A small group of freelance developers in Russia used the AI chatbot Claude to develop software for an autonomous swarm of kamikaze attack drones with a first-person view.including terminal targeting, target selection and coordination between multiple aircraft, according to Anthropic, the company that developed Claude. In a 154-page report describing how attackers used Claude’s artificial intelligence system for state-sponsored surveillance and propaganda operations, Anthropic said the drone swarm was programmed to select its own targets and crash into them to explode, without a human making the final choice. In your programs a team of freelancers has repeatedly chosen as its target a place in the Donetsk region of Ukraine and used a VPN to bypass Anthropic’s geo-blocks. Small drones have become the “central weapon” in the war in Ukraine.
Anthropic also found that cybercriminals and state-backed hackers are increasingly using AI to orchestrate and carry out a significant portion of cyberattacks.including attacks on officials in Ukraine. One hacking group allegedly carried out phishing operations, hotel Wi-Fi hijacking and WhatsApp hijacking operations against targets in the Ukrainian government, military and diplomatic sectors, using AI at nearly every turn, Anthropic said. The group’s activities were consistent with the Russian-based threat group Midnight Blizzard, which the U.S. government previously linked to the Russian foreign intelligence service SVR, Reuters reported. The Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The group allegedly used artificial intelligence to create a system that automatically detected when its malware was flagged by security controls and rewrote the code until it evaded detection.
The anthropic report is Gas stations in Kyiv were attacked by jet drones in a wave of targeted Russian attacks as the bombing of the Ukrainian capital enters a new phase of intensity. At least two people were killed and 12 injured in strikes at two gas stations on Friday morning, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. The rush hour strikes follow a similar attack at a gas station on Thursday. All three strikes targeted gas stations owned by the state-owned oil and natural gas company Ukrnafta. On Wednesday, a list of 18 gas stations in Kyiv that are expected to be attacked by Russian drones began circulating on Telegram. Three people affected were currently on the list.
Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed the West for the conflict in Ukraine The reason, he said, was constant pressure on Moscow and attempts to “draw” Ukraine into the NATO alliance. Speaking to reporters before the BRICS summit in India, Putin said that “everything that is happening now in Europe is, in fact, “the result of systemic mistakes … of Western globalists in politics, security and economics.” After a Russia-friendly president was forced to flee Ukraine in 2014, he said, the West “immediately set out to bring Ukraine into NATO. And that “ultimately turned out to be the main reason for today’s tragic events in Ukraine.” He said people in Europe understand what is happening, which explains why they vote for far-right parties such as the AfD in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.
A Russian official will attend the G20 energy meeting in Houston next week, a White House official said Friday. Last month, the US welcomed Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov to the G20 meeting in North Carolina, upsetting European officials as it was the first time a Russian finance minister had attended the forum in person since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. The meeting comes as the European Union’s efforts to become independent from Russian oil and gas are faltering as winter approaches with low gas supplies, its auditors said this month.
The US House of Representatives is expected to consider a package of tough sanctions against Russia next week.although prospects for passage are uncertain despite the bill receiving overwhelming support in the Senate. The bill is intended to increase pressure on Putin to agree to end Russia’s war with Ukraine. But some senior Democratic lawmakers are concerned that the measure dramatically expands President Donald Trump’s tariff powers and that he will use the new power to target U.S. allies.
Three people were killed in Russian strikes in the Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhye regions in southeastern Ukraine, as well as in Kharkov in northeastern Ukraine.The governors of these regions reported this. Russia has been carrying out near-constant attacks using faster jet-powered drones for two weeks, killing several Kiev residents and disrupting daily life in the Ukrainian capital.
Ukraine also carried out drone attacks on Russia, resulting in two deaths in the Tula region overnight and one on Friday in the Kursk region, local officials said.