President Volodymyr Zelenskyy further urged to ensure everything to bring more good news in 2025, notably an end to the conflict with Russia
Latest news updates: Catch all the major news updates from around the world
US President-elect Donald Trump is strong and unpredictable, and those qualities can be a decisive factor in his policy approach to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. However, Zelenskyy said it won't be possible to end the almost three years of war in one day, as Trump claimed during his election campaign he could do. The hot' stage of the war can end quite quickly, if Trump is strong in his position, Zelensky said in a Ukrainian television interview late Thursday, referring to fighting on the battlefield. I believe (Trump) is strong and unpredictable. I would very much like President Trump's unpredictability to be directed primarily toward the Russian Federation, Zelenskyy said. Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, hasn't publicly fleshed out his policy on Ukraine but his previous comments have put a question mark over whether the United States will continue to be Ukraine's biggest and most important military backer. Zelenskyy is
Stay with us for all the major news updates from around the globe
Russia launched an aerial attack on Ukraine on Tuesday, striking the capital and other regions with multiple missiles and drones. Ukraine's air force reported a ballistic missile threat at 3 am (0100 GMT), with at least two explosions heard in Kyiv minutes later. Another missile alert was issued at 8 am followed by at least one explosion in the city. Missile debris fell in the Darnytskyi district of the capital with no reports of casualties or damage, the local administration said. Authorities in the northeastern Sumy region reported strikes near the city of Shostka, where the mayor, Mykola Noha, said 12 residential buildings had been damaged as well as two educational facilities. He said some social infrastructure objects were destroyed, without providing detail. The air force also reported missiles and drones targeting several other regions of Ukraine. Around half of Ukraine's energy infrastructure has been destroyed during the war, and rolling electricity blackouts are common an
Russia and Ukraine have exchanged prisoners of war in the latest such swap that saw the release of hundreds of captives and was brokered with the help of the United Arab Emirates, officials said Monday. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 189 Ukrainian prisoners, including military personnel, border guards and national guards along with two civilians were freed. He thanked the UAE for helping negotiate the exchange. Russia's Defence Ministry said that 150 Russian soldiers were freed from captivity as part of the exchange in which each side released 150 people. The reason for the discrepancy in numbers wasn't immediately clear. We are working to free everyone from Russian captivity, Zelenskyy said in a statement. We do not forget anyone. He posted pictures of Ukrainian soldiers sitting on a bus, some holding the country's blue-and-yellow flags. Zelenskyy said that those freed from Russian captivity included defenders of the Snake Island off the Black Sea port of Odesa, w
Once the renovation is complete, the building will be renamed the 'Taiwan Friendship Building'
President Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologised to Aliyev for Wednesday's "tragic incident" in Russian airspace involving the plane after Russian air defences engaged Ukrainian attack drones
Ukraine is under mounting pressure from Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and a group of central European companies to keep gas moving from its eastern border with Russia into the European Union
Five months after their shock offensive into Russia, Ukrainian troops are bloodied and demoralised by the rising risk of defeat in Kursk, a region some want to hold at all costs while others question the value of having gone in at all. Battles are so intense that some Ukrainian commanders can't evacuate the dead. Communication lags and poorly timed tactics have cost lives, and troops have little way to counterattack, seven front-line soldiers and commanders told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity so they could discuss sensitive operations. Since being caught unaware by the lightning Ukrainian incursion, Russia has amassed more than 50,000 troops in the region, including some from its ally North Korea. Precise numbers are hard to obtain, but Moscow's counterattack has killed and wounded thousands and the overstretched Ukrainians have lost more then 40% of the 984 square kilometers (380 square miles) of Kursk they seized in August. Its full-scale invasion three years ago .
FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said that the Russian citizens had been recruited by the Ukrainian intelligence services
Biden also said that the US Department of Defence would increase the weapon deliveries to Ukraine
Zelenskyy thanked the Japanese Prime Minister for Japan's continued support for Ukraine, particularly in the form of humanitarian and financial aid
Pope Francis in his traditional Christmas message Wednesday urged all people of all nations to find courage during this Holy Year to silence the sounds of arms and overcome divisions plaguing the world, from the Middle East to Ukraine, Africa to Asia. The pontiff's Urbi et Orbi To the City and the World address serves as a summary of the woes facing the world this year. As Christmas coincided with the start of the 2025 Holy Year celebration that he dedicated to hope, Francis called for broad reconciliation, even (with) our enemies. "I invite every individual, and all people of all nations ... to become pilgrims of hope, to silence the sounds of arms and overcome divisions,' the pope said from the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica to throngs of people below. The pope invoked the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica, which he opened on Christmas Eve to launch the 2025 Jubilee, as representing God's mercy, which unties every knot; it tears down every wall of division; it dispels hatred and
Russian pipeline gas exports to Europe face serious challenges
Russia launched a massive missile barrage targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure on Wednesday, striking a thermal power plant and prompting Ukrainians to take shelter in metro stations on Christmas morning. In a Facebook statement, Ukrainian energy minister, Herman Halushchenko, said Russia again massively attacks energy infrastructure." Ukraine's Air Force alerted multiple missiles fired at Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Poltava regions east of the country. The (electricity) distribution system operator takes the necessary measures to limit consumption to minimise negative consequences for the power system, he said. As soon as the security situation allows, energy workers will establish the damage caused. Ukraine's biggest private energy company, DTEK, said Russia struck one of their thermal power plants Wednesday morning, making it the 13th attack on Ukraine's power grid this year. Denying light and warmth to millions of peace-loving people as they celebrate Christmas is a depraved and
Kanhaiya Yadav, a resident of Bankata village here, left for Russia in January to work as a cook. Almost a year later, he returned home in a casket. Soon after arriving there, Yadav, 41, was enlisted in the Russian army and sent to the front lines of the Russia-Ukraine war where he was injured. Days after fighting for his life in a hospital, Yadav died on June 17, according to his family. His mortal remains were finally brought home on Monday. Yadav left for St. Peter's Square, Russia on January 16 after securing a work visa through an agent. He underwent training as a cook and was subsequently enlisted in the Russian army, said his wife Geeta. "On May 9, Yadav informed us that he was injured in the fighting. He was in touch with us till May 25, but there was no communication after that," she said. On December 6, the Indian embassy in Moscow informed the family that Yadav died on June 17 while undergoing treatment at a hospital, she added. Yadav's body was brought back on ...
Latest news updates: Catch the latest news developments here
Putin said that day that it was clear there would be no new deal with Kyiv to send Russian gas through Ukraine to Europe
The Russian president offered on Thursday to hold talks with Trump, saying, 'I'll be ready to meet if he wants'