Russia's Defense Ministry said on Saturday that its forces captured three settlements in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions over the past 24 hours, while Ukraine's General Staff reported 205 battles along the front line and multiple new offensives in several directions.
The Russian ministry said its forces struck Ukrainian transport infrastructure, troop and foreign mercenary deployment sites in 152 areas, and a data processing center in Kiev that supports mobile internet and Starlink satellite communications for the Ukrainian military.
It added that air defenses had downed 645 Ukrainian drones over the Belgorod and Bryansk regions and the Black Sea by 8:00 on Saturday.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said the Ukrainian Air Force, missile troops, and artillery hit three Russian drone command and launch sites, six artillery systems, and an ammunition depot over the past day, and launched multiple attacks in the northern and southern Slobozhansk and Kursk directions.
Russia claims control of new settlements, Ukraine reports fresh attacks
The ongoing 48th WorldSkills Competition has added seven new events in emerging and future industries, including drone or unmanned aerial systems -- a category that tests competitors' all-round capabilities across hardware and software.
The training base for the drone systems event is located in Hangzhou, provincial capital of east China's Zhejiang Province.
Yang Yongxiang, coach of the Chinese training team for the event, said that as a category added into the WorldSkills Competition for the first time, drone systems place greater emphasis on competitors' multi-dimensional skills.
"The first part is the basic assembly and debugging of drones. Competitors need to assemble a drone step by step from separate components," Yang said.
The competition also requires competitors to test circuits, troubleshoot sensor failures, complete high-precision manual obstacle flights, and write code to enable autonomous planning and drone flight.
Among these, according to Yang, algorithm programming is the most challenging part.
"It's like installing a brain for the drone. It integrates algorithms from multiple sensors, enabling the drone to achieve autonomous recognition, planning, flight, and autonomous landing after takeoff," Yang said.
The event also tests competitors' ability to handle different types of drones. Three different models are used, all of which must be operated proficiently.
Held every two years, the WorldSkills Competition is the world's largest international gathering of skilled professionals.
This year's event, running from Sept. 22 to 27, features 64 skills, including seven new categories. It has brought together over 1,400 competitors from more than 70 countries and regions.
The competition covers six major skill areas -- manufacturing and engineering technology, information and communication technology, construction and building technology, transportation and logistics, creative arts and fashion, and social and personal services.
Drone systems event at WorldSkills tests all-round capabilities
