Russia and Ukraine launched attacks targeting each other's capitals early on Thursday, just hours after peace talks in Abu Dhabi ended without a breakthrough on key issues.
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talks → launch → issues
Explosions were heard across Kyiv in the early hours, although there were no immediate reports of damage.
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Explosions → hear → damage
Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Russian air defences had shot down five drones heading towards the Russian capital.
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defences → say → capital
It comes as the US envoys were set to travel to Moscow to meet president Vladimir Putin after US mediators said differences remained on major issues, including territorial questions.
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differences → come → questions
US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow on Thursday for talks with Putin, where they are expected to raise the question of adding European partners to the talks.
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they → travel → talks
Kushner has said they must be at the table.
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they → say → table
The US negotiators then plan to fly to Ireland to meet with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, who is due to attend a meeting of European leaders there.
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who → plan → leaders
However, negotiators agreed to a major prisoner exchange at two days of peace talks in Abu Dhabi that ended on Wednesday.
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that → agree → Wednesday
US and China discuss possible Trump-Xi-Putin summit on peace and denuclearisation
US secretary of state Marco Rubio and Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi have agreed on the importance of talks between world leaders to advance peace and denuclearisation, including a potential trilateral summit involving Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.
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Rubio → discuss → Trump
The two diplomats spoke by phone on Wednesday ahead of Trump's visit to China for next week's APEC summit and Xi's planned trip to Florida for the G20 summit next month.
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diplomats → speak → summit
According to the US State Department, Rubio and Wang reaffirmed their leaders' commitment to maintaining a constructive relationship based on mutual respect, fairness and reciprocity.
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Rubio → accord → respect
The call comes amid efforts to arrange a three-way meeting between Trump, Xi and Putin, potentially on the sidelines of the APEC summit, to discuss nuclear arms
Russia and Ukraine exchange attacks on capitals as US envoys head to Moscow
Russia and Ukraine launched attacks targeting each other's capitals early on Thursday, just hours after peace talks in Abu Dhabi ended without a breakthrough on key issues.
Explosions were heard across Kyiv in the early hours, although there were no immediate reports of damage.
Meanwhile, Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Russian air defences had shot down five drones heading towards the Russian capital.
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defences → come → capital
The attacks came a day after Russian and Ukrainian negotiators concluded two days of US-mediated peace talks in Abu Dhabi, where they agreed to a prisoner exchange but remained divided over major issues, including territory.
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they → come → territory
US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are expected to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday for further negotiations.
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envoys → expect → negotiations
The pair are also expected to raise the possibility of bringing European partners into the peace process, with Kushner insisting they must have a seat at the negotiating table.
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they → expect → table
The US negotiators are then scheduled to travel to Ireland for talks with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, who is due to attend a meeting of European leaders there.
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who → schedule → leaders
Spate of deadly bear attacks in Russia caused by hunters enlisting in army - report
A spate of deadly bear attacks has left 35 people dead across Russia since the start of the spring, with the latest victim a security guard at a holiday camp in Kamchatka, Russia's RIA state news agency reported on Wednesday.
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agency → cause → Wednesday
The number of deaths has risen sharply in recent weeks, rising to 35 from 22 as of early October, according to RIA.
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number → rise → RIA
Russia's population of brown bears has more than doubled in the last three decades to 308,000, in part due to shorter and milder winters.
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population → double → winters
Some regions have struggled to control bear numbers and the government said in September it was drawing up measures to make it easier cull them.
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it → struggle → them
Alexei Tsydenov, the head of Russia's Buryatia region where at least two people have been killed by bears so far this year, told state TV this month that rising bear numbers and the spike in attacks on humans was partly linked to hunters enlisting in the army at a time when Russia's forces are fighting in Ukraine.
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forces → kill → Ukraine
Ukraine's military says it struck Russian Baltic port of Ust-Luga
Ukraine's military said on Wednesday that its drones had struck Russia's major Baltic port of Ust-Luga, a key point for shipment of oil products, triggering a fire and damaging part of its network of tanks.
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drones → say → tanks
According to preliminary information, as a result of drone strikes on the port's oil infrastructure, the tank network suffered the most damage," Ukraine's General Staff said on Telegram, noting five tanks had sustained damage.
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tanks → accord → damage
Russian ambassador to US dies, foreign ministry says
Russia's ambassador to the United States, Alexander Darchiev, has died aged 66, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
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Ministry → die → Wednesday
Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said later on Telegram that Darchiev had died in Moscow from a chronic illness.
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Darchiev → say → illness
Putin appointed Darchiev, a veteran diplomat known in the past for his public denunciations of the West, as ambassador to Washington in March 2025 to lead a rapprochement with the Trump administration that has rattled Ukraine and European countries.
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that → appoint → Ukraine
Trump's envoys to meet Putin in Moscow on Thursday
US President Donald Trump's envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday in Moscow, Axios reported on Wednesday.
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Axios → meet → Wednesday
The land in dispute as peace talks end without breakthrough
Negotiators for Russia and Ukraine emerged from a second day of US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday confident about progress towards a long-awaited peace deal, despite lingering differences over territory.
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Negotiators → end → territory
Russia’s chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said that mutual understanding had been achieved on some issues and that more talks would be held, adding that the two sides had agreed on a large-scale prisoner swap.
Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia said that there was “good momentum” towards reaching a solution by the end of this year, but that Europe should also be represented in future discussions.
This week’s talks in the United Arab Emirates marked a restart for diplomacy some nine months after delegations last met in Geneva to discuss peace terms.
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delegations → say → terms
Here’s how the frontlines look as talks resume:
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talks → ’ → ?
Romanian intelligence agency says it identified Russian-linked cyber attack
A hacking group linked to Russia's FSB security service staged a cyberattack on a Romanian government organisation last year, the country's intelligence agency said on Wednesday.
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agency → say → Wednesday
Russian-linked APT hacking group Turla was behind the December 2025 cyberattack, Romania's intelligence agency SRI said, adding that it had "implemented measures to counter the attack and remedy its effects".
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it → link → effects
"The attackers exploited a series of systemic vulnerabilities in Microsoft operating systems, but the attack was stopped after the National Cyberint Centre intervened," SRI said in a statement.
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SRI → exploit → statement
"No exfiltration of sensitive data was identified, and the affected email service has been fixed," it added, without identifying the government organisation that was targeted.
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that → identify → organisation
Kyiv says ‘fighting could end this year’ after peace talks but US warns of lack of trust
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US → say → trust
David Arakhamia, a senior member of Volodymyr Zelensky’s party, said peace talks have seen a “good momentum to reach a solution before the new year”.
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talks → say → year
Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy adviser to Vladimir Putin, said on Wednesday that the two days of talks had been substantial and useful.
However, US mediators said there was a lack of trust between the warring sides.
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mediators → say → sides
Along with postwar security guarantees for both countries, other key hurdles are the fate of Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory and what role European countries will play in an eventual settlement.
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countries → occupy → settlement
Zelensky says progress in talks depends largely on how Americans talk to Russia
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that Kyiv hoped to achieve concrete results in talks on resolving the war with Russia this year, but that much depended on how the United States approached Moscow.
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States → say → Moscow
We are living through these massive attacks.
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We → live → attacks
…and 2 more, not listed.
The Aporia
