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Attack at Turkey aviation site leaves some dead, injured

Ankara — A deadly attack was carried out at the Turkish Aerospace Industries’ headquarters near Ankara on Wednesday, the government said, as broadcasters showed footage of several armed assailants entering the building amid reports of gunfire and a loud explosion.

“A terrorist attack was carried out against the TUSAS facilities in Kahramankazan, Ankara. Unfortunately, we have martyrs and injured people,” Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on social media X, referring to the Aerospace Industries.

The cause and perpetrators of the blast and subsequent gunfire remained unclear. Some media reports claimed a suicide attack had occurred and that there were hostages inside the building. Officials have not confirmed this.

Witnesses told Reuters that employees inside the building were taken by authorities to shelters and no one was permitted to leave. They said bombings may have taken place at different exits as employees were leaving work for the day.

The state-owned Anadolu Agency said emergency services were dispatched to the site, while television images showed a damaged gate and an exchange of gunfire in a parking lot. The images showed the attackers carrying assault rifles and backpacks as they entered the building.

Anadolu also said prosecutors had launched an investigation into the attack.

TUSAS is one of Turkey’s most important defense and aviation companies. It produces KAAN, the country’s first national combat aircraft, among other projects, and has over 10,000 employees. 
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Greek PM deplores worst climate conditions in 4 decades

Athens — Wildfire-plagued Greece has suffered its worst year in terms of climate conditions in four decades in 2024, its prime minister told parliament on Wednesday.

The already sun-baked Mediterranean region has been designated by scientists as a climate change “hotspot”, with warming higher than the global average, according to United Nations reports. 

Greece has been perennially struck by scorching heatwaves and destructive wildfires every summer, with conditions worsening in recent years.

“We were expecting a very difficult year in terms of climate, it was objectively the most difficult in the past 40 years according to data by all scientists, including those from the national climate monitor,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told parliament.

He pointed to “temperatures constantly higher than average”, “prolonged drought”, “strong winds”, adding that Greece needed to face the consequences of climate change.

The number of wildfires so far this year has reached 9,101, up from 7,163 last year, with 44,000 hectares (109,000 acres) burnt, the premier said during a parliamentary debate on the matter.  

Forest blazes began earlier than normal this year, with one igniting at the end of March in the country’s north.

Greece experienced its hottest summer ever, Athens’s climate monitor said in September, with premature heatwaves in June, and record-high summer temperatures.

June and July were the warmest months since records began in 1960, while August was the second hottest after August 2021, the observatory said on its meteo.gr website.

More than 20 people died in Greek forest fires last year, with a massive blaze in Dadia national park dubbed the most destructive ever recorded in the European Union.

Rising temperatures are leading to extended wildfire seasons and increasing the area burnt by the blazes, according to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 
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Britain Prime Minister Starmer plays down Trump team claims of interference 

London — Britain’s prime minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday played down allegations made by Republican Party presidential candidate Donald Trump’s team of “blatant foreign interference” by his Labour Party in the U.S. election, saying it was normal for its volunteers to campaign.   

Starmer also insisted that he maintained “a good relationship” with Trump, having met him for talks last month.   

The former president’s legal team filed a complaint to the U.S. Federal Election Commission alleging the “British Labour Party made, and the [Kamala] Harris campaign accepted, illegal foreign national contributions.”   

The filing cited media reports that Labour officials, including the prime minister’s new chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, traveled to the United States to advise the Harris campaign.   

Trump’s team also submitted a now-deleted LinkedIn post by Labour director of operations Sofia Patel calling for volunteers to travel to North Carolina, saying “we will sort out your housing.”   

Foreign nationals are allowed to volunteer in U.S. elections but may not be compensated.   

Starmer told media traveling with him to a Commonwealth meeting on the Pacific island of Samoa that his party had done nothing wrong, and that the volunteers had paid for themselves.   

“The Labour party has volunteers, who have gone over pretty much every election,” he said.   

“They’re doing it in their spare time, they’re doing it as volunteers, they’re staying, I think, with other volunteers over there.”   

“That’s what they’ve done in previous elections, that’s what they’re doing in this election and that’s really straightforward.”   

He also denied suggestions that it could damage relations with Britain’s most important ally should Republican party candidate Trump beat Democrat Harris and secure a return to the White House.   

Starmer said he had “established a good relationship” with the former president, having met him last month for a two-hour dinner at the former real estate tycoon’s Trump Tower residence in New York.   

Adding to the dispute, Trump surrogate Elon Musk wrote on his X site on Tuesday that “this is war” after leaked documents from campaign group Center for Countering Digital Hate appeared to show that one of its objectives was to “kill Musk’s Twitter,” X’s former name.   

The campaign group and think-tank is led by a former Labour adviser and McSweeney is a former director. 
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Incoming EU foreign policy chief Kallas warns against Russia and China

The European Union’s next foreign policy chief has told lawmakers that strengthening security must be a priority, warning that Europe must be prepared as Russia and “partly China” exploit the continent’s open societies.

“European security is deeply personal to me as a native of a country that has long told others that Russia’s imperialistic dream never died,” Kaja Kallas, a former Estonian prime minister, said in written replies to members of the European Parliament published late on Tuesday.

“My short-term priority must be to address the pressing global concerns: Russia’s war against Ukraine and strengthening the EU’s security and defense,” she wrote.

Kallas, nominated by European leaders in June to serve as the bloc’s new high representative for foreign affairs, is set to succeed incumbent Josep Borrell.

The European Parliament will hold hearings in November for members of the next European Commission.

In 21 pages of answers to questions posed by the lawmakers ahead of the hearings, the Estonian politician outlined her vision for Europe’s foreign policy at a time when the bloc faces an increasingly complex geopolitical environment.

The EU must stay at “the forefront of humanitarian efforts” in the Middle East,” Kallas said, and work “with all actors to support the pursuit of a just and comprehensive peace” while also pointing to challenges such as China’s support for Russia.

“Actors such as Russia, Iran, North Korea, and partly China, aim at weaponizing interdependencies and exploiting the openness of our societies against us,” she added. “For this, we must be prepared.”
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Russia, Ukraine trade drone attacks

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday it destroyed 14 Ukrainian aerial drones in areas along the Ukraine-Russia border as well as four uncrewed Ukrainian boats in the Black Sea.

The ministry said Russian air defenses destroyed 10 drones over Russia-occupied Crimea, and another four over the Rostov region.

Russian forces carried out a second consecutive night of heavy drone attacks targeting the Sumy region in southern Ukraine.

The Sumy regional military administration said Wednesday that Ukrainian air defenses shot down 19 Russian drones, a night after Ukraine downed 25 drones in the same area.

Officials in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk and Mykolaiv regions also reported drones being shot down overnight.

North Korean involvement

Ukraine has “information that two units of military personnel from North Korea are being trained — potentially even two brigades of 6,000 people each” — for combat in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday. 

“This is a challenge,” the president said in his daily address. “But we know how to respond to this challenge. And it is important that our partners do not shy away from this challenge, as well.” 

“If North Korea can intervene in the war in Europe, then the pressure on this regime is definitely not strong enough,” Zelenskyy said. “And if Russia is still able to expand and prolong this war, it means that everyone in the world who is still not helping to force Russia into peace is actually helping Putin to wage war.” 

“We expect a firm, concrete response from the world,” he added. “Hopefully, not only in words.” 

Also Tuesday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement that Russia is playing with lives beyond Ukraine. 

“Russia’s indiscriminate strikes on ports in the Black Sea underscore that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is willing to gamble on global food security in his attempts to force Ukraine into submission. … In doing so, he is harming millions of vulnerable people across Africa, Asia and the Middle East to try and gain the upper hand in his barbaric war.”  

Starmer said Russia’s conduct in the conflict has shown “no respect for human life or the consequences of their invasion across the world.”

Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters
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Ukraine’s prosecutor general resigns following draft-dodging scandal

Ukraine’s prosecutor general announced his resignation Tuesday amid charges that his office provided exemptions to the military draft for government officials.  

“Many shameful facts of abuse have been established within the system of the prosecutor’s offices of Ukraine,” Andriy Kostin said in a statement.  

Kostin’s resignation followed a meeting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held with senior officials concerning the issuance of disability certificates. The certificates allowed officials throughout the government to avoid military service at a time when the country is struggling to recruit soldiers for its fight against Russia. 

“The prosecutor general must take political responsibility for the situation in the prosecution bodies of Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said in a statement after the meeting.  

“The problem is not only that officials use their connections to obtain disability status,” the president said in his daily address. “The problem is also that people with real disabilities, in particular those disabled in combat, are often unable to get proper status and fair payments.” 

Zelenskyy said a full audit has been conducted on “the pensions and other accruals” that government officials were able to acquire with the faulty disability exemptions.  

Sixty-four officials within the Medical and Social Expert Commission have been notified that they are being investigated for illegally issuing disability certificates, according to the SBU, Ukraine’s domestic security service. Nine have been tried and found guilty.  

The president has ordered an overhaul of the disability assessment system. 

Some information for this report was provided by Reuters and Agence France-Presse.  
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VOA interview: US Army General Costanza discusses Russia’s threat to West

The war in Ukraine is reshaping the strategic landscape of Europe. While Western and Eastern European nations within the NATO alliance recognize the Russian threat, each day, NATO nations bordering Belarus and Russia feel the immediacy of the threat.

In an exclusive interview with VOA’s Eastern Europe Bureau Chief Myroslava Gongadze, Lieutenant General Charles Costanza, commander of the U.S. Army’s V Corps (also known as the Fifth Corps) in Poland, discusses how NATO adapts to Russia’s evolving tactics while defending its members’ borders.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

VOA: Can you explain the different threat assessments from Eastern and Western European partners of NATO regarding Russia?

Charles Costanza, commanding general of the U.S. Army’s V Corps: Clearly, in the eastern flank of Europe, the threat is real. They’re on the border with Belarus and Russia, and so, they see that threat every day differently. You see recent open-source reporting on the Russian UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones] coming over Romanian territory and Lithuanian territory. Those incursions have increased. You see the sabotage operations going on throughout eastern flank countries and Eastern European countries. So, Russia is increasing that, short of … challenges and interference [that would trigger the NATO mutual defense clause].

VOA: Do you think Russia is doing it deliberately?

Costanza: Of course, they are. They weaponize immigration — I say “weaponize” deliberately. This weaponized immigration is happening in Poland, it’s all been driven from Russia to interfere in Eastern Europe. Moldova is a near-term example with their elections. Russia is actively interfering in those elections to try and shape them in a pro-Russian way. So, all that is going on right now. So, that’s part of this threat assessment piece that isn’t necessarily impacting the Western European countries as much as Eastern Europe.

VOA: How threatening is Russia’s military?

Costanza: I think there’s a view that Russia is going to take three to 10 years to reconstitute, and I think that we need to look at that a little differently. Russian armed forces, ground forces right now, are actually bigger than they were before the war with Ukraine started 2½ years ago, despite the losses of open-source reporting [of] 600,000 casualties that they’ve incurred during the course of the war.

They may not be as well trained, but they’re bigger. Their industrial base is on a wartime footing. Their mobilization base is on a wartime footing. They know they’re fighting a Western-trained, West-equipped country with Ukraine. They’re learning how to defeat those capabilities and those systems over the last 2½ years. So, they’re modernizing their force based on the lessons that they’re learning, and I think that’s something we should be concerned about. They’re modernizing their equipment. They’re changing the way that they fight based on learning how to fight against Western-trained forces in Ukraine. And I think that should be a concern for all of us. It clearly is to our Eastern European allies.

VOA: How are you preparing to defend and deter?

Costanza: First of all, to maintain a high stance on readiness from a U.S. forces standpoint but also the NATO standpoint. At the Fifth Corps, one of the key things we do as partners with our multinational corps and multinational divisions across the eastern flank of Europe [is] just to help build their war-fighting capability as they field new capabilities. HIMARS [High Mobility Artillery Rocket System], for example. Apaches [helicopters] — with Poland just purchasing 96 Apaches from the United States. So, we help them to employ those things, those capabilities. But how you employ them at the corps level, and how you employ them at the division level, we can help, and we do.

VOA: General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the former commander in chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and now ambassador to the United Kingdom, recently gave a speech at Chatham House in London in which he talked about the technological advancements of this war, and how this is a different war than NATO was prepared to fight. How would you assess NATO’s capabilities today?

Costanza: I think you’re exactly right. And those are some of the comments that were made by our NATO partners in this event. I think that the United States is kind of setting the standard on that with a new program that our chief of staff of the Army [General Randy George] has talked about, which is transformation in contact. So, for the U.S. forces that are rotating over here to Europe, we’re modernizing them with equipment that’s available right now. So, instead of going through our normal four-year acquisition process to get new equipment, we’re taking things that are available based on what we’re watching happen in Ukraine. … So maybe that can be a model for our partners and allies.

VOA: We talked about NATO capabilities. Now I want to go back to Russian capabilities. How advanced do you think they are right now?

Costanza: I think the biggest concern is what I said before: They know they’re fighting Western-trained and -equipped forces. And so, as they modernize based on the lessons that they’re learning — not just their equipment, but how they fight — they’re really sharpening their ability to fight us in the future. And I think that’s something we need to be concerned about.

So, those things I just talked about that we’re trying to rapidly introduce into our brigade to execute the transformation, contact — the UAS [Unmanned Aircraft Systems, or drones], the border, ammunition, the counter UAS, the EW [electronic warfare] capability. And how do you synchronize all of that capability so that you can really, rapidly strike and kill targets? They’ve learned how to do that. And so, we need to be able to do that and do it better than they do.

VOA: Russia is gaining support from China and North Korea right now. Are we ready to face this threat?

Costanza: The lessons that I was talking about, the reasons we should be concerned about Russia — they’re sharing those lessons with China, with Iran, and vice versa, the capabilities that Iran and China are providing. And now you see the North Koreans, as well. North Korea is now providing, I think it’s an initial batch [of] open-source reporting, of 4,000 North Korean soldiers. I think that could potentially just be a starting point for what they provide in terms of manpower to Russia. And I think that’s a problem near-term here in Eastern Europe, because as we talked about before we started, the challenge for Ukrainians is people. It’s the amount of people that they have to put into this fight. And Russia doesn’t care how many losses it takes. I mean, 600,000 [casualties], and they’re still throwing more manpower at it and don’t even blink. Ukrainians can’t afford to take those losses. I think that’s going to be the limiting factor for that as we move forward, watch this war continue into this third period.

VOA: There are different assessments of threats between, let’s say, the political part of the NATO alliance and the military part of the alliance. How are you finding that common ground?

Costanza: Yeah, I think it’s just constant dialogue, right? And so, I know we do that at different levels. So, the combatant commander, the U.S. combat commander, has those discussions at the national levels with our NATO partners and allies. We all live in Eastern Europe, including myself — in Poland. We all see that threat the same way. It can be near term.

VOA: What do you mean by the near term?

Costanza: I think, one year, two years, three years.

VOA: And you’re trying to be ready for that?

Costanza: U.S. forces are ready, and I can tell you, our NATO partners and allies are ready. And we’re just continuing to build capabilities.
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US warns ramped-up election influence efforts aim to stoke violence

WASHINGTON — Efforts by U.S. adversaries to divide Americans and sow growing distrust in the upcoming presidential election have already begun to intensify, according to senior U.S. intelligence officials, who warn some countries appear to be leaning toward additional measures to spark election-related violence.

The latest declassified assessment, issued Tuesday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, comes just two weeks before voters head to the polls November 5 to choose a new president and vote on a series of statewide and local races and initiatives.

“Foreign actors — particularly Russia, Iran and China — remain intent on fanning divisive narratives to divide Americans and undermine Americans’ confidence in the U.S. democratic system consistent with what they perceive to be in their interests,” according to the assessment.

But it warns U.S. intelligence agencies are “increasingly confident” that Russia is starting to engage in plans “aimed at inciting violence.”

It further assesses Iran also “may try to incite violence.”

Post-poll closing concerns

Of particular concern is what appears to be a growing focus on the hours, days and weeks after the polls close, when state and local election officials begin to tally and certify the results.

U.S. adversaries “probably will be quick to create false narratives or amplify content they think will create confusion about the election, such as posting claims of election irregularities,” said a U.S. intelligence official, briefing reporters on the condition of anonymity to discuss the assessment in additional detail.

The official said Russia, Iran and China “may perceive a window of vulnerability to push disinformation or foment or amplify protests and threats” starting with the moment polling centers close and extending to January 6, when the presidential results are certified by a joint session of Congress.

“Foreign driven or amplified violent protests, violence or physical threats to election workers or state and local officials could challenge state and local officials’ ability to conduct elements of the certification and Electoral College process,” the official said. “Particularly if they prevent necessary physical access to facilities or venues.”

U.S. intelligence officials have previously warned that Russia and Iran have been especially active, running a variety of influence operations targeting U.S. voters, with a high likelihood that these efforts would extend beyond the November 5 election.

Russia, they said, has been working to boost the chances of former president and current Republican nominee Donald Trump, while Iran has been working to hurt Trump’s reelection bid and instead buoy the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee.

China, according to U.S. intelligence officials, has so far stayed out of the presidential race, focusing its efforts on congressional and state and local candidates perceived to be promoting policies detrimental to Beijing’s interests, including those voicing support for Taiwan.

Officials said Tuesday that new intelligence streams have raised concerns that Moscow, especially, will try to foment violence once the polls close.

“We expect Russia will be more aggressive in this period if the vice president [Kamala Harris] wins the election,” the intelligence official said. “Russia would prefer the former president to win, and they would seek to more aggressively undermine the presidency of the then-president-elect.”

Russia, China and Iran have all rejected previous U.S. accusations of election meddling.

Russia and Iran have yet to respond to requests from VOA for comment, but China on Tuesday again rejected the latest U.S. intelligence findings.

“The presidential elections are the United States’ own affairs,” Liu Pengyu, the spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told VOA in an email. “China has no intention and will not interfere.”

U.S. intelligence officials, though, point to what they describe as growing examples of malign intent, especially by Russia and Iran.

Influence operations

In one example, the officials said Russian-linked actors were responsible for a post on the X social media platform earlier this month that contained false allegations against Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz.

“There are several indicators of manipulation that are consistent with the influence, efforts and tactics of Russian influence actors this cycle,” the U.S. intelligence official said.

In another case, U.S. officials said a Russian intelligence unit sought to recruit what they assess to likely be an unwitting American to organize protests.

They also point to actions taken last month by multiple U.S. agencies to counter several Russian influence efforts, including the use of fake websites and the creation of a shell company to funnel $10 million to a U.S. media company to push pro-Russian propaganda.

Also last month, the U.S. placed bounties and lodged criminal charges against three Iranian hackers, all accused of seeking to undermine the Trump reelection campaign.

And there are fears that even these types of ongoing influence operations, which often seek to exploit divisive political issues, could lead to problems.

“Even if these disinformation campaigns are not specifically calling for violence, the tactics used to undermine confidence in the democratic institutions can lead to violence, even if not deliberately called for,” said a senior official with the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, who, like the U.S. intelligence official, spoke on the condition of anonymity.

‘Expect disruptions’

And while U.S. officials express confidence that safeguards are in place to prevent U.S. adversaries from attacking or hacking systems used to record and tally votes, there is concern that they will target other U.S. infrastructure to try to induce panic or violence.

“That is a real possibility,” said the CISA official, adding the U.S. public should “expect disruptions.”

“We’re going to see a voting location lose power,” the official said. “We’re going to see potentially some type of impact on a transportation system. We’re going to see a potential ransomware attack against a local election office.”

CISA officials say they have been working with state and local election officials to make sure they are prepared to handle sudden disruptions. And state officials say they are prepared.

“All states consider their election infrastructure and IT [information technology] systems a potential target for threats,” said Steve Simon, Minnesota’s secretary of state and the president of the National Association of Secretaries of State, during a call with reporters Monday.

“Chief elections officials throughout the United States have worked really tirelessly and consistently to mitigate risks to our election systems and processes,” said Simon.
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