Russia-Ukraine war

Officials say North Korea has sent troops to Russia. What would that mean for the war with Ukraine?

American and South Korean officials say there’s evidence that North Korea has dispatched troops to Russia in a potential escalation of a nearly 3-year-old war with Ukraine.

G7 allies are moving ahead with a $50 billion loan for Ukraine backed by frozen Russian funds

US confirms North Korea has sent 3,000 troops to Russia for training and possible Ukraine combat

Ukraine’s Zelenskyy says only a US green light on a NATO invitation will sway a reluctant Germany

Britain and Germany sign defense pact to counter Russia’s growing threat

RUSSIA’S FREED DISSIDENTS

Several Russian dissidents were released in a historic prisoner swap with the U.S. that was the largest in post-Soviet history.

Veteran human rights advocate freed in swap says Russia is sliding back toward Stalinist times

What’s life like for Russia’s political prisoners? Isolation, poor food and arbitrary punishment

Russian artist released in swap builds a new life in Germany, now free to marry her partner

For freed Russian opposition activist Ilya Yashin, resuming work against Putin is his priority

How Putin’s crackdown on dissent became the hallmark of the Russian leader’s 24 years in power

Longest-held Russian dissident freed in swap says ‘colors get brighter by the day’ in his new life

US defense chief promises Ukraine what it needs to fight Russia but goes no further

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says the United States will get Ukraine what it needs to fight its war with Russia.

Serbia’s president thanks Putin for gas supplies and vows he’ll never impose sanctions on Russia

Serbia’s president has said after his telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin that his country will continue to refuse to impose sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine despite Western pressure.

US writer Anne Applebaum appeals for arms for Ukraine as she accepts German peace prize

The prominent American writer Anne Applebaum has urged continued support for Ukraine with weapons in accepting a prestigious German prize.

Kyiv launches more than 100 drones over Russia as a missile strike on Ukraine injures 17

Moscow officials say Russian air defenses shot down more than 100 Ukrainian drones Sunday over Russia’s western regions, while 17 people were injured in the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih in a ballistic missile attack.

Ukraine’s ‘victory plan’ receives mixed reactions from Western allies

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s plan to end Ukraine’s nearly three-year war with Russia is getting mixed reactions from Western allies.

Romania scrambles fighter jets second time this week over breach of airspace

Romania has scrambled fighter jets for the second time this week after an unidentified object breached its airspace by the Black Sea.

France vows support for Ukraine’s plan to end Russian invasion

France’s foreign minister has pledged his support for Ukraine’s plan for ending the war with Russia.

Russia returns 500 dead soldiers to Ukraine as world leaders mull next steps

Russia has returned to Ukraine the bodies of 501 soldiers in what appears to be the biggest repatriation of war dead since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

South Korean intelligence says North has sent troops to aid Russia’s war in Ukraine

South Korea’s spy agency says North Korea has dispatched troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine.

UK Foreign Secretary Lammy urges China against supporting Russia’s military

Britain’s foreign secretary has raised concerns about China’s support of Russia in its war against Ukraine.

Tech firms remove social media accounts of a Russian drone factory after an AP investigation

Google, Meta and TikTok have removed social media accounts belonging to an industrial plant in Russia’s Tatarstan region aimed at recruiting young foreign women to make drones for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

US imposes sanctions on Chinese companies accused of helping make Russian attack drones

The U.S. Treasury Department has announced sanctions against two Chinese companies accused of directly helping Russia build long-range attack drones used in the war in Ukraine.

Australia gives 49 aging Abrams tanks to Ukraine

Australia will give 49 of its aging M1A1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said Thursday that his government is giving Ukraine most of its American-made M1A1 tanks, which are valued at $163 million.

A glance at Ukraine’s plan aimed at nudging Russia into talks to end the war

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has partially revealed his five-point plan aimed at prompting Russia to end the war through negotiations.

Zelenskyy outlines his ‘victory plan’ to Ukraine’s lawmakers, including a call to join NATO

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told lawmakers that Ukraine’s Western partners are increasing pressure to negotiate with Russia, but he hinted such talks would be unfavorable to Kyiv as he unveiled what he called his “victory plan” for the war.

EU targets top Iran officials and airlines, accusing them of supplying drones and missiles to Russia

The European Union has imposed sanctions on Iran’s deputy defense minister, senior Revolutionary Guard members and three airlines.

Russia says it captured a southern Ukraine village in a push before winter comes

Russia says it has captured the village of Levadne in southern Ukraine as it probes for weaknesses along the war’s roughly 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line before winter arrives.

Ukraine’s human rights envoy urges response to alleged killings of Ukrainian POWs in Kursk

Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman has urged international organizations to respond to a claim that several Ukrainian prisoners of war were executed in Russia’s Kursk region where Kyiv had launched an incursion in August.

Ukrainian recruiters descend on Kyiv’s nightlife in search of men not registered for conscription

Ukrainian military recruitment officers have raided restaurants, bars and a concert hall in Kyiv, checking military registration documents and detaining men who are not in compliance.

Barcelona loses legal bid to get Champions League cash bonus from Russian club Zenit

Barcelona has failed in a legal case to get a half million-dollar bonus from Zenit St. Petersburg that the Russian club didn’t have to pay because it was barred from the Champions League following the invasion of Ukraine.

Russia launches 4th aerial attack in a week against Ukraine’s grain-exporting Odesa region

Authorities say a nighttime Russian missile strike on Odesa has killed at least four people, including a 16-year-old girl.

NATO will start an annual nuclear exercise as Russia threatens Ukraine’s Western backers

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte says the alliance will hold its annual nuclear exercise next week.

Takeaways from an AP investigation of Russia recruiting Africans to make drones for use in Ukraine

Russia has recruited about 200 women ages 18-22 from across Africa to work in a factory alongside Russian vocational students, including teenagers, assembling thousands of Iranian-designed attack drones to be launched into Ukraine.

Trump-Putin ties are back in the spotlight after new book describes calls

A new book’s assertion that Trump may have had as many as seven private phone calls with Putin since leaving the White House has refocused attention on their politically fraught relationship.

Ukrainian drone strikes another arms depot inside Russia, officials say

The Ukrainian military says one of its drones struck an important arms depot inside Russia three weeks after another drone blasted a major Russian armory and three days after a drone smashed into a key oil terminal in Russia-occupied Crimea.

US scrambled to urge Putin not to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, Woodward book says

Months into Russia’s war in Ukraine, the United States had intelligence pointing to “highly sensitive, credible conversations inside the Kremlin” that Russian President Vladimir Putin was seriously considering using nuclear weapons to avoid major battlefield losses.

Sweden updates its Cold War-era preparedness booklet

Sweden will send out another update of a Cold War-era civil emergency advice booklet this month. Officials say the new version was “adapted to better reflect today’s security policy reality” such as what to do in case of nuclear attacks.

Intelligence officials say US adversaries are targeting congressional races with disinformation

Top U.S. intelligence officials say Russia and China are seeking to meddle with specific U.S. House and Senate races this election year.

Ukraine strikes a Russian oil hub as Zelenskyy says the war is in ‘a very important phase’

Ukraine’s military says it struck a major oil terminal in Crimea that provides fuel for Russia’s war effort.

Belarus sentences 12 to up to 25 years for attack on Russian warplane

A Belarusian court has convicted 12 people, most of them in absentia, and sentenced them to prison terms of up to 25 years for an attack on an airfield that damaged a Russian military radar plane.