The latest war between Ukraine and Russia: UN to hold emergency meeting on Oreshnik hypersonic missile attack & more related news here

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his late-night address on Saturday that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with American partners on Saturday, he said.

Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia attacked Ukraine with 154 drones overnight Sunday.

He added that 125 were shot down.

Sir Richard Shirreff, former NATO deputy commander, cautiously welcomed the pledge but stressed that any UK deployment must “have the right numbers, the means and there must be adequate capabilities”.

Should the UK keep its promise to Ukraine or are there limits to what its armed forces can realistically achieve?

We want to hear from you. Share your opinions in the comments and vote; the most convincing answers will be published in the coming days.

Shortly before Christmas, the new head of MI6, Blaise Metreweli, gave her first public speech since taking office. He chose as his topic the multifaceted threat posed by Russia, warning of the growing danger of Vladimir Putin’s regime. “We are operating in a space between peace and war,” he said.

The newly appointed “C” said that “the front line is everywhere,” explaining that Putin is bringing about a new “era of uncertainty” by busily rewriting the unwritten rules of conflict. “The export of chaos is a feature, not a bug, of the Russian approach to international engagement,” Metreweli said.

One woman was killed and at least three other people were injured in an overnight attack by Ukrainian drones on the city of Voronezh, according to regional governor Alexander Gusev.

Gusev said on Telegram that the attack damaged more than 10 apartment blocks, about 10 private houses, a high school and several administrative buildings.

“Our city was subject to one of the most intense drone attacks since the start of the special military operation,” he wrote.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports.

Voronezh is located several hundred kilometers from both Moscow and the Ukrainian border.

Ukraine has acknowledged carrying out attacks inside Russia, saying they are aimed at weakening Moscow’s war effort and responding to repeated missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.

Residents of kyiv were left crammed into unheated apartments on Saturday as repairs continued after Russian attacks left them without power, water and heat across the city.

Galina Turchin, a 71-year-old retiree who lives on kyiv’s eastern bank, said she had not cooked for two days after utilities were cut off again. A window in his apartment was left covered with plastic sheeting after drone debris damaged his building.

“We hope they give us warmth. If not energy, at least warmth,” she told Reuters, wrapped in layers inside her kitchen as temperatures fell well below freezing.

City officials said the outages were related to damage caused by previous attacks on the power grid. While some electricity and heating have been gradually restored, officials warned that the system remains under serious strain as the war enters its fourth winter.

The former RAF chief has warned that increased UK defense spending is being “devoured by the MoD overdraft” and that the UK’s military footprint is shrinking at a critical time.

Retired Air Marshal Edward Stringer’s intervention comes just days after Sir Keir Starmer pledged to send British troops to Ukraine as part of a coalition willing to protect any peace deal from Russian aggression.

But it represents the third warning from a former member of the UK military high command in less than a week about how the UK’s commitments to Ukraine and elsewhere are not matched by resources in the armed forces and manpower.

The Russian military fired its Oreshnik hypersonic missile at kyiv on Friday, killing at least four civilians and leaving 500,000 without power during severe winter conditions.

It is the second time Russia has used the intermediate-range Oreshnik, a missile that President Vladimir Putin has boasted is impossible to intercept due to its speed, reportedly more than 10 times the speed of sound.

Experts say the novel feature of the Oreshnik is that it can carry multiple warheads capable of simultaneously attacking different targets, usually associated with longer-range intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

Like many Russian weapons systems, it is capable of carrying nuclear and conventional warheads, but there was no indication of any nuclear component in the overnight attack.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss Russia’s latest large-scale attack on Ukraine.

In a post on

“Russian attacks undermine international peace and security efforts by the United States, European states, and other partners. The international community must act now to ensure accountability, increase pressure on the aggressor, and restore lasting peace.”

Friday’s night attack was one of the most intense in recent weeks, killing four civilians in kyiv and cutting off heating and power supplies during frigid winter temperatures.

Russia has said the attack was retaliation for Ukrainian attacks inside Russian territory, a claim rejected by kyiv.