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The Kyiv Independent [unofficial]

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Firefighters extinguish a fire after a Russian strike on a residential building in Kryvyi Rih on Jan. 29, 2026. The attack killed one person and injured three others. (Ukraine’s State Emergency Service / Telegram)

Trump claims Putin agreed not to strike Kyiv, other Ukrainian cities ‘for a week.’ “I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns for a week,” Trump said. “And he agreed to do that.”

Ukraine repatriates bodies of 1,000 fallen soldiers. Russia confirmed that it had handed over 1,000 bodies to Ukraine under the Istanbul agreement in exchange for 38 bodies of fallen Russian soldiers, Kremlin-controlled news agency TASS reported on Jan. 29.

‘Without power, without heat’ — EU allocates over $170 million for Ukraine amid Russian attacks on energy. The funds will support protection assistance, shelter, food, cash aid, psychosocial services, and access to water and healthcare for Ukrainians affected by the attacks.

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Ukraine’s central bank cuts interest rate in first change in 10 months. The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) voted on Jan. 29 to cut its benchmark interest rate to 15%, the first change since March last year, as inflation cools and a new aid package from Europe eased pressure on the country’s finances.

Defense Ministry working with SpaceX to solve Russian use of Starlink on drones. Ukraine says it is working with SpaceX to stop Russian drones from using Starlink, after reports that satellite-connected UAVs are extending their range to strike deeper into Ukrainian territory.

Ukraine distributes boilers from Italy to support heating for up to 90,000 homes. Ukraine has distributed industrial boiler equipment delivered by Italy among communities in 10 regions as part of a broader support program aimed at strengthening the country’s heating infrastructure, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba said on Jan. 29.

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‘They don’t consider their work heroic’ — 4 energy workers die amid Kyiv repairs following Russian attacks

As Kyiv’s repair crews scramble to keep the lights and heat on after repeated Russian strikes, the work has become punishing — and, in recent weeks, deadly.

Photo: Oleksandr Magula / AFP via Getty Images

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Ukraine war latest: ‘The enemy is likely preparing an offensive’ — Ukrainian forces report more aerial strikes in Pokrovsk sector

Russian troops have stepped up aerial bomb attacks in the Pokrovsk sector of Donetsk Oblast, which could signal preparations for an offensive, Yuliia Stepaniuk, head of communications for the 117th Separate Mechanized Brigade, told Suspilne on Jan. 29.

Photo: Marharyta Fal/Frontliner/Getty Images

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International response

Germany’s Merz says Ukraine joining EU in 2027 ‘not possible.’ The comments come after President Volodymyr Zelensky set 2027 as the target date for Ukraine’s entry into the bloc.

Estonia warns Russian veterans could flood Europe after Ukraine war, urges EU entry ban. “We have close to 1 million combatants in Russia. They’re mainly criminals; they are very dangerous people,” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said. “We have information that most of them will come to Europe after the war.”

EU plans to impose 20th sanctions package against Russia on Feb. 24, Kallas says. The European Union aims to impose a 20th sanctions package against Russia on Feb. 24, the day marking the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters on Jan. 29.

China denies helping Russia produce Oreshnik missiles. The news comes after the Telegraph reported that China has sent Russia tools used to build Oreshnik warheads.

‘Repression cannot go unanswered’ — EU sanctions Iran over protest crackdown, Russia support. European foreign ministers also agreed to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, said Kaja Kallas, the EU’s chief diplomat.

Lukoil agrees to sell most of its foreign assets to US investment group. The Carlyle deal does not include Lukoil’s assets in Kazakhstan and is still subject to approval by the U.S. Treasury Department, the Russian energy giant said.

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Recharging drones while they're flying? Apparently some progress has been made towards this goal ad DARPA has provided additional funding.

"Dr. Ifana Mahbub, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at The University of Texas at Dallas, and her team of researchers are developing wireless technology to transfer electromagnetic waves to and from far distances. Called far-field wireless power transfer, or power beaming, the technology would enable UAVs, or drones, for example, to recharge without having to land at power stations. The technology would mark a significant advance in wireless recharging, which currently is limited to transferring power via low-frequency electromagnetic waves between very short distances, such as to a cellphone from a nearby charger."

To solve the problem electromagnetic waves from scattering along the way, "Mahbub and her team use a system of transmitters, or smaller antennas called phased-array antennas, to steer the electromagnetic waves along a targeted path."

Seems useful for military drones. Maybe that's why it's getting DARPA funding.

Researcher charges ahead with new tech to power drones wirelessly

#solidstatelife #ai #uavs

Recharging drones while they're flying? Apparently some progress has been made towards this goal ad DARPA has provided additional funding.

"Dr. Ifana Mahbub, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at The University of Texas at Dallas, and her team of researchers are developing wireless technology to transfer electromagnetic waves to and from far distances. Called far-field wireless power transfer, or power beaming, the technology would enable UAVs, or drones, for example, to recharge without having to land at power stations. The technology would mark a significant advance in wireless recharging, which currently is limited to transferring power via low-frequency electromagnetic waves between very short distances, such as to a cellphone from a nearby charger."

To solve the problem electromagnetic waves from scattering along the way, "Mahbub and her team use a system of transmitters, or smaller antennas called phased-array antennas, to steer the electromagnetic waves along a targeted path."

Seems useful for military drones. Maybe that's why it's getting DARPA funding.

Researcher charges ahead with new tech to power drones wirelessly

#solidstatelife #ai #uavs

Kaspersky, the company that makes anti-virus software that some of you out there probably use (although maybe you'll rethink that after reading this), has been accused of making neural net software that's been added to Iranian drones and sent to battle in Ukraine.

So you'll see this link is to "Part 2" of a story. "Part 1" is about how a company called Albatross located in the Alabuga special economic zone, which is located in "the Republic of Tatarstan", which is not a separate country, but a state within Russia that is called a "Republic" anyway instead of "Oblast" which is the usual word for what would correspond approximately to a "state" in our country (well, assuming your country is the US, which it might not be, as there are people from everywhere here on FB, but you probably have something analogous in your country, "Province" for example), and is located -- if you've ever heard of the city of Kazan, Kazan in the capitol of Tatarstan -- ok that was a bit long for a sub-clause, where was I? Oh yeah, a company called Albatross in the Alabuga special economic zone in Tatarstan got hacked, and what the documents revealed is that this company, "Albatross" was making "motor boats", but "motor boats" was a code name for drones (and "bumpers" was the code name for the warheads they carried), and more specifically the "Dolphin 632 motor boat" was really the Iranian Shahed-136 UAV, which got renamed to the Geran-2 when procured by the Russian military.

"Part 2" which is the link here goes into the Kaspersky connection. Allegedly two people at Kaspersky previously took part in a contest, called ALB-search, to make a neural network on a drone that could find a missing person. In the military adaptation, it finds enemy soldiers. Kaspersky Lab made a subdivision called Kaspersky Neural Networks.

The article links to a presentation regarding a neural network for a drone for agriculture, with slides about assessment of crop quality, crop counting, weed detection, land inventory, and such, but it goes on to describe searching for people and animals, UAV detection (detection of other drones in its surroundings), and even traffic situation analysis.

There's also a system called Kaspersky Antidrone, which is supposed to be able to hijack, basically, control of someone else's drone within a controlled airspace.

The article alleges Kaspersky was working with Albatross not only to deploy their neural networks to Albatross drones and to use them for detection of enemy soldiers but to develop them into artillery spotters as well. This is all with an on-board neural network that runs directly on the drone.

If true, this would indicate advancement of drones in the Ukraine war, which, so far I've heard very little of neural networks running on board on drones, as well as advancement of cooperation between Russia and Iran as well as integration of civilian companies such as Kaspersky into the war effort.

This information comes from a website called InformNapalm which I haven't seen before but they say was created by some Ukrainians as a "citizen journalism" site following the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Kaspersky has denied the allegations (article on that below).

AlabugaLeaks Part 2: Kaspersky Lab and neural networks for Russian military drones

#solidstatelife #ai #computervision #uavs