World

Meet the underground squad with the lives of countless civilians in their hands

Published

1 week ago

November 4, 2025

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“Follow me and be careful,” says the commander, as he leads us down a narrow path in the dead of night.

The overgrown tract had once been occupied by the Russians, and there are landmines scattered on the side of the path.

But the men with us are more concerned about the threat from above.

Members of a unit in Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade, they run a covert operation from an underground cellar, tucked behind a ruined farmhouse.

And what they are doing in this old vegetable store is pushing the boundaries of war.

“This is the interceptor called Sting,” says the commander, named Betsik, holding up a cylindrical device with four propellers.

“It’s an FPV [first-person view] quad, it’s very fast, it can go up to 280km. There’s 600 grams of explosive packed in the cap.”

However, he had not told us the most important thing about this bulbous drone.

“It can easily destroy a Shahed,” he says with determination.

Devastating and indiscriminate drone attacks

Once viewed as a low-cost curiosity, the Iranian-designed Shahed drone has turned into a collective menace.

As Russia’s principal long-range attack weapon, enemy forces have fired 44,228 Shaheds into Ukraine this year, with production expected to rise to 6,000 per month by early next year.

The Russians are also changing the way they use them, launching vast, coordinated waves at individual cities.

The damage can be devastating and indiscriminate. This year, more 460 civilians have been killed by these so-called kamikaze weapons.

Russia’s strategy is straightforward. By firing hundreds of Shaheds on a single night, they aim to overload Ukraine’s air defences.

It is something Betsik reluctantly accepts.

Still, his unit has come up with a groundbreaking way to tackle it.

Perched in the centre of the vegetable store, we watch a youthful drone pilot and a couple of navigators staring at a bank of screens.

“Guys, there’s a Shahed 10km away from us. Can we fly there?” asks one of the navigators, called Kombucha.

He had just spotted a Shahed on the radar, but the enemy projectile was just out of reach.

“Well, actually 18 km – it’s too far,” Kombucha says.

“Do you know where it is going?” I ask.

“Yes, Izyum, the city. Flying over Izyum, I hope it won’t hit the city itself.”

Kombucha takes a deep breath.

“It is driving me nuts when you can see it moving, but you can’t do anything about it.”

The chase

The atmosphere soon changes.

“Let’s go. Help me lift the antenna.”

An engineer runs an interceptor drone up to the unit’s ad-hoc launch pad, located on a pile of flattened brick.

“The bomb is armed.”

The drone pilot, called Ptaha, tightens his grip on the controller and launches the Sting into the night sky.

Now, they hunt the Shahed down.

Their radar screen gives them an idea of where to look – but not a precise location.

“Target dropped altitude.”

“How much?”

“360 metres. You’re at 700.”

Instead, they analyse images produced by the interceptor’s thermal camera. The heat from the Shahed’s engine should generate a white spec, or dot, on the horizon. Still, it is never easy to find.

“Zoom out. Zoom out,” mutters Ptaha.

Then, a navigator code-named Magic thrusts his arm at the right-hand corner of the screen.

“There, there, there, b****!”

“I see it,” replies Ptaha.

The pilot manoeuvres the interceptor behind the Russian drone and works to decrease the distance between the two.

The chase is on. We watch as he steers the interceptor into the back of Shahed.

“We hit it,” he shouts.

“Did you detonate?”

“That was a Shahed, that was a Shahed, not a Gerbera.”

Going in for the kill

The Russians have developed a family of drones based on the Shahed, including a decoy called the Gerbera, which is designed to overwhelm Ukrainian defences.

However, the 3rd Brigade tells us these Gerberas are now routinely packed with explosives.

“I can see you’ve developed a particular technique to take them all down,” I suggest to Ptaha. “You circle around and try to catch them from behind?”

“Yes, because if you fly towards it head-on, due to the fact that the speed of the Shahed…”

The pilot breaks off.

“Guys, target 204 here.”

It’s clear that a major Russian bombardment is under way.

“About five to six km,” shouts Magic.

With another target to chase, the unit fires an interceptor into the sky.

Ptaha stares at the interceptor’s thermal camera screen.

The lives of countless Ukrainians depend on this 21-year-old.

“There, I see it. I see it. I see it.”

The team pursues their target before Ptaha goes in for the kill.

“There’s going to be a boom!” says Magic excitedly.

“Closing in.”

On the monitor, the live feed from the drone is replaced by a sea of fuzzy grey.

“Hit confirmed.”

“Motherf*****!”

‘In a few months it will be possible to destroy most of them’

The Russians would launch more than 500 drones that night.

Betsik and his men destroyed five with their Sting interceptors and the commander seemed thrilled with the result.

“I’d rate it five out of five. Nice. Five launches, five targets destroyed. One hundred percent efficiency. I like that.”

Nevertheless, 71 long-range projectiles managed to slip through Ukraine’s air defences, despite efforts made to stop them.

The head of the air defence section in 3rd Brigade, Maxim Zaychenko, told us lessons were being learnt in this underground cellar that would have to be shared with the entire Ukrainian army.

“As the number of Shaheds has increased we’ve set ourselves the task of forming combat crews and acquiring the capabilities to intercept them… it’s a question of scaling combat crews with the right personnel and equipment along the whole contact line.”

Buoyed by the night’s successes, Betsik was optimistic.

“In a few months, like three to five, it will be possible to destroy most of them,” he said.

“You really think that?” I replied.

“This is the future, I am not dreaming about it, I know it will be.”

Photography by Katy Scholes.

World

At least 12 killed after suicide bombing in Pakistan

Published

7 hours ago

November 11, 2025

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At least 12 killed after suicide bombing in Pakistan

At least 12 people have been killed in a suicide bombing outside the gates of a court in Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad, the country’s interior minister has said.

At least 27 other people were also wounded after the bomber detonated his explosives next to a police car.

Interior minister Mohsin Naqvi said the attacker tried to “enter the court premises but, failing to do so, targeted a police vehicle”.

Mr Naqvi added that authorities are “looking into all aspects” of the attack.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the explosion, but authorities have recently struggled with a resurgent Pakistani Taliban.

The explosion, which was heard from miles away, occurred at a busy time of day when the area outside the court is typically crowded with hundreds of visitors attending hearings.

More than a dozen badly wounded people were screaming for help as ambulances rushed to the scene.

“People started running in all directions,” said Mohammad Afzal, who claimed he was at the court when he heard the blast.

Pakistani security forces earlier said they foiled an attempt by militants to take cadets hostage at an army-run college overnight, when a suicide car bomber and five other attackers targeted the facility in a northwestern province.

The authorities blamed the Pakistani Taliban, which is separate from but allied with Afghanistan’s Taliban, but the group denied involvement in that attack on Monday evening.

The assault began when a bomber attempted to storm the cadet college in Wana, a city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghan border.

The area had, until recent years, served as a base for the Pakistani Taliban, al Qaeda and other foreign militants.

According to local police chief Alamgir Mahsud, two of the militants were quickly killed by troops while three others managed to enter the compound before being cornered in an administrative block.

The army’s commandos were among the forces conducting a clearance operation, and an intermittent exchange of fire went on into Tuesday, Mr Mahsud said.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif denounced both attacks and said those responsible must be brought to justice swiftly.

“We will ensure the perpetrators are apprehended and held accountable,” he said.

Mr Sharif described attacks on unarmed civilians as “reprehensible”, adding: “We will not allow the blood of innocent Pakistanis to go to waste.”

World

At least eight people killed in car explosion in New Delhi, police say

Published

1 day ago

November 10, 2025

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At least eight people killed in car explosion in New Delhi, police say

At least eight people have been killed and at least 19 others injured after a car exploded in New Delhi, say Indian police.

The blast, which triggered a fire that damaged several vehicles parked nearby, happened at the gates of the metro station at the Red Fort, a former Mughal palace and a busy tourist spot.

New Delhi’s international airport, metro stations and government buildings were put on a high security alert after the explosion, the government said. The cause of the explosion is being investigated.

The city’s police commissioner, Satish Golcha, said it happened a few minutes before 7pm.

“A slow-moving vehicle stopped at a red light. An explosion happened in that vehicle, and due to the explosion,
nearby vehicles were also damaged,” he told reporters.

One resident, who did not give a name, told NDTV: “We heard a big sound, our windows shook.”

Sanjay Tyagi, a Delhi police spokesman, said they were still investigating the cause, while the fire service reported that at least six vehicles and three autorickshaws had caught fire.

Images show the burnt-out remnants of several cars and forensic officers at the scene.

Home minister Amit Shah told local media that a Hyundai i20 car exploded near a traffic signal close to the Red Fort. He said CCTV footage from cameras in the area will form part of the investigation.

“We are exploring all possibilities and will conduct a thorough investigation, taking all possibilities into account,” Shah said. “All options will be investigated immediately, and we will present the results to the public.”

The investigation is being conducted by the National Investigation Agency, India’s federal terror investigating agency, and other agencies.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences to those who have lost their loved ones in the blast.

He posted on X: “May the injured recover at the earliest. Those affected are being assisted by authorities.

“Reviewed the situation with Home Minister Amit Shah Ji and other officials.”

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World

From US enemy to ally? Why ex-jihadist Syrian president’s meeting with Trump is a big deal

Published

2 days ago

November 10, 2025

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From US enemy to ally? Why ex-jihadist Syrian president's meeting with Trump is a big deal

It is a moment few could have imagined just a few years ago but the Syrian president, Ahmed al Sharaa, has arrived in Washington for a landmark series of meetings, which will culminate in a face-to-face with Donald Trump at the White House.

His journey to this point is a remarkable story, and it’s a tale of how one man went from being a jihadist battlefield commander to a statesman on the global stage – now being welcomed by the world’s most powerful nation.

Mr Sharaa became leader of Syria after the fall of the Bashar al Assad regime in December last year.

Before that he went by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al Jolani.

During Syria’s brutal civil war, he was the leader of the Nusra Front – a designated terror organisation, the Syrian branch of al Qaeda.

Back then, the thought of him setting foot on US soil and meeting a US president would have been unthinkable. There was a $10m reward for information leading to his capture.

So what is going on? Why is diplomacy being turned on its head?

After 14 years of conflict which started during the so-called Arab Spring, Syria is in a mess.

Mr Sharaa – as the head of the transitional government – is seen by the US as having the greatest chance of holding the country together and stopping it from falling back into civil war and failed state territory.

But to do that, Syria has to emerge from its pariah status and that’s what the US is gambling on and why it’s inclined to offer its support and a warm embrace.

By endorsing Mr Sharaa, it is hoping he will shed his past and emerge as a leader for everyone and unite the country.

Holding him close also means it’s less likely that Iran and Russia will again be able to gain a strong strategic foothold in the country.

So, a man who was once an enemy of the US is now being feted as a potential ally.

There are big questions, though. He has rejected his extremist background, saying he did what he did because of the circumstances of the civil war.

But since he took power, there have been sectarian clashes. In July, fighting broke out between Druze armed groups and Bedouin tribal fighters in Sweida.

It was a sign of just how fragile the country remains and also raises concerns about his ability to be a leader for everyone.

Nonetheless, Mr Sharaa is viewed as the best chance of stabilising Syria and by extension an important part of the Middle East.

Get Syria right, the logic goes, and the rest of the jigsaw will be easier to put and hold together.

The visit to Washington is highly significant and historic. It’s the first-ever official visit by a Syrian head of state since the country’s independence in 1946.

The meeting with Donald Trump is, though, the really big deal. The two men met in Riyadh in May but in the meeting later today they will discuss lifting sanctions – crucial to Syria’s post-war reconstruction – how Syria can help in the fight against Islamic State, and a possible pathway to normalisation of relations with Israel.

The optics will be fascinating as the US continues to engage with a former militant with jihadi links.

It’s a risk, but if successful, it could reshape Syria’s role in the region from US enemy to strong regional ally.