Russia claims control over five new settlements, Ukraine strikes Russian military facilities

Russia said on Saturday that its forces had taken control of five more settlements over the past 24 hours, while Ukraine reported overnight strikes on a number of Russian military facilities, including drone command posts, a training ground, and a logistics facility.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a report that its forces had struck ammunition depots, energy and transportation infrastructure, drone assembling and storing sites, as well as cargo ships transporting Ukrainian military supplies.

Russian air defense forces shot down seven guided aerial bombs, a rocket of the U.S.-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system, and 936 fixed-wing drones, the ministry said.

Among the fixed-wing drones, 344 were intercepted and destroyed over Leningrad, Novgorod, and the Black Sea overnight, it added.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on Saturday that its air defense forces had neutralized three missiles and 138 drones launched by Russia overnight.

Timur Tkachenko, head of the Kiev Regional Military Administration, said on Saturday that Russian drone attacks had damaged nine civilian facilities in four districts of the region over the past 24 hours.

Regarding peace talks, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Saturday that the specifics of preparing the next round of trilateral talks involving Russia, the U.S. and Ukraine are not being discussed.

At the same time, he expressed confidence that the pause between rounds would not be prolonged.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stated earlier that Moscow does not rule out the possibility of a new round of trilateral peace talks in October.

Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov has also confirmed a new round of trilateral talks is planned next month.

Delegations from Ukraine, the United States and Russia previously held two rounds of talks in Abu Dhabi on Jan 23-24 and Feb 4-5, followed by another round in Geneva on Feb 17-18, in an effort to find a path toward ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The trilateral negotiations subsequently stalled and have remained suspended.

Russia claims control over five new settlements, Ukraine strikes Russian military facilities

China's six-member wushu taolu team began its Asian Games campaign on Sunday, the first full day of competition at the 20th Asian Games, with five athletes making their debut.

Wushu at the Games is divided into taolu, which features choreographed martial arts routines, and sanda, a full-contact fighting discipline. The taolu competition runs from Sunday through Wednesday, Sept. 20-23, at the Aichi Prefectural Martial Arts Hall in Nagoya, Japan.

The squad has completed two familiarization sessions at the venue and will contest in six of the eight taolu medal events, skipping the men's and women's Changquan, or long-fist, competitions.

The six athletes are aged from 25 to 35. Tong Xin is the only member with previous Asian Games experience.

"Apart from Tong Xin, who competed at the Hangzhou Asian Games, the remaining five athletes are making their Asian Games debuts. They are leading athletes from their provincial teams and seasoned competitors who have been tested at major events, including world championships and World Cups," said Li Qiang, head coach of China's wushu taolu team.

While the Asian Games will be new to most of the squad, their competition routines are not. The athletes have been refining them for more than three years, and in some cases for a decade.

"A wushu saying goes: 'Practice a form a thousand times, and the technique will come naturally.' After honing a movement day after day, year after year, our understanding of it and our feel for it change. Another saying is 'strive for perfection.' That is why we spend 10 years working on a single movement," said Li Jianming, a member of the team.

China's wushu team opens Asian Games campaign with five debutants

China's wushu team opens Asian Games campaign with five debutants