An iconic annual lantern show kicked off on Friday in Zigong City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, featuring hundreds of illuminated glitter lantern sets to create an immersive nightscape for visitors in the run-up to the upcoming 2026 Chinese New Year holiday, or the Spring Festival.
Covering over 43 hectares, this year's show comprises 11 clusters of large illuminated lantern lights and more than 200 groups of small and medium-sized lantern lights. The event this year will run until the end of the entire Spring Festival holiday season on March 3.
One of the highlights of the show is a cluster of lantern light sets created upon inspiration by over 6,000 children's paintings collected from more than 40 countries worldwide.
The show also features a drone performance on Friday with 2,026 drones in spectacular formations wowing crowds of visitors.
Iconic annual lantern show kicks off in southwest China's Sichuan
Russia said on Saturday that it carried out a large-scale strike against Ukraine early Saturday morning and controlled another settlement in the Kharkov Region over the past day, while Ukraine said it repelled Russian attacks in multiple directions.
Russian long-range precision missiles and attack drones hit a Ukrainian plant manufacturing drones and energy facilities servicing Ukraine's military-industrial complex during the past 24 hours, and Russia's operational-tactical aircraft, missile troops and artillery units struck 157 targets, including long-range drone storage sites and operator training facilities, as well as temporary deployment points of Ukrainian armed forces and foreign mercenaries, the Russian Defense Ministry said. It added that air defense systems shot down 137 fixed-wing drones.
Russian forces controlled the town of Staritsa in Kharkov Region over the past day, the ministry said.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Saturday reported 136 combat engagements on the frontline, where Ukrainian troops repelled Russian offensives in multiple directions.
The Ukrainian Air Force said that Russian forces implemented a large-scale air strike against Ukraine from Friday evening to early Saturday morning.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that the large-scale strike caused damage to critical infrastructures in the city.
Russia carries out large-scale strike, Ukraine repels attacks in multiple directions
