Fresh drone attack hits ammunition depot in Crimea

Another ammunition depot in Russian-occupied Crimea has been hit in a drone attack, according to the regional governor.

Eleven drones were shot down over Crimea, Moscow-appointed governor Sergei Aksyonov said on Telegram on Monday.

However, he said there was an “impact at the ammunition depot in the Dzhankoy district’’ of the peninsula that was illegally annexed by Moscow’s forces in 2014.

Videos were shared online showing a large cloud of smoke.

A residential building in the south of the peninsula was also damaged.

Several camps and depots supply Russian occupation forces in southern Ukraine in Dzhankoy, a district in north-eastern Crimea, and the main supply line for the Russian units runs through Crimea.

Mr Aksyonov did not provide specific details about the impact of the ammunition depot hit. He said the rail and vehicle traffic on the route between Dzhankoy and the regional capital Simferopol was suspended, and nearby villages are to be evacuated.

The latest attack comes after two other ammunition depots were hit in Crimea, one in the central region and an arsenal in the south, leading to ammunition explosions for days.The Ukrainian military confirmed it was behind both attacks.

Drone used to bust drug deal in China

Police in China have used a drone to capture footage of an alleged drug deal taking place.

A video shared with state-controlled broadcaster CCTV showed the suspects being remotely tailed before officers moved in to make arrests.

Reaction on local social media was divided. Some suggested there was “nowhere left to hide”.

Others said drones should be fitted with weapons to help tackle other cases of criminality.

Privacy rights advocates have raised concerns about the speed at which the UK and other Western nations have embraced other forms of surveillance tech.

The drone operation led police to an abandoned brick factory in the southern city of Guilin, reported regional media.

The video showed the suspects exchanging what police say were illegal drugs.

The footage was live-streamed to nearby police, who then moved in.

Silkie Carlo, Big Brother Watch’s Director, called the move a “leap forward for intrusive surveillance technology”.

“It’s particularly worrying that the UK and China are almost neck-and-neck in the race to monitor citizens with new tech.” Another information revealed that drone surveillance has been deployed over England’s beauty spots during the pandemic to spy on walkers.

“It’s clear that Parliament needs to legislate to control police use of drone surveillance.”

Chinese social media platform Weibo was flooded with thousands of comments following the video’s release.

Many users showed little sympathy for the suspects, with some going as far to suggest that drones should be used to “execute” drug dealers caught in the act.

However, others voiced concerns about the Chinese government having “eyes in the sky” at all times.

In September 2019, a fugitive who had been on the run for 17 years was reported to have been discovered by a drone. He had been living in a cave in the south-western Yunnan province.

The Covid-19 pandemic has also fuelled a rise in the use of drones.

They have been used as a method of public-shaming across China, with loud public warnings playing when members of the public are spotted not wearing a face covering.

Similar methods have also been employed in European countries including Spain, where drones were used to enforce movement restrictions.