INTERNACIONAL
Russia bombards Ukraine with drones hours after Trump announces talks with Putin
Russia targeted Ukraine with its largest single drone attack yet just hours ahead of President Donald Trump’s phone call with Vladimir Putin about ending the war.
Russia on Sunday fired a total of 273 exploding drones and decoys targeting Ukraine’s Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions, according to Ukraine’s air force. Of those, 88 were intercepted and 128 lost, likely being electronically jammed.
The barrage was the biggest drone attack since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Yuriy Ihnat, head of the air force’s communications department, told the Associated Press.
It came after Trump said he would be «speaking, by telephone, to President Vladimir Putin of Russia on Monday, at 10:00 a.m.» regarding the war in Ukraine.
PRESIDENT TRUMP DISHES ON ‘GREAT’ PHONE CALL WITH RUSSIA’S VLADIMIR PUTIN
Firefighters work at a building hit by a Russian drone strike outside of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday May 18. (Reuters/Valentyn Ogirenko)
«The subjects of the call will be, stopping the ‘bloodbath’ that is killing, on average, more than 5,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers a week, and trade,» Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday. «I will then be speaking to President Zelenskyy of Ukraine and then, with President Zelenskyy, various members of NATO.»
«Hopefully it will be a productive day, a ceasefire will take place, and this very violent war, a war that should have never happened, will end,» Trump added. «God bless us all!!!»
Firefighters put out a fire following Russia’s drone attack in the Kyiv region on Sunday, May 18. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during Monday’s press briefing that «The president has made it clear his goal is to see a ceasefire and to see this conflict come to an end.
«And he’s grown weary and frustrated with both sides of the conflict. The president and his team have put an enormous amount of effort in solving this very complicated war that, again, began because of the last administration’s weakness,» she added.
A State Department spokesperson also told Fox News Digital that there is no reason for Russia to be launching missiles into civilian areas.
The spokesperson also said the Russia-Ukraine war has no military solution and that the U.S. will judge Putin’s commitment to peace by his country’s actions.
The previous largest known single drone attack from Russia against Ukraine was on the eve of the war’s third anniversary, when Russia pounded Ukraine with 267 drones.
Kyiv regional Gov. Mykola Kalashnyk said a 28-year-old woman was killed in Sunday’s drone attack, and three other people, including a 4-year-old child, were wounded, the AP reported.
MASSIVE RUSSIAN DRONE ATTACK KILLS 7 IN UKRAINE AHEAD OF US PEACE TALKS
Residents stand next to houses heavily damaged by a Russian drone strike, outside of Kyiv on Sunday, May 18. (Reuters/Valentyn Ogirenko)
Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio also met with Zelenskyy in Rome Sunday for ongoing peace talks.
«During our talks we discussed negotiations in Istanbul to where the Russians sent a low-level delegation of non-decision-makers. I reaffirmed that Ukraine is ready to be engaged in real diplomacy and underscored the importance of a full and unconditional ceasefire as soon as possible,» Zelenskyy shared on X regarding the meeting.
«We have also touched upon the need for sanctions against Russia, bilateral trade, defense cooperation, battlefield situation and upcoming prisoners exchange. Pressure is needed against Russia until they are eager to stop the war. And, of course, we talked about our joint steps to achieve a just and durable peace,» he continued.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia’s drone attack on Sunday, May 18, was the largest one they have launched since Putin’s forces invaded the country in early 2022. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
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World leaders converged in Rome this weekend for Pope Leo XIV’s inaugural mass at the Vatican on Sunday, with Vance leading the U.S. delegation. Zelenskyy also attended the mass.
Fox News’ Emma Colton and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
INTERNACIONAL
El golpe fulminante de EE.UU. e Israel para matar al líder supremo de Irán, Ali Khamenei
INTERNACIONAL
Jeb Bush commends former rival Trump’s Iran operation: ‘This is their time to take their country back’
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FIRST ON FOX: A major public policy nonprofit co-led by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush praised President Donald Trump for ordering Saturday’s military strikes against Iran.
United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI) — was formed in 2008 by Ambassador Mark Wallace, who held a United Nations-centered post in Bush’s brother’s administration, and former George H.W. Bush diplomat Dennis Ross — to combat threats posed by the Islamic Republic.
The group has been on the front lines of highlighting Iran’s human rights abuses and attacks on Americans and advising policymakers and the business community about dangers posed by Tehran.
The organization counsels existing and would-be commercial partners of Iran regarding the legal, financial and reputational risks of that kind of commerce.
«UANI salutes the courage and professionalism of American and Israeli service members carrying out this historic mission against the Iranian regime,» Bush and Wallace told Fox News Digital Saturday.
Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump, left, and Jeb Bush take part in a presidential debate at the Reagan Library Sept. 16, 2015, in Simi Valley, Calif. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
«We applaud President Trump for his courageous decision to launch this military operation. For 47 years, the Iranian regime has unleashed terror, violence and misery — against its own people and across the region — while threatening the United States, Israel and our allies.»
Bush, who ran against Trump in a bruising 2016 primary, and Wallace noted that many presidents tried to bring Iran into the «peaceful community of nations» but were not able to finish the job.
«This president engaged extensively and in good faith to achieve a diplomatic solution,» they said after Trump indicated as recently as last week he wanted to negotiate terms.
«The regime chose escalation and continued its pursuit of nuclear weapons. The responsibility for this moment rests squarely with Ayatollah Khamenei.»
Khamenei, 86, was declared dead by Israeli sources by late afternoon.
Bush and Wallace added it was clear the joint American-Israeli operation was directed not at Iran, the country and citizenry, but at Khamenei’s «lethal capabilities.»
The Iranian people, they said, have long suffered under repression and that Trump’s message since the strikes began is one that should be embraced by all Americans: «We aim to see Iran free, prosperous, and at peace. This is their time to take their great country back.»
«The Butcher of Tehran is dead,» Bush and Wallace added in a separate public statement.
ICE NABS IRANIAN NATIONAL WITH RAPE, SODOMY CONVICTIONS AFTER VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS MOVE TO CURB COOPERATION
Bush added in a statement on X that «Operation Epic Fury marks a historic mission against the Iranian regime.»
«We salute the courage and professionalism of American and Israeli service members and commend for his courageous decision,» he added.
Bush’s relationship with Trump has appeared to warm since their bitter feuds of a decade ago.
During the 2016 sweeps, Trump nicknamed the Republican Party scion «Low Energy Jeb,» while Bush quipped that the mogul would not be able to «insult your way to the presidency» after the eventual victor mocked an ad that former first lady Barbara Bush filmed for her son.
While governor, Bush made improving public education a hallmark of his administration in Tallahassee. Bush implemented stricter proficiency standards in elementary education and signed what was dubbed the «A+ plan,» making Florida the first state to require clear letter grades on student performance.
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He recently praised the Trump administration’s overtures toward universal school choice and federal block grants as a «transformational opportunity.»
«The Trump administration has a chance to shift the power dynamic back to the states, where policymakers are uniquely equipped to understand and address the diverse needs of their students, schools, and communities,» he added in a column in Education Week.
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Fox News chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin joins ‘America Reports’ to give the latest on the aftermath of the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran.
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Iran entered a new chapter Saturday after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed, abruptly ending more than three decades of authoritarian rule and setting in motion a leadership transition the regime has long prepared.
A senior Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel that while Khamenei’s demise is a «massive blow» to the Islamic Republic, Tehran anticipated the possibility and took steps to withstand such a scenario.
«Mere survival, at this point, would be considered a victory,» the diplomat said of the regime, according to the outlet, following U.S. and Israeli strikes across the country.
A recent report from the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) outlined three broad trajectories for a post-Khamenei Iran: managed regime continuity, an overt or creeping military takeover, or systemic collapse.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in an Israeli strike on Saturday. (Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran via Getty Images)
CFR cautioned that even a leadership change at the top would not necessarily translate into meaningful political reform in the near term, given the regime’s deeply institutionalized power structure and its record of using force to maintain control.
The report notes that the real balance of power rests within a tight circle of clerical elites and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
It describes a likely «continuity» scenario as producing «Khamenei-ism without Khamenei,» in which a successor from within the regime preserves the ideological framework of the Islamic Republic while relying on established security institutions to preserve stability.
LEAKED DOCUMENTS EXPOSE KHAMENEI’S SECRET DEADLY BLUEPRINT FOR CRUSHING IRAN PROTESTS
«The Islamic Republic’s constitution includes a succession process. The Assembly of Experts, a clerical body, is constitutionally charged with selecting the next supreme leader,» Jason Brodsky, policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told Fox News Digital.
«In the interim, should there be a leadership vacancy, an interim leadership council is formed comprised of the president, chief justice, and a member of the Guardian Council selected by the Expediency Council,» he added. «The IRGC is a key stakeholder in this process, and will heavily influence its outcome.»
Over the past three decades, the Bayt-e Rahbari, or the Office of the Supreme Leader, expanded into what a February report by UANI described as a «sprawling parallel state» operating alongside Iran’s formal institutions.
Large crowds gather at Enghelab Square in Tehran, Sunday, after Iranian state TV announced that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an Israeli strike. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The analysis characterizes the Office as the regime’s «hidden nerve center,» extending control across the military, security establishment and major economic foundations in ways that make the system’s authority institutional rather than dependent on Khamenei’s physical presence.
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«The supreme leader today is no longer just one man; he is represented through an all-encompassing institution that consolidates power, manages succession, and guarantees continuity,» the non-partisan policy organization said. «The Islamic Republic’s most enduring strength lies in this hidden architecture of control, which will continue to shape the country’s future long after Khamenei himself departs from the scene.»
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