Russia announced on Monday that its forces shot down dozens of Ukrainian drones in the Kursk region, while Ukraine reported that its forces were conducting defensive operations as planned in Kursk.
The Russian Defense Ministry specified in a statement that from 18:20 Sunday to 07:00 Monday, its air defense system shot down a total of 72 Ukrainian drones in many locations, including 36 over the Kursk Oblast.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported on Monday morning that a total of 112 battles had taken place in frontline areas in the past 24 hours, including 14 battles in the Kursk region.
In a media interview on Sunday, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said that Ukraine was carrying out defensive operations in the Kursk region as planned, and the information that thousands of Ukrainian troops were surrounded was "incorrect."
The Ukrainian National News Agency reported on Sunday that Ukrainian forces had withdrawn from Sudzha, a border city in the southwest of Kursk Oblast, less than 10 kilometers away from Sumy Oblast, Ukraine. The Ukrainian army used Sudzha as a major logistics hub to provide supplies to troops in nearby villages and towns.
According to Russian media reports, the Ukrainian forces are still attacking Sudzha and surrounding areas with artillery and drones, in order to cover the withdrawal of the remaining troops.
Russia shoots down Ukrainian drones; Ukraine continues defensive operations in Kursk
Chinese and foreign scientists have jointly carried out a series of exchange and investigation activities this week to respond to the United Nations' initiative on glacier preservation.
The United Nations declared 2025 as the International Year of Glaciers' Preservation, accompanied by the proclamation of the 21st March of each year as the World Day for Glaciers starting in 2025.
A public advocacy and glacier investigation activity with the initiative of "Let the Glacier Cool" was launched at Dagu Glacier scenic area in southwest China's Sichuan Province, a key place in global glacier preservation, from Monday to Tuesday.
In 2024, the Global Glacier Loss List (GGCL) project was jointly launched by Rice University, the University of Iceland, the Icelandic Glaciological Society, the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS), and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The project tracks recently disappeared, almost disappeared, and critically endangered glaciers worldwide. Among them, the Dagu Glacier is the only glacier in China on the list.
In this regard, Chinese and foreign glacier experts and scholars conducted in-depth investigations into the changes in Dagu Glacier during the event.
"Let China's voice be heard in the 2025 International Year of Glaciers' Preservation, World Day for Glaciers, and the Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences. We need to awaken people's awareness of glacier changes, and everyone can reduce emissions and live a green life to slow down global warming, so that we can prolong the life of glaciers," said Li Zhongqin, a researcher at the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources (NIEER) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
Meanwhile, the Dagu Glacier International Academic Summit Forum was held in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, from Sunday to Tuesday.
The forum was jointly organized by the NIEER, the Center for Glacier Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan, the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment (IMHE) under the CAS, and the Sichuan Dagu Glacier Administration Bureau.
More than 100 glaciologists, climate policy experts and representatives of international organizations from more than 10 countries including China, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, the United States and the United Kingdom, attended the conference online and offline, and had in-depth dialogues on the scientific challenges and international cooperation in global glacier protection.
"Because of global warming, glaciers around the world are generally melting. For example, the latest research data released last month showed that the annual loss of global glaciers, if converted into water equivalent, is 273 billion tons. The public can clearly see that the glaciers are shrinking rapidly and disappearing rapidly," said Kang Shichang, director of the IMHE.
Global experts gather in Sichuan to respond to UN glacier initiative
