even colder weather expected early next week. The southern Ukrainian city of Kherson was left completely without power following Russian shelling on Thursday, according to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the Ukrainian president’s office, who wrote on Telegram. He added that two people were killed in the attacks. Heavy shelling of the city’s Korabelny district was still underway in the afternoon, and Russian shells hit 100 meters (yards) from the regional administration building, he said. Read: Ukraine president again presses West for advanced weapons Amid the infrastructure attacks and power outages across the country, seven civilians were killed and 19 wounded on Wednesday and Thursday, according to a report issued by the Ukrainian president’s office. The head of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk province, Pavlo Kyrylenko, reported that Russian strikes the previous day had killed two civilians and wounded seven. Kremlin-backed authorities in the region, which was illegally annexed by Moscow in September, announced that Russia had taken control of 80% of the city of Marinka, seen as critical to Ukrainian hopes of retaking the Russian-held regional capital, Donetsk. The Moscow-installed mayor of Donetsk, Aleksei Kulemzin, said Thursday that the city center had been hit by “the most massive strike” since the area came under the control of Russian-backed separatists in 2014. Writing on Telegram, Kulemzin said 40 Ukrainian rockets struck Donetsk on Thursday morning, noting that multistory residential buildings were hit and that fires broke out at a hospital and university campus. Elsewhere, Ukrainian forces shelled Russia’s western Kursk province, according to regional Gov. Roman Starovoyt. Six shells reportedly struck a farm in the province’s Belovsky district, which borders Ukraine’s Sumy province. There were no casualties, Starovoyt wrote on Telegram. In other developments Thursday: — Russia continued to build up its military presence in Belarus, a senior Ukrainian military official said. According to Brig. Gen. Oleksiy Hromov, Russian units “are undergoing training and combat coordination” in Belarus, with the Kremlin using Belarusian officers and training grounds to improve the combat capability of existing units, as well as to train newly created units. Read: Russia grinds on in eastern Ukraine; Bakhmut ‘destroyed’ Speaking at a press briefing, Hromov said the probability of a Russian offensive from Belarus “remains low,” but he highlighted that the transfer of Russian weapons to Belarus is ongoing, including three hypersonic missile-carrying aircraft, a set of tanks and a long-range radar-detection aircraft. — Russia’s Foreign Ministry says the Vatican has apologized for a statement Pope Francis made in a recent interview in which he singled out two Russian ethnic minorities — the Chechens and the Buryats — as being “the most cruel” participants in the war in Ukraine. At a briefing on Thursday, Zakharova quoted from what she said was a message from the Vatican that “apologizes to the Russian side” for the pope’s comments. Zakharova praised the message, saying that it showed the Vatican’s “ability to conduct dialogue and listen to interlocutors.” A Vatican spokesman would say only that there had been diplomatic contacts on the matter.

Shelling by Russian forces struck several areas in eastern and southern Ukraine overnight as utility crews continued a scramble to restore power, water and heating following widespread strikes in recent weeks, officials said Sunday. With persistent snowfall blanketing the capital, Kyiv, Sunday, analysts predicted that wintry weather — bringing with it frozen terrain and grueling fighting conditions — could have an increasing impact on the direction of the conflict that has raged since Russian forces invaded Ukraine more than nine months ago. But for the moment, both sides were bogged down by heavy rain and muddy battlefield conditions in some areas, experts said. After a blistering barrage of Russian artillery strikes on at least two occasions over the past two weeks, infrastructure teams in Ukraine were fanning out in around-the-clock deployments to restore key basic services as many Ukrainians dealt with only a few hours of electricity per day — if any. Ukrenergo, the state power grid operator, said Sunday that electricity producers are now supplying about 80% of demand. That’s an improvement from Saturday’s 75%, the company says. The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank that has been closely monitoring developments in Ukraine, said reporting from both sides indicated that heavy rain and mud have had an impact — but wider freezing expected along the front lines in coming days could play a role. Read more: Most Ukrainians left without power after Russian strikes “It is unclear if either side is actively planning or preparing to resume major offensive or counter-offensive operations at that time, but the meteorological factors that have been hindering such operations will begin lifting,” it said in a note published Saturday. ISW said Russian forces were digging in further east of the city of Kherson, from which they were expelled by Ukrainian forces more than two weeks ago, and continued “routine artillery fire” across the Dnipro River. In the eastern Donetsk region, five people were killed in shelling over the past day, according to governor Pavlo Kyrylenko. Overnight shelling was reported by regional leaders in the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk areas to the west. Kharkiv governor Oleh Syniehubov said one person was killed and three wounded in the northeastern region. A day earlier, a long column of cars, vans and trucks caravanned away from the recently liberated city of Kherson after intense shelling in recent days and amid concerns more pummeling from the Russian forces nearby could loom again in coming days. Read more: Civilians escape Kherson after Russian strikes on freed city “The day before yesterday, artillery hit our house. Four flats burned down. Windows shattered,” said city resident Vitaliy Nadochiy, driving out with a terrier on his lap and a Ukrainian flag dangling from a sun visor. “We can’t be there. There is no electricity, no water, heating. So we are leaving to go to my brother.”

US President Joe Biden said it was “unlikely” that missile was fired from Russia, and pledged support for Poland’s investigation. “There is preliminary information that contests that,” Biden told reporters when asked if the missile had been fired from Russia. “It is unlikely in the lines of the trajectory that it was fired from Russia, but we’ll see.” Biden was joined at the G-20 by leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Russian President Vladimir Putin did not attend. Read more: Biden calls ‘emergency’ meeting after missile hits Poland The careful wording of the final statement reflected tensions at the gathering and the challenge for the US and its allies to isolate Putin’s government. Several G-20 members, including host Indonesia, are wary of becoming entangled in disputes between bigger powers. Members of the Group of 20 leading economies ended their meeting Wednesday by declaring that most of them strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and warning that the conflict is intensifying fragilities in the world’s economy. The declaration was a strong rebuke of the war that has killed thousands, heightened global security tensions and disrupted the world economy. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who led the Russian delegation to Indonesia in place of Putin, denounced the Biden administration push to condemn Moscow in his remarks Tuesday (November 15, 2022). The summit’s closing declaration was noteworthy in highlighting the war given the divisions among the group, which includes not only Russia itself but also countries such as China and India that have significant trade ties with Moscow and have stopped short of outright criticism of the war. Still, it acknowledged “there were other views and different assessments” and stated that the G-20 is “not the forum to resolve security issues.” Read more: Russian missiles cross into Poland during strike on Ukraine, killing 2 The conflict loomed large over the two-day summit held on the tropical island of Bali in Indonesia. News early in the day of an explosion that rocked eastern Poland prompted U.S. President Joe Biden to hastily arrange an emergency meeting with G-7 and NATO members gathered at the summit. Poland said the blast near the Ukrainian border was caused by a Russian-made missile and that it was investigating what happened. The NATO member stopped short of blaming Russia for the incident, which killed two people. Russia denied involvement.

 As the sun was rising in Kabul on Sunday, two Hellfire missiles fired by a U.S. drone ended Ayman al-Zawahri's decade-long reign as the leader of al-Qaida. The seeds of the audacious counterterrorism operation had been planted over many months. U.S. officials had built a scale model of the safe house where al-Zawahri had been located, and brought it into the White House Situation Room to show President Joe Biden. They knew al-Zawahri was partial to sitting on the home's balcony. They had painstakingly constructed “a pattern of life," as one official put it. They were confident he was on the balcony when the missiles flew, officials said. Also read: Indonesia arrests key leader in al-Qaida linked group Years of efforts by U.S. intelligence operatives under four presidents to track al-Zawahri and his associates paid dividends earlier this year, Biden said, when they located Osama bin Laden’s longtime No. 2 — a co-planner of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S. — and ultimate successor at the house in Kabul. Bin Laden's death came in May 2011, face to face with a U.S. assault team led by Navy SEALs. Al-Zawahri's death came from afar, at 6:18 a.m. in Kabul. His family, supported by the Haqqani Taliban network, had taken up residence in the home after the Taliban regained control of the country last year, following the withdrawal of U.S. forces after nearly 20 years of combat that had been intended, in part, to keep al-Qaida from regaining a base of operations in Afghanistan. But the lead on his whereabouts was only the first step. Confirming al-Zawahri’s identity, devising a strike in a crowded city that wouldn’t recklessly endanger civilians, and ensuring the operation wouldn’t set back other U.S. priorities took months to fall into place. That effort involved independent teams of analysts reaching similar conclusions about the probability of al-Zawahri’s presence, the scale mock-up and engineering studies of the building to evaluate the risk to people nearby, and the unanimous recommendation of Biden’s advisers to go ahead with the strike. “Clear and convincing,” Biden called the evidence. "I authorized the precision strike that would remove him from the battlefield once and for all. This measure was carefully planned, rigorously, to minimize the risk of harm to other civilians.” The consequences of getting it wrong on this type of judgment call were devastating a year ago this month, when a U.S. drone strike during the chaotic withdrawal of American forces killed 10 innocent family members, seven of them children. Also read: Pentagon chief: al-Qaida may seek comeback in Afghanistan Biden ordered what officials called a “tailored airstrike,” designed so that the two missiles would destroy only the balcony of the safe house where the terrorist leader was holed up for months, sparing occupants elsewhere in the building. A senior U.S. administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the strike planning, said al-Zawahri was identified on “multiple occasions, for sustained periods of time” on the balcony where he died. The official said “multiple streams of intelligence” convinced U.S. analysts of his presence, having eliminated “all reasonable options” other than his being there. Two senior national security officials were first briefed on the intelligence in early April, with the president being briefed by national security adviser Jake Sullivan shortly thereafter. Through May and June, a small circle of officials across the government worked to vet the intelligence and devise options for Biden. On July 1 in the White House Situation Room, after returning from a five-day trip to Europe, Biden was briefed on the proposed strike by his national security aides. It was at that meeting, the official said, that Biden viewed the model of the safe house and peppered advisers, including CIA Director William Burns, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and National Counterterrorism Center director Christy Abizaid, with questions about their conclusion that al-Zawahri was hiding there. Biden, the official said, also pressed officials to consider the risks the strike could pose to American Mark Frerichs, who has been in Taliban captivity for more than two years, and to Afghans who aided the U.S. war efforts who remain in the country. U.S. lawyers also considered the legality of the strike, concluding that al-Zawahri’s continued leadership of the terrorist group and support for al-Qaida attacks made him a lawful target. The official said al-Zawahri had built an organizational model that allowed him to lead the global network even from relative isolation. That included filming videos from the house, and the U.S. believes some may be released after his death. On July 25, as Biden was isolated in the White House residence with COVID-19, he received a final briefing from his team. Each of the officials participating strongly recommended the operation’s approval, the official said, and Biden gave the sign-off for the strike as soon as an opportunity was available. That unanimity was lacking a decade earlier when Biden, as vice president, gave President Barack Obama advice he did not take — to hold off on the bin Laden strike, according Obama's memoirs. The opportunity came early Sunday — late Saturday in Washington — hours after Biden again found himself in isolation with a rebound case of the coronavirus. He was informed when the operation began and when it concluded, the official said. A further 36 hours of intelligence analysis would follow before U.S. officials began sharing that al-Zawahri was killed, as they watched the Haqqani Taliban network restrict access to the safe house and relocate the dead al-Qaida leader’s family. U.S. officials interpreted that as the Taliban trying to conceal the fact they had harbored al-Zawahri. After last year’s troop withdrawal, the U.S. was left with fewer bases in the region to collect intelligence and carry out strikes on terrorist targets. It was not clear from where the drone carrying the missiles was launched or whether countries it flew over were aware of its presence. The U.S. official said no American personnel were on the ground in Kabul supporting the strike and the Taliban was provided with no forewarning of the attack. In remarks 11 month ago, Biden had said the U.S. would keep up the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan and other countries, despite pulling out troops. “We just don’t need to fight a ground war to do it.” “We have what’s called over-the-horizon capabilities," he said. On Sunday, the missiles came over the horizon.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he wants a tough global response to Russia after its forces fired a missile at a crowded train station, killing at least 52 people. Zelenskyy's voice rose in anger during his nightly address late Friday, when he said the strike on the Kramatorsk train station, where 4,000 people were trying to flee a looming Russian offensive in the east, amounted to another war crime. Russia denied it was responsible for the strike. Among those killed were children, and dozens of people were severely injured. Photos taken after the attack showed corpses covered with tarpaulins, and the remnants of a rocket painted with the words “For the children" in Russian. The Russian phrasing seemed to suggest the missile was sent to avenge the loss or subjugation of children, although its exact meaning remained unclear. The strike seemed to shock world leaders. “There are almost no words for it,” European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters during a visit to Ukraine. “The cynical behavior (by Russia) has almost no benchmark anymore.” The attack came as workers elsewhere in the country unearthed bodies from a mass grave in Bucha, a town near Kyiv, where graphic evidence of dozens of killings emerged following the withdrawal of Russian forces. “Like the massacres in Bucha, like many other Russian war crimes, the missile attack on Kramatorsk should be one of the charges at the tribunal that must be held,” Zelenskyy said. He said efforts would be taken “to establish every minute of who did what, who gave what orders, where the missile came from, who transported it, who gave the command and how this strike was agreed to.” READ: Food prices soar to record levels on Ukraine war disruptions After failing to take Kyiv in the face of stiff resistance, Russian forces have now set their sights on the eastern Donbas region, the mostly Russian-speaking, industrial area where Moscow-backed rebels have been fighting Ukrainian forces for eight years and control some places. Although the train station is in Ukrainian government-controlled territory in the Donbas, Russia accused Ukraine of carrying out the attack. So did the region’s Moscow-backed separatists, who work closely with Russian troops. Western experts, however, dismissed Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov's assertion that Russian forces “do not use” that type of missile. A Western official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence, said Russia’s forces have used the missile — and that given the strike’s location and impact, it was likely Russia’s. Justin Bronk, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London, added that only Russia would have reason to target railway infrastructure in the Donbas, as it is critical for the Ukrainian military's efforts to reinforce its units. Bronk pointed to other occasions when Russian authorities have tried to deflect blame by claiming their forces no longer use an older weapon “to kind of muddy the waters and try and create doubt.” He suggested Russia specifically chose the missile type because Ukraine also possesses them. British Defense Minister Ben Wallace denounced the attack as a war crime, and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called it “completely unacceptable.” Ukrainian authorities and Western officials have repeatedly accused Russian forces of atrocities in the war that began with a Feb. 24 invasion. More than 4 million Ukrainians have fled the country, and millions more have been displaced. Some of the grisliest evidence has been found in towns around Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, from which Russian President Vladimir Putin's troops pulled back in recent days. In Bucha, Mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk has said investigators found at least three sites of mass shootings of civilians and were still finding bodies in yards, parks and city squares — 90% of whom were shot. Russia has falsely claimed that the scenes in Bucha were staged. On Friday, workers pulled corpses from a mass grave near a church under spitting rain, lining up black body bags in rows in the mud. About 67 people were buried there, according to a statement from Prosecutor-General Iryna Venediktova's office. Zelenskyy cited communications intercepted by the Ukrainian security service as evidence of Russian war crimes, in an excerpted interview with CBS' “60 Minutes” that aired Friday. “There are (Russian) soldiers talking with their parents about what they stole and who they abducted. There are recordings of (Russian) prisoners of war who admitted to killing people,” he said. “There are pilots in prison who had maps with civilian targets to bomb. There are also investigations being conducted based on the remains of the dead.” Zelenskyy's comments echo reporting from German news magazine Der Spiegel saying Germany's foreign intelligence agency had intercepted Russian military radio traffic in which soldiers may have discussed civilian killings in Bucha. The weekly also reported that the recordings indicated the Russian mercenary Wagner Group was involved in atrocities there. German government officials would not confirm or deny the report, but two former German ministers filed a war crimes complaint Thursday. Russia has denied that its military was involved in war crimes. Elsewhere, in anticipation of intensified attacks by Russian forces, hundreds of Ukrainians fled villages that were either under fire or occupied in the southern regions of Mykolaiv and Kherson. Ukrainian officials have almost daily pleaded with Western powers to send more arms, and to further punish Russia with sanctions, exclusion of Russian banks from the global financial system and a total EU embargo on Russian gas and oil. NATO nations agreed Thursday to increase their supply of weapons, and Slovakian Prime Minister Eduard Heger announced on a trip to Ukraine on Friday that his country has donated its Soviet-era S-300 air defense system to Ukraine. Zelenskyy had appealed for S-300s to help the country “close the skies” to Russian warplanes and missiles. A senior U.S. defense official said Friday that the Pentagon believes some of Russia's retreating units were so badly damaged they are “for all intents and purposes eradicated.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal military assessments. The official said the U.S. believes Russia has lost between 15% and 20% of its combat power overall since the war began. While some combat units are withdrawing to be resupplied in Russia, Moscow has added thousands of troops around Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, he said. In Kharkiv, Lidiya Mezhiritska stood in the wreckage of her home after overnight missile strikes turned it to rubble. “The ‘Russian world,’ they say,” she said, wryly invoking Putin’s nationalist justification for invading Ukraine. “People, children, old people, women are dying. I don’t have a machine gun. I would definitely go (fight), regardless of age.”

President Joe Biden approved a $100 million transfer of Javelin anti-armor missiles to Ukraine on Tuesday, according to an administration official. The transfer brings the total of U.S. military assistance for Ukraine to $2.4 billion since Biden took office last January. Also Read: White House: US, allies to ban new investments in Russia The White House announced late Tuesday that Biden approved the assistance, which is funded as part of a broader $13.6 billion in aid for Ukraine approved by Congress last month after Russia’s invasion. The administration official confirmed that it was for a transfer of the Javelin missiles, which have been requested by the Ukrainian military to combat Russian armor. The official spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter. Also Read: Zelenskyy at the UN accuses Russian military of war crimes  

North Korea on Saturday fired a ballistic missile into the sea, according to its neighbors’ militaries, extending Pyongyang's streak of weapons tests this year amid a prolonged freeze in nuclear negotiations with the United States. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile fired from an area near the North Korean capital flew about 270 kilometers (168 miles) eastward at a maximum altitude of 560 kilometers (348 miles) before landing in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. It said U.S. and South Korean intelligence officials were closely analyzing the launch. The launch was North Korea’s ninth round of weapons tests in 2022 as it continues to use a pause in diplomacy to expand its military capabilities while attempting to pressure the Biden administration for concessions. The flight details roughly matched an earlier assessment by the Japanese military and were similar to North Korea’s previous launch on Sunday that was also conducted from the area of Sunan near Pyongyang. READ: North Korea says it tested cameras for spy satellite North Korean state media said last week's launch was designed to test a camera system it plans to install on a spy satellite that is under development. Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said the latest missile likely landed outside the country’s exclusive economic zone, and that there were no immediate reports of damages to vessels. The U.S. Indo Pacific Command said the launch did not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or that of its allies. It said the United States calls on North Korea to refrain from further destabilizing acts and is closely consulting with South Korea and Japan as well as other regional allies and partners over the launch. South Korean national security adviser Suh Hoon presided over an emergency National Security Council meeting in which members denounced North Korea’s continuation of launches that violate U.N. Security Council resolutions. The officials called for the North to refrain from actions that further raise tensions in the face of an international crisis created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and at a time when South Korea is holding a presidential election. They also vowed stronger cooperation with the United States to deal with the North Korean threat and more closely monitor the North’s nuclear and missile facilities, Seoul’s presidential office said. “The missile was fired just as the international community is responding to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while also in the middle of the Beijing Paralympics,” said Kishi, who canceled an appearance at a military academy graduation to respond to the launch. “This is absolutely unacceptable,” he told reporters. The launch came as South Koreans waited in long lines at polling stations Saturday morning to participate in early voting ahead of a presidential election next Wednesday. The voting follows months of bitter campaigning in which the two major candidates have clashed over whether South Korea should continue to pursue engagement with the belligerent North or take a harder line to check its nuclear threat. The North’s other tests this year included a purported hypersonic missile and its first launch since 2017 of an intermediate range missile potentially capable of reaching Guam, a major U.S. military hub in the Pacific. Analysts say North Korea could up the ante in coming months and possibly resume its testing of major weapons like intercontinental ballistic missiles as it tries to move the needle with Washington, which is now preoccupied with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and regional competition with China. READ: North Korea fires 2 suspected missiles in 6th launch in 2022 “The (Kim Jong Un) regime may be unhappy with Washington coordinating global efforts against Russian aggression in Ukraine and disappointed with Seoul’s inward focus ahead of the South Korean presidential election,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha University in Seoul. “But North Korea does not simply test missiles for international attention. Pyongyang’s current priorities are military modernization and domestic politics,” Easley added. During a ruling Workers Party conference called by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last month, Politburo members issued a veiled threat to resume the tests of nuclear devices and ICBMs, which Kim had unilaterally suspended in 2018 to make room for diplomacy with then-President Donald Trump. But negotiations remain derailed after the collapse of Trump and Kim’s second meeting in February 2019, when the Americans rejected North Korea’s demands for major sanctions relief in exchange for dismantling an aging nuclear facility, which would have amounted to a partial surrender of its nuclear capabilities. The Biden administration has offered open-ended talks with Pyongyang but shown no willingness to offer badly needed economic benefits unless the North takes real steps to cut down its nuclear weapons and missile program. The North’s claim that it is testing camera systems for spy satellites suggests it could possibly conduct a banned long-range rocket test disguised as a space launch to advance its weaponry and apply more pressure on Washington. Some analysts predict that North Korea will launch a rocket carrying a satellite ahead of a major political anniversary in April, the birthday of state founder Kim Il Sung, the late grandfather of Kim Jong Un.

North Korea said Monday it tested cameras to be installed on a spy satellite, with the announcement coming a day after after its neighbors detected a new ballistic missile launch. While North Korean state media didn't directly acknowledge any missile launch Sunday, it said the "important test” involved cameras for a reconnaissance satellite conducting vertical and oblique photography of a specific area of Earth. State media also released photos of the Korean Peninsula that appeared to be taken from space. Read:US hits NKorean officials with sanctions after missile test Technical details of the North Korean statement couldn’t be independently confirmed. But the statement suggests North Korea likely launched a rocket or a missile to take space-based photos. A spy satellite is among an array of sophisticated weapons systems that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed last year to develop under military modernization plans to cope with what he called hostile U.S. policies toward his country. Putting a satellite into orbit requires a long-range rocket launch, but the United Nations has banned North Korea from such launches, since both ballistic missiles and the rockets used for satellite launches share similar bodies, engines and other technologies. The Korean Central News Agency said “the test is of great significance” in North Korea's satellite development because it confirmed “the characteristics and working accuracy of high-definition photographing system, data transmission system and attitude control devices," by the National Aerospace Development Administration and the Academy of Defense Science After repeated failures, North Korea successfully put its first satellite into orbit in 2012 and second one in 2016. North Korea said both were Earth observation satellites and that their launches were part of its peaceful space development program. Outside experts questioned whether those satellites have been working normally but said the North’s past satellite launches have improved its missile programs. In 2017, North Korea performed three intercontinental ballistic missile tests and its sixth and most powerful nuclear test as part of its efforts to acquire a nuclear-armed missile capable of reaching the American homeland. According to U.S, South Korean and Japanese accounts, North Korea launched a ballistic missile Sunday off its east coast. Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said the missile flew about 300 kilometers (190 miles) at a maximum altitude of about 600 kilometers (370 miles) before landing off North Korea’s eastern coast. Read:North Korea fires 2 suspected missiles in 6th launch in 2022 The missile launch was the eighth of its kind this year and the first since Jan. 30. Some experts say North Korea may view the U.S. preoccupation with Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a chance to accelerate testing activity without receiving any serious response from Washington. Kim imposed a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests in 2018 at the start of now-stalled nuclear diplomacy with then-President Donald Trump. But North Korea recently hinted at lifting that moratorium, raising speculation that it might perform an ICBM or a satellite-carrying rocket launch soon.