Aryna Sabalenka’s grip on the US Open showed no sign of weakening on Thursday night as the two-time defending champion swept past Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-2 to move one win from a third straight title.
The top-seeded Belarusian star finished with 29 winners to Pegula’s 12, her relentless aggression turning what had been a 50-50 fight deep into the opening set into a one-sided affair that marked her 19th consecutive victory at Flushing Meadows.
The Ukrainian navy says one of its Neptune anti-ship missiles hit the Russian frigate Admiral Essen at Novorossiysk overnight on 8–9 September
Ukraine's general staff confirms hits on three ships in the raid; open-source analysts read the satellite imagery as showing a second Kalibr carrier, a Buyan-M corvette, knocked out
It'll take many more strikes to reduce the Russians to zero Kalibr capacity
A Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship cruise missile struck the Russian missile frigate Admiral Essen in the port of Novorossiysk in southern Russia overnight on 8–9 September, the Ukrainian navy claimed. Satellite imagery published by the Ukrainian open-source group Exilenova+ shows fires and apparent damage consistent with the claim. How badly the ship is hurt is unclear.
But if the navy is correct and one of its truck-launched Neptunes hit Admiral Essen, it would be a major victory for Ukraine—and a major loss for Russia. Pummeled by Ukrainian missiles and drones, the Russian Black Sea Fleet has lost or had damaged around a third of its combat strength, by Ukraine's own reckoning. No more than eight of the surviving vessels carry launchers for launching the fleet's best missile: the Kalibr cruise missile.
Russian Black Sea Fleet warships destroyed or damaged by Ukraine. Infographic by Euromaidan Press, based on Torger78 on X
Taking out those eight Kalibr shooters—two frigates, three corvettes, and as many as three submarines—is a top priority for Ukraine. Preserving the Kalibr ships is one of Russia's top priorities as it escalates its bombardment of Ukrainian cities, factories, warehouses, and power plants.
And the frigate wasn't the only ship in the target set. Ukraine's general staff confirmed hits on three vessels—Admiral Essen, the minesweeper Zheleznyakov, and the landing ship Pyotr Morgunov—along with fuel-oil storage at the port. Exilenova+ reads the imagery as showing two more Kalibr carriers hit: a Kalibr-armed Buyan-M corvette knocked out of action, and fresh damage to sister frigate Admiral Makarov.
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To be clear, it's evident the Ukrainians have already hit Admiral Essen and Admiral Makarov. A Ukrainian drone raid targeting Novorossiysk on 12 August resulted in what appeared to be direct hits to the forward missile cells on both ships.
Admiral Essen and Admiral Makarov can launch as many as eight of the 2,500-km Kalibrs at a time from these 3S14 cells. Damage the cells, and the frigates can no longer threaten Ukraine. At least until the Russians can effect repairs. Ukraine's military intelligence directorate described this week's damage as a fire on Admiral Essen's deck superstructure—not its missile cells.
Novorossiysk. Probable defeat of the Russian frigate, missile carrier - "Admiral Essen" by "Neptune". pic.twitter.com/C3yUSxyVFR
Hitting one of the frigates with a 900-km/h Neptune's 260-kg warhead, as opposed to the much lighter warhead on a much slower drone, could do more than temporarily sideline the ship. It may cause irreparable damage, effectively removing the vessel from the Black Sea Fleet's dwindling order of battle.
Recall that a pair of Neptunes from a much earlier batch of the increasingly powerful missile sank the Russian missile cruiser Moskva in April 2022, initiating the ongoing battle over the Black Sea that has seen the Russians gradually lose irreplaceable ships—and gradually pull back surviving vessels into Novorossiysk's protected basin.
Unsafe haven
Novorossiysk, 350 km from the southern front line, is safer for Russian ships than are, say, the ports of occupied Crimea. But it's not actually safe. Ukrainian drones and missiles routinely target the port and the dozens of ships moored inside.
Most of the Ukrainian munitions miss or get shot down. Undeterred, Ukrainian deep strike forces have only intensified their strikes. Launching more Neptunes would represent another escalation. Drones damage. Neptunes destroy.
Even if one or more Neptunes finally took Admiral Essen out of action this week, there's more work left to do. The Russians normally fire fewer than 10 Kalibrs as part of the mix of missiles and drones they hurl at Ukrainian cities once a week or so.
A single frigate can fire eight Kalibrs at a time. So can a single corvette. A submarine might fire four Kalibrs. Even with Admiral Essen off the board, the carriers that may still be combat-capable can put 16 to 20 Kalibrs into the air at once, per Defence Express. Before 2022 the theoretical figure was 76.
Ukraine's navy puts the number in the same range. On 21 August, spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk counted three surface ships and two submarines able to fire Kalibrs, with both frigates excluded as damaged. He also noted the fleet used its missile carriers once in August, down from three times in July, and now fires from inside protected harbors rather than putting to sea.
Two known and one previously unknown version of the Neptune missile. Collage: Militarnyi.
But more and better Neptunes may be coming to Novorossiysk. More Kalibr shooters may burn. Ukrainian missile-maker Luch Design Bureau has steadily improved the Neptune with greater range and payload while also increasing production. An open-source tally published by Ukrainska Pravda counted 26 verified Neptune hits on Russian land targets between 2023 and mid-2026.
Ukraine seems determined to eventually reduce the Black Sea Fleet's Kalibr capacity to zero. It will take time and many more strikes, of course. How soon the Ukrainians can send more Neptunes to Novorossiysk may determine how many more Kalibrs blast Ukrainian cities.
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Ukraine finally hit three Russian Kalibr ships on 12 August. On the 19th, an untouched one hit Kyiv
Veteran Frenchman bowed out in New York but the clash of two black players in the last four of the men’s singles is testament to his effect
The early days of this year’s US Open can be told in a series of farewells to competitors who plan to end their careers this year. The most moving of them all came in the form of Gaël Monfils’s grand departure inside Louis Armstrong Stadium against the wildly talented 20-year-old Learner Tien. Tien was competing in front of his home crowd, one of the Americans capable of a deep run, but for much of his straight-sets defeat the Frenchman had the American crowd in the palm of his hands.
Beyond the massive popularity he has garnered among tennis fans, one of the most striking parts of Monfils’s long farewell was seeing how highly nearly all of his fellow professionals, particularly his fellow black players, regard him. Frances Tiafoe says he spent his youth looking up to Monfils. Arthur Fils considers Monfils his older brother. Naomi Osaka’s nickname for Monfils, one of her idols, is simply “the Goat”. They all hold Monfils in such great esteem, and for good reason.
Democrats are targeting Trump’s relationship with Epstein as part of strategy ahead of midterm elections
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Speaking in Dallas, where Republicans are holding a midterm convention this week, Talarico appeared alongside one of Epstein’s victims at an exhibit that featured about 3.5m pages of Department of Justice’s files related to Epstein.
Trump’s promise to pay $5,000 to every adult US citizen if the Republicans win in November was only one questionable moment in a nearly two-hour speech
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Speaking for almost two hours at the American Airlines Center, Trump promised to pay every adult citizen in the US $5,000 if Republicans retain the House and Senate in the midterm elections. The speech felt very much like a desperate last pitch to voters: the electoral equivalent of a dumped boyfriend offering to take his estranged girlfriend on a mini-break to Venice.
Republican calls department of motor vehicles a ‘bloated bureaucracy’ as he seeks to boost his longshot campaign
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Court declined to put on hold injunction preventing the USPS from tightening rules around postal voting
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The Boston-based first US circuit court of appeals declined on Thursday to put on hold an injunction issued by a lower court judge last week, preventing the US Postal Service (USPS) from tightening rules around postal voting.
Surprise appearance by Pennsylvania senator raises fresh questions over loyalty to and future in Democratic party
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Latest decision appears to set the stage for the state to use its old electoral maps this year
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Teo Davidov doesn’t hit backhands. He serves from both sides. The 16-year-old from Denver is treating the tennis world to a wildly unorthodox style – and proving it’s more than a parlor trick
Teo Davidov always has the upper hands. An amiable junior prodigy from Denver, the 16-year-old was the oddest sight at this year’s US Open, the only player in the tournament – man, woman or junior – who hits only forehands. To be clear: it’s not that he doesn’t have a backhand or can’t hit a backhand. He’s ambidextrous and so he doesn’t bother with them.
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Host says he’s interviewing Senate candidate ‘under unusual circumstances’ and it will be posted on YouTube
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Reese and Clark have been portrayed as fierce rivals
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The Supreme Court has blocked a federal judge’s ruling that would’ve restored Republican-drawn congressional districts in Missouri.
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Kim Il-sung of North Korea reportedly sought transfusions of blood from young men; Mao Zedong of China believed sex with young women could prolong his life; Muammar Gaddafi underwent fat injections and hair transplantation to make himself look younger. But for Donald Trump, the secret of eternal youth lies in nights like this.
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President makes offer that would cost US over $1tn and asks voters to ‘pretend that I’m on the ballot’ despite being deeply unpopular among electorate
Donald Trump pledged to pay every adult citizen in the US $5,000 if Republicans retain the House and Senate in the midterm elections, during a marathon speech at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas in which the president assailed Democrats as “radical” and defended his unpopular war in Iran.
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