TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has inaugurated its first drone-carrier warship, saying the vessel is capable of operating in oceans far from its mainland, the official IRNA news agency reported Thursday.
The report said the vessel, manned by the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard’s navy, can carry several squadrons of drones as well as helicopters and cruise missiles. Named Shahid Bagheri, it's capable of launching cruise missiles, IRNA said.
With a 180-meter-long runway for drones, the vessel can travel up to 22,000 nautical miles without needing to refuel in ports. The report said it was converted from a commercial ship and would increase Iran’s power of deterrence.
Footage broadcast by state TV on the inauguration showed at least four helicopters and three drones on the warship's runway.
Chief of the Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami, said at the ceremony that the warship can travel “independently” in seas for up to one year.
Iran needs to increase its deterrence capacity to prevent war, he said, stressing that Iran doesn't wish to wage war with any country.
“Iran is not considered a threat to any country, but we do not bow before threat by any power,” Salami said.
Chief of the Guard’s navy Adm. Ali Reza Tangsiri said it took more than two years to build the warship from the commercial vessel.
The report said the ship also has a hospital and facilities such as a gym for its crew.
Iran has long vowed to boost its presence on seas worldwide. Since 1992, Iran began a military self-sufficiency plan under which it claims the production of its own submarines, jet fighters and military tanks.
This image provided Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025, by Sepahnews of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, shows Iran's first drone-carrier warship in the Persian Gulf. (Sepahnews via AP)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Two people were killed after a Russian drone attacked a minibus in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, local officials said Saturday, in the latest barrage of civilian areas, a hallmark of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor.
Seven people were also wounded in the attack, regional head Oleksandr Prokudin said. Hours later Russia attacked another minibus in Kherson, wounding the driver, he said.
Meanwhile, along the northern border with Belarus, Ukraine recorded “rather unusual” activity on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram on Saturday. Without elaborating, he said activity was seen on the Belarusian side of the border and that Ukraine would act if matters escalated.
“We are closely documenting and keeping the situation under control. If necessary, we will react,” he said.
Belarus, a close ally of the Kremlin, has allowed Russia to use its territory as a staging ground to send troops into Ukraine and to host some of Moscow’s tactical nuclear weapons.
On Ukraine's Black Sea coast, a Russian strike damaged port infrastructure in the city of Odesa. No casualties were reported.
Ukrainian civilians have endured relentless air assaults since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor more than four years ago. U.S.-brokered talks between Moscow and Kyiv over the past year have brought no respite, with Russia rejecting Ukraine’s offer of a ceasefire, and in recent weeks the Iran war has diverted international attention from Ukraine’s plight.
Meanwhile, on the roughly 1,250-kilometer (750-mile) front line, Russia claimed Saturday it had taken control of the village of Myropillia in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region.
It was not possible to independently verify the battlefield claims, and Ukraine did not immediately comment.
In Russia, local officials in the Krasnodar region said that a fire that broke out Friday following a Ukrainian strike on an oil terminal in the Black Sea city of Tuapse was put out on Saturday.
Ukrainian drones have hit the oil refinery and export terminal in Tuapse on four occasions in just over two weeks, sparking fires that prompted local evacuations and sent up massive plumes of smoke.
Ukraine has escalated its long-distance strikes against Russian oil facilities in an effort to slash Moscow’s oil exports, a key source of funding for its grinding invasion of Ukraine. But the economic impact is so far unclear, as the rise in oil prices from the Iran war, and a related easing of U.S. sanctions, have helped replenish the Kremlin’s coffers.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
FILE - In this image taken from video released by Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev's Telegram channel, smoke rises after a drone attack on the oil refinery and terminal in Tuapse, Russia, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev Telegram channel via AP, File)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out a fire a building following a Russian drone attack in Odesa region, Ukraine, Saturday, May 2, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out a fire a building following a Russian drone attack in Odesa region, Ukraine, Saturday, May 2, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
