Ukraine faked the assassination of Russian opposition leader Denis Kapustin to trick Moscow into paying a $500,000 bounty that funded the war effort.

Three drones struck a cafe and hotel in the resort town of Khorly on the Black Sea coast, the region’s Moscow-installed leader said.

Ukraine has targeted Moscow with drones every day of 2026 so far, according to data published by Russia’s Defence Ministry, in what appeared to mark an escalation from earlier, more sporadic attacks on the Russian capital.

Putin accused Ukraine of launching drone attacks on his residence, derailing momentum on Zelenskyy's peace plan as Russia threatens to harden its position.

At the moment we suspect aggravated disruption of telecommunications and also aggravated sabotage,” Helsinki's police chief said.

Russia filed a formal diplomatic request that the United States stop pursuing an oil tanker originally bound for Venezuela that has evaded US custody for almost two weeks, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

President Donald Trump engaged Ukraine, Russian leaders throughout 2025 in unprecedented diplomatic push to end the war, including Alaska summit and Mar-a-Lago meetings.

Russia's battlefield gains in Ukraine last year were the highest since 2022, an AFP analysis showed, as Kyiv was set to host security advisers from allied states on Saturday despite Moscow's unrelenting strikes.

January, President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” in Ukraine will have dragged on longer than the war on the Eastern Front that ended with the fall of Berlin in May 1945.

Russia's defence ministry released video footage on Wednesday of what it said was a downed drone at a briefing intended to show Ukraine tried this week to attack a presidential residence and challenge Kyiv's denials that such an attack took place.

Chinese nationalists are urging Beijing to prepare for Russia's political and economic collapse and to seize up to a third of the country.