Russia Invades Ukraine

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Russian attacks kill at least 7 in Ukraine while peace talks are underway Russia launched a wave of attacks on Kyiv overnight, with at least seven people killed in strikes that hit city buildings and energy infrastructure. A Ukrainian attack on southern Russia killed three people and damaged homes, authorities said. Read more.

What to know: The large-scale attacks come during a renewed U.S. push to end the war that has raged for nearly four years and talks about a U.S.-brokered peace plan. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll met with Russian officials for several hours in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, a U.S. official confirmed to The Associated Press.   The latest attacks followed peace-plan talks in Switzerland between U.S. and Ukraine representatives. Oleksandr Bevz, a delegate from the Ukrainian side, told the AP that the talks had been “very constructive” and the two sides were able to discuss most points.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Zelenskyy faces growing pressures in a crucial week   Photos show aftermath of Russian deadly attacks on Kyiv

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Putin sees US peace plan as a starting point as he warns Ukraine’s army to withdraw

U.S. proposals to end the war between Russia and Ukraine offer a starting point for talks, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday, as he told Ukrainian forces to pull back or be overrun by Russia’s bigger army.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-putin-trump-peace-plan-1cd3d05566de3255c63fb84d82f83307?

ps:Starting point? What a joke!!

How Russian drones targeting civilians are turning one Ukrainian city into a ‘human safari’

When Olena Horlova leaves home or drives through town outside the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, she fears that she’s a target. She believes that Russian drones could be waiting on a rooftop, along the road or aiming for her car. Horlova, like so many other residents, found that even after her town was liberated in 2022, the ordeal didn’t end. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

Zelenskyy’s chief of staff resigns after anti-corruption investigators search home Hungary’s Orbán seeks more Russian oil and gas at Kremlin talks with Putin Russia outlaws Human Rights Watch as crackdown on dissent continues

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⚡ Putin peace talks tomorrow

Negotiations between the U.S. and Ukraine yesterday outside Miami focused on where the de facto border with Russia would be drawn under a peace deal, two Ukrainian officials tell Axios' Barak Ravid.

• They described the five-hour meeting as "difficult" and "intense" but productive.

Why it matters: Russian President Vladimir Putin — who's expected to meet with President Trump's envoy tomorrow — insists Russia won't stop until it controls the entire Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.

• The U.S. wants Ukraine to hand over territory there to convince Putin to make peace, but that would be a painful and politically explosive concession.

? Behind the scenes: The U.S. side arrived at the meeting, held at U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff's exclusive Shell Bay golf club near Miami, hoping to make progress on the territory issue, which Witkoff could then present to Putin in their meeting.

• Witkoff plans to depart for Moscow today.

Keep reading.

Ukraine peace talks

The US is sending special envoy Steve Witkoff to Moscow today as President Donald Trump says a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war could be close. Over the weekend, Trump expressed optimism about the peace talks, saying there is a "good chance" an agreement can be reached soon. However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is sending a more cautious message. He said on Sunday that there is "more work to be done," casting the peace talks as "delicate" and "complicated." Rubio added that officials are not only working on terms to end the fighting but also on terms that will "set up Ukraine for long-term prosperity."

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US-Russia talks on Ukraine were ‘constructive’ but work remains, Putin adviser says

Talks between Russia and the U.S. on ending the nearly four-year war in Ukraine were constructive, but much work remains, Yuri Ushakov, a senior adviser to President Vladimir Putin, told reporters on Wednesday.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-envoy-witkoff-zelenskyy-ireland-91d8a82058a80521f0f9491105fba8e1?

ps:There shouldn't be any meetings unless both Russia and Ukraine are together in the room! Period!!

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Ukrainian troops doubt the proposed pact with Russia will bring lasting peace

Ukrainian troops fighting in eastern Ukraine are expressing doubts that a peace proposal currently being negotiated will prevent Russia from attacking their country again. In interviews with The Associated Press, the soldiers say they don't believe Moscow will abide by such a pact and it would only allow Russia to rebuild and rearm its military for another invasion in a few years. Read more.

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Putin says there are points he can’t agree to in the US proposal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin says some proposals in a U.S. plan to end the war in Ukraine are unacceptable to the Kremlin, indicating in comments published Thursday that any deal is still some ways off. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

US push for an end to the war in Ukraine sets off a flurry of shuttle diplomacy Putin arrives in New Delhi on a state visit aimed at bolstering Russia-India ties UK and Norway will mount joint naval patrols to protect undersea cables and hunt Russian submarines

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As sea drones force Russia to retreat, Ukraine examines ways to launch more complex attacks

The commander of sea-drone operations for Ukraine’s military intelligence agency says more complex strikes against Russian forces are expected next year, after Kyiv’s uncrewed fleet succeeded in curbing the movements of Russia’s once-dominant Black Sea navy. (AP video by Olexksii Yeroshenko /AP Production: Dmytro Zhyhinas and Susie Blann)

https://apnews.com/video/as-sea-drones-force-russia-to-retreat-ukraine-examines-ways-to-launch-more-complex-attacks-10e34f84a3f94814bd1f8676d133ad8c?

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Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his team is preparing an updated version of the Trump administration's peace plan and could send it to the US later today. Zelensky has been clear that his country will not surrender Russian-occupied territory, even as President Trump pressures him to agree to a peace deal with Moscow. In an interview with Politico taped Monday, Trump once again expressed frustration with Zelensky, saying, "He's going to have to get on the ball and start accepting things, you know, when you're losing." Russia has insisted on territorial concessions being part of a settlement to end its war in Ukraine. Ukraine hasn’t held elections since Russia’s full-scale invasion. Here’s why Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected suggestions that he is using the war as an excuse to cling to power, saying he is ready to hold elections if the U.S. and other allies will help ensure the security of the poll and if the country’s electoral law can be altered. President Donald Trump has criticized the delay as he pushes Zelenskyy to accept his proposals for ending the war. Read more. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Ukraine to give revised peace plans to US as Kyiv readies for more talks with its coalition partners European nations agree to consider weakening protections for migrants dating back to WW2

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Kim Jong-un admits North Korean troops clearing landmines for Russia

North Korea sent troops to clear mines in Russia’s Kursk region earlier this year, leader Kim Jong-un said in a speech carried on Saturday by state media, a rare acknowledgement by Pyongyang of the deadly tasks assigned to its deployed soldiers.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/13/north-korea-troops-cleared-landmines-russia-kim-jong-un?

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Ukraine attacks Russian ‘shadow’ tanker off Libyan coast

Ukraine says it has attacked a Russian “shadow fleet” tanker with aerial drones 1,250 miles (2,000km) from its borders, in the first such strike in the Mediterranean Sea since Moscow’s full-scale invasion nearly four years ago.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/19/ukraine-attacks-russian-shadow-tanker-off-libyan-coast?

Moscow car bombing

A Russian general has been killed in a car bombing in Moscow, with officials pointing the finger at Ukraine for the latest apparent assassination of a senior military officer. Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, who ran the armed forces operational training department, died after an explosive device installed under the chassis of a car exploded earlier today, Russia’s investigative committee said in a statement. Several prominent Russians have been killed by explosives or shot dead in Moscow in attacks blamed on the Ukrainian security services since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

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Major Russian drone and missile attack on Ukraine kills at least 3 people and cuts power

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia fired more than 650 drones and three dozen missiles at Ukraine in a large-scale attack that began during the night and stretched into daylight hours Tuesday, officials said. At least three people were killed, including a 4-year-old child, two days before Christmas.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-drone-missiles-attack-18fc9cbc3bed4103b4863bbdbc57e181?

ps:Have you noticed something about the strikes on Ukraine compared to the strikes on Russia??

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Zelenskyy says he’s open to creating demilitarized zone in Ukraine’s industrial heartland

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would be willing to withdraw troops from the country’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end Russia’s war, if Moscow also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

Explosion in Moscow kills 3 people. Official says Ukrainian intelligence was behind it Pro-Russian hackers claim cyberattack on French postal service Ukraine’s own ‘Dancing with the Stars’ is back on for a special episode with wartime heroes   Zelenskyy heads to Florida for talks with Trump amid fresh strikes on Kyiv Power supplies to Ukraine’s capital remained patchy on Sunday after a Russian drone and missile barrage that left hundreds of thousands of people facing freezing temperatures. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/27/zelenskyy-to-meet-european-leaders-and-trump-for-ukraine-peace-talks-amid-fresh-strikes-on-kyiv?

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Zelenskyy to meet with Trump as efforts to end Russia-Ukraine war remain elusive President Donald Trump will host his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Sunday to try to close out a peace agreement that would end nearly four years of war that began with Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The two will meet at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club in Palm Beach, Florida, where the U.S. president is spending the holidays. Zelenskyy said he will raise “territorial issues” as Moscow and Kyiv remain fiercely at odds over the fate of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Russia strikes Ukraine’s capital and kills at least 1 person a day before Zelenskyy-Trump meeting Photos show the destruction after Russia’s latest attacks on Kyiv

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Ukraine’s allies praise major progress on defense guarantees if a peace deal is struck with Russia

PARIS (AP) — Ukraine’s allies said they made major progress Tuesday toward agreeing on how to defend the country if a peace deal is struck with Russia, saying they were ready to provide international guarantees to deter Moscow from attacking its neighbor again.

https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-macron-starmer-witkoff-21195f5b6a67fd2ac445d05803ae5948?

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Russia uses its new ballistic missile in a major attack on Ukraine and a warning to West

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles in a large-scale overnight attack, officials said Friday, killing at least four people in the capital. For only the second time in the nearly 4-year-old war, it used a powerful, new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv’s NATO allies.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-drones-missile-kyiv-56655401d55ab4818800c43b7035b2a9?

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Ukrainian drone attack in Russia kills 1 following Moscow’s intense bombardment

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday. Meanwhile, thousands of residents were still without power in Kyiv, following an intense Russian bombardment.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-voronezh-drones-1f81528293f9ee2f7cccef7695090a2d?

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Russia attacks Ukraine’s power grid again in freezing temperatures

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a second major drone and missile bombardment of Ukraine in four days, officials said Tuesday, aiming again at the power grid amid freezing temperatures in an apparent snub to U.S.-led peace efforts as Moscow’s invasion of its neighbor approaches the four-year mark.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-drone-missile-attack-aa7d5c2e54619fefabab72165444f8e3?

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Ukraine

Hundreds of thousands of households in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, are without power after Russia launched another massive aerial assault. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said more than 300 drones, along with ballistic and cruise missiles, struck eight regions overnight Tuesday. Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure with drones and missiles since its invasion began in 2022, seeking to cripple heating supplies as temperatures plunge well below freezing. A new United Nations report released this week said Russia killed more than 2,500 Ukrainian civilians in 2025 — many of them far from the front lines.

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Russia batters Ukraine’s power grid again as officials seek momentum in US-led peace talks

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia bombarded Ukraine with more than 300 drones and ballistic and cruise missiles in its latest nighttime attack on the Ukrainian power grid, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday, as Moscow gave no public sign that it’s willing to end the invasion of its neighbor anytime soon.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-zelenskyy-drones-missiles-electricity-cc5f4542e0a5d3c05b948d4e0c64984f?

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?? Zelensky: Trump exposed Europe's weakness

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rebuked European leaders today over their reluctance to use hard power to punish Russia or defend the continent, Axios' Barak Ravid, Dave Lawler and Zachary Basu report from Davos, Switzerland.

• ☎️ Zelensky made clear that he thinks the Europeans are too risk-averse and slow to react — and that the wake-up call Trump gave the continent via his demands for Greenland was long overdue.
• ? Zelensky, to the World Economic Forum: "If Europe is not seen as a global force, if its actions do not scare bad actors, Europe will always be reacting, catching up to new, dangerous attacks."

? "Every European leader" is now wondering whether the U.S. would help them in a conflict, he added.

• "Europe looks lost trying to convince the U.S. president to change. But he will not change. President Trump loves who he is. And he says he loves Europe, but he will not listen to this kind of Europe."

?? ?? ?? Zelensky also announced that U.S., Ukrainian and Russian officials will hold trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi tomorrow and Saturday.

• Go deeper.

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Russia launches ‘brutal’ attack on Ukraine as peace talks continue

Russia launched a major drone and missile attack targeting Ukraine’s two largest cities, Kyiv and Kharkiv, early on Saturday, as US, Ukrainian and Russian negotiators met in the United Arab Emirates for a second day of tripartite peace talks.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/24/russia-launches-deadly-strikes-on-kyiv-and-kharkiv-ahead-of-day-two-of-peace-talks?

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US security agreement for Ukraine is ‘100% ready’ to be signed, Zelenskyy says President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that a U.S. security guarantees document for Ukraine is “100% ready” after two days of talks involving representatives from Ukraine, the U.S. and Russia. Read more.

What to know: Speaking to journalists in Vilnius during a visit to Lithuania, Zelenskyy said Ukraine is waiting for its partners to set a signing date, after which the document would go to the U.S. Congress and Ukrainian parliament for ratification. Zelenskyy also emphasized Ukraine’s push for European Union membership by 2027, calling it an “economic security guarantee.”   The Ukrainian leader described the talks in Abu Dhabi as likely the first trilateral format in “quite a long while” that included not only diplomats but military representatives from all three sides. The talks, which began on Friday and continued Saturday, were the latest aiming to end Russia’s nearly four-year full-scale invasion.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Zelenskyy says trilateral talks ended constructively and more are possible next week   Freezing and in the dark, Kyiv residents are stranded in tower blocks as Russia targets power system   WATCH: Power plant in western Ukraine faces shutdown for repairs after repeated Russian attacks

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Oil exports have been a cash cow for Russia. But revenues are dwindling, thanks to sanctions

Oil and gas exports have sustained Russia’s finances throughout its war against Ukraine. But as the fourth anniversary of the full-scale invasion approaches, those cash flows have suddenly dwindled to lows not seen in years.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-oil-sanctions-ukraine-trump-putin-d4db8311f04f70981b6e6a1caee3920e?

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🇺🇦 Charted: Europe fills Ukraine void

Data: Kiel Institute. Kavya Beheraj/Axios Four years after Russia's invasion, Europe has quietly replaced the United States as the engine of Ukraine's survival, Axios' Zachary Basu writes. Why it matters: President Trump and his allies have long insisted that Europe — not Washington — should shoulder the cost of the continent's largest land war since World War II. In 2025, European governments and institutions answered that call — surging military aid by 67% and financial and humanitarian support by 59%, according to the Kiel Institute's Ukraine Support Tracker. Over the same period, U.S. aid effectively ground to a halt. Keep reading.

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Kyivan Rus

How it all started The Russia-Ukraine conflict (see current map) is rooted in centuries of contested identity, shifting rule, and colonial domination. Beginning in the 14th century, the territory now known as Ukraine was ruled by competing powers—including Poland-Lithuania and the Austro-Hungarian and Russian empires.   Ukrainian nationalism emerged in the mid-19th century, but modern Ukraine was not established as a sovereign nation until the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991 (watch a video exploring Ukraine's origins). Today's tensions stem from that independence—its geographic position between Europe (and the broader NATO alliance) and Russia makes it both a strategic asset and a symbolic battleground for influence.    Ukrainian revolutions against pro-Russian governments in 2004 and 2014 prompted Russia to illegally annex Crimea—a peninsula on the Black Sea—and launch a full-scale invasion in 2022 (watch a breakdown of the war). The current war, Europe's largest since World War II, has profoundly affected the Ukrainian people, their infrastructure, and the post-Cold War global order. ... Read what else we learned about the conflict here.   Also, check out ...  > Russia now controls roughly 20% of Ukraine. (View) > Stalin's policies in the 1930s caused a devastating famine in Ukraine. (Watch) > Hear how Putin's Soviet childhood shaped his rule. (Listen) > In 2021, Putin wrote a 5,000-word historical treatise justifying an invasion. (Watch)