The Dispatch

Zelenskiy says he’s ready to exchange North Korean soldiers for Ukrainians held in Russia

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Kyiv is ready to hand over captured North Korean soldiers to their leader Kim Jong Un if he can facilitate their exchange for Ukrainians held…

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UPDATED: Armenian government approves bill to launch EU accession bid

Armenia's government on Thursday gave approval to a bill that calls for the country, once part of the Soviet Union, to launch a bid to join the European Union. Armenia…

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Over 12,300 civilians killed since start of Ukraine war, UN says

More than 12,300 civilians have been killed in the Ukraine war since Russia invaded nearly three years ago, a U.N. official told a U.N. meeting on Wednesday, noting a spike…

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NATO membership only credible security guarantee for Ukraine, Finnish foreign minister says

Membership in NATO is the only credible long-term security guarantee Ukraine can receive against future Russian aggression, Finland's top diplomat said. Donald Trump's return to the White House on Jan.…

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Russia claims capture of Ukrainian front-line town

Russia said its forces had made important gains in eastern Ukraine while continuing to fend off a new Ukrainian offensive inside the Kursk region of western Russia, where a second…

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Reports of hundreds of North Korean troops dead in Kursk as Ukraine launches offensive

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said this weekend that Russian and North Korean forces suffered heavy losses in fighting in Russia's southern Kursk region. Russia said on Sunday that Ukraine had…

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Zelenskiy says Kyiv security guarantees will only work if US provides them

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said security guarantees for Kyiv to end Russia's war would only be effective if the United States provides them, and that he hoped to meet U.S.…

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Moldova PM warns of security crisis

Moldova faces a security crisis after tens of thousands of residents in the breakaway enclave of Transdniestria were cut off from Russian gas supply, Prime Minister Dorin Recean said on…

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Bashar al-Assad Allegedly Poisoned in Moscow Exile

Reports have surfaced claiming that former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has been in exile in Moscow since December 2024, was the target of an alleged assassination attempt involving poisoning.…

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Russia ‘drafts 180,000 convicts’ as Zelensky says decisive Trump can stop Putin

Russia has enlisted between 140,000 and 180,000 prison inmates to fight in the war against Ukraine, Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SZRU) said, according to the Kyiv Independent. A Russian government…

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Putin says in New Year address that Russia will ‘move forward’ in 2025

President Vladimir Putin told Russians in a New Year address that the country would move forward with confidence in 2025. Putin's seasonal message was being broadcast at midnight in each…

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Biden announces $2.5 billion in fresh military aid to Ukraine

U.S. President Joe Biden announced $2.5 billion in additional security assistance for Ukraine on Monday as he uses his final weeks in office to surge military aid to Kyiv before…

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Injured North Korean soldier captured by Ukraine forces; Ukrainian F-16 reportedly shot down over Zaporizhzhia

South Korea’s spy agency has confirmed Ukrainian reports that an injured North Korean soldier has been captured by Ukrainian forces, in what could be the first capture of its kind…

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Putin says Slovakia could host peace talks with Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia is open to a Slovakian proposal to host peace talks with Ukraine to end a conflict he said Russia was determined…

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Russia says it foils Ukrainian plots to kill senior officers with disguised bombs

Russia's Federal Security Service said on Thursday it had foiled several plots by Ukrainian intelligence services to kill high-ranking Russian officers and their families in Moscow using bombs disguised as…

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Russia’s security must be guaranteed by any Ukraine peace deal, Lavrov says

Russia sees no point in a weak ceasefire to freeze the war in Ukraine but Moscow wants a legally binding deal for a lasting peace that would ensure the security…

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UPDATED: Preliminary investigation confirms Russian missile caused Azerbaijan Airlines crash

Azerbaijani government sources have exclusively confirmed to Euronews on Thursday that a Russian surface-to-air missile caused the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash in Aktau on Wednesday. According to the sources, the…

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Several countries offer to host Putin-Trump talks

Kremlin foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov said that several countries had already offered to host talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President-elect Donald Trump, though he declined to…

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Ukraine collects vast war data trove to train AI models

As warfare increasingly incorporates artificial intelligence, Ukraine has a significant advantage: millions of hours of drone footage, which can be leveraged to train AI models for battlefield decision-making. Both Ukraine…

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Putin says Russia is ready to compromise on Ukraine war

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed willingness to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war in potential talks with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, stating he has no preconditions for engaging with…

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Nuclear arms control is thing of the past, Russia’s top general says

Russia now views arms control over the vast nuclear arsenals that were built up during the Cold War to be a thing of the past due to the lack of…

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Russian says Ukraine repeatedly dropped white phosphorus from drones

Russia said on Wednesday that Ukraine had repeatedly dropped white phosphorus munitions from drones in September, but Kyiv denied it had used such weapons and said it was Moscow which…

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North Korean troops killed fighting Ukraine, says US

North Korean troops have been killed fighting Ukrainian forces in Russia's Kursk border region, the US has said. These would be the first reported casualties since it emerged in October…

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Ukraine says it killed senior Russian general who died in scooter blast in Moscow

Ukraine was responsible for the killing of Lt Gen Igor Kirillov in Moscow, a Ukrainian security source has claimed, according to reports by Reuters and AFP. Kirillov, head of the…

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Putin accuses West of pushing Russia to its “red lines” forcing it to respond

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday accused the West of pushing Russia to its "red lines" - situations it has publicly made clear it will not tolerate - and said…

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‘Significant number’ of North Korean troops in Kursk, Zelenskyy says

Moscow has deployed a "significant number" of North Korean soldiers to help its offensive against Ukraine's forces in Russia's Kursk region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said over the weekend. "We…

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Russia says it will definitely respond to Ukraine’s latest ATACMS strike

Russia will definitely respond to Ukraine's latest use of U.S.-made ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory, the Kremlin said on Thursday. Russia said on Wednesday that Ukraine had struck a…

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Kyiv blasts Orban for Putin call; Hungary’s leader touts abortive ‘Christmas ceasefire’

Ukraine blasted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban for undermining Western unity by calling Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, criticism that Budapest said showed Kyiv was not interested in a…

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Russia tells its citizens to avoid travel to the West

Russia said on Wednesday that relations with the United States were so confrontational that Russian citizens should not travel to the United States, Canada and some EU countries because they…

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Ukraine strikes Russia with missiles, hits oil depot with drones

Ukraine struck a southern Russian port on the Azov Sea with missiles and triggered a fire at an oil depot in the Bryansk region of western Russia with drones, according…

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Belarus opposition leader urges people to be ready to take to the streets

Exiled Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has urged people to be ready to take to the streets to topple the regime of dictator Alexander Lukashenko. Speaking at POLITICO’s P28 event in Brussels,…

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Russia close to achieving goals in Ukraine war, Putin’s spy chief says

Russian President Vladimir Putin's foreign intelligence chief said that Russia was close to achieving its goals in Ukraine with Moscow holding what he said was the strategic initiative in all…

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No contact with Trump so far, the Kremlin says

The Kremlin said that it had so far had no contact with Donald Trump or his team after the U.S. president-elect called for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations between Ukraine…

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Zelenskyy open to Western troops providing security for end to war in Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that he’s open to the potential deployment of Western troops in Ukraine to guarantee the country’s security as part of a broad effort to…

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Ukrainian war dead reach 43,000

Some 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since Russia's full-scale invasion began, Volodymyr Zelensky has said in a rare admission of the extent of the nation's casualties. In a post…

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Russia and Belarus to sign treaty on security guarantees

Russia and Belarus will conclude a treaty on mutual security guarantees in the interests of both countries, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was cited by the state-run RIA news agency as…

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Russia’s Lavrov signals readiness to use any means in Ukraine conflict

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in an interview broadcast on Thursday, said the use of a hypersonic missile in the Ukraine war sought to make the West understand that Moscow…

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Global investigation exposes alleged billion-dollar Russian money-laundering network

Key figures behind a billion-dollar Russian money-laundering network—allegedly used by drug traffickers, financial criminals, and foreign spies—have been arrested and sanctioned in a major international operation led by the UK’s…

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NATO expected to sidestep Ukraine’s call for quick invite

NATO is highly unlikely to heed Ukraine's call for a membership invitation at a meeting on Tuesday, according to diplomats, dashing Kyiv's hopes of a political boost as it struggles…

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Russia, Belarus to sign landmark security pact

Russia's President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, will sign a landmark security pact on Friday that reflects global geopolitical changes, Russian state news agency RIA said on…

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Mass protests in Georgia as government put EU accession talks on hold

Protesters in Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, fired fireworks at riot police as pro-European demonstrations escalated following the government’s decision to halt talks on joining the EU. Video footage captured hundreds of…

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Putin says he does not believe Trump is safe after assassination attempts

Russian President Vladimir Putin praised U.S. President-elect Donald Trump as an experienced and intelligent politician, but said he did not believe Trump was safe after attempts on his life. Trump…

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Georgia to pause its European Union accession efforts

Georgia has decided to pause its European Union accession efforts and reject EU grants in response to a European Parliament resolution that denounced the South Caucasus nation’s recent parliamentary election…

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Georgian ruling party nominates hardline ex-Man City player for president

Georgia's ruling party on Wednesday nominated Mikheil Kavelashvili, a former parliamentary deputy and professional soccer player, as its candidate for president in an election due to be held on Dec.…

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Biden readies $725 million arms aid package for Ukraine

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration is preparing a $725 million weapons package for Ukraine, two U.S. officials said on Wednesday, as the outgoing president seeks to bolster the government in…

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Russia strikes cities across Ukraine with cruise missiles

Explosions were heard in the Ukrainian cities of Odesa, Kropyvnytskyi, Kharkiv, Rivne and Lutsk on Thursday morning amid reports of a Russian cruise missile attack, Ukrainian news outlets Zerkalo Tyzhnya…

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Russia advances in Ukraine at fast pace, moving into Kurakhove

Russian forces have been advancing in Ukraine at the fastest pace since the early months of the war, are moving into the strategic town of Kurakhove and have been exploiting…

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Russian forces capture British man fighting with Ukraine

Russian forces captured a British mercenary fighting with the Ukrainian army in Russia's Kursk region, which is still partially controlled by Kyiv forces, a security source told Russia's RIA state…

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Putin says Ukraine war is going global

President Vladimir Putin said that the Ukraine war was escalating towards a global conflict after the United States and Britain allowed Ukraine to hit Russia with their weapons, and warned…

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Russia fires intercontinental ballistic missile in attack on Ukraine

Russia fired an intercontinental ballistic missile during an attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday, Kyiv's air force said, in what would be the first use in war…

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Russia says new US base in Poland raises overall nuclear danger

Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that a new U.S. ballistic missile defence base in northern Poland will lead to an increase in the overall level of nuclear danger and…

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Belarusian leader Lukashenko pardons 32 people jailed for ‘extremism’

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has pardoned 32 people who were convicted of extremism, according to the Pul Pervogo Telegram account which reports widely on his activities. It was the sixth…

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UPDATED: Russia says it shot down two British Storm Shadow missiles

Russian air defences shot down two British Storm Shadow cruise missiles, Russia's defence ministry said on Thursday in its daily report of events over the past 24 hours. "Air defences…

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US shuts Kyiv embassy during threat of ‘potential significant air attack’

The United States shut its embassy in Kyiv on Wednesday due to "specific information of a potential significant air attack" and told its citizens in Ukraine to be ready to…

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Biden approves anti-personnel mines for Ukraine

President Joe Biden has approved provision of anti-personnel land mines to Ukraine, a U.S. official told Reuters, a step that could help slow Russian advances in its east, especially when…

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Kremlin says Russia-US hotline to deflate crisis not in use

A special hotline in place to deflate crises between the Kremlin and the White House is not currently being used, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, as nuclear risks rise amid…

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Russia starts making nuclear-resistant mobile bomb shelters

Russia has begun serial production of mobile bomb shelters that can protect against a variety of threats including shockwaves and radiation from a nuclear blast. The emergency ministry's research institute…

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