Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kremlin welcomes meeting with Trump as ‘supermarket hit with US missile’ in Donetsk
Russia accused Kyiv of using a US-supplied HIMARS to strike a supermarket in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine
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Your support makes all the difference.The Kremlin has welcomed a meeting with US president-elect Donald Trump just days after he claimed Vladimir Putin wanted to sit down with him.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said there could be progress on setting up the meeting after Trump is sworn in as US president on 20 January.
Trump claimed Putin wanted to meet with him as he spoke with Republican governors at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, earlier this week.
“President Putin wants to meet. He has said that even publicly and we have to get that war over with. That’s a bloody mess,” he said.
On Thursday, Trump pushed back his campaign pledge to end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours and said six months was a more realistic target.
“The whole [Trump] team is obsessed with strength and looking strong, so they’re recalibrating the Ukraine approach,” a European official told the Financial Times.
Meanwhile, Russia accused Ukraine of carrying out a missile strike on a supermarket in the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk with US-supplied weapons.
Dashcam footage posted by a driver nearby appeared to show the moment the supermarket was struck, with an ensuing large explosion and flames soaring into the sky.
Ukraine defence meeting begins
A meeting of Ukraine’s top allies has begun today to discuss future support for Kyiv.
It is the 25th meeting since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, involving around 50 countries discussing how best to help Kyiv continue to defend itself against Moscow.
“We are grateful to our friends from about 50 partner countries for their unwavering support and commitment to the values of freedom,” the Ukrainian defence ministry wrote in a statement.
Polish officials earlier this week expressed concern that this could be the final meeting, which have been held at the Ramstein air base in Germany, given the return of Donald Trump to the White House off the back of promises to end the war.
Russian drones cross into Belarusian airspace
Four Russian drones fired at Ukraine have misfired into Belarusian airspace, a monitor has reported.
The Russian glide bombs changing the face of the war in Ukraine
As Ukraine reports that Russia has fired dozens of glide bombs over the last 24 hours, some of which killed 13 and wounded 113 more in one attack in southeastern Zaporizhzhia, below is an explainer on what these munitions are.
The Russian glide bombs changing the face of the war in Ukraine
Winged explosives weighing up to 1,500 kilograms – and nicknamed the ‘building destroyer’ – have had a devastating impact wherever they have been used, writes Tom Watling. Kyiv is battling them as best it can but needs Western allies to step up and provide more weapons, air defences and ammunition
Russian firefighters were on Thursday still battling a fire reported to have broken out at an oil depot near an air base for strategic bombers in the Volga region, more than 24 hours after a Ukrainian drone attack.
“It takes a certain amount of time to complete the burnout process. The situation is under control,” regional governor Roman Busargin said in a Telegram post.
A state of emergency was in effect in Engels, a city of 200,000 people some 730 km (450 miles) southeast of Moscow, after the blaze spread and two firefighters died trying to put it out.
Busargin said the fire had broken out at an industrial site, which he did not name, after a mass drone attack. The Ukrainian military said on Wednesday that it had set fire to an oil depot that serves an air base for Russian nuclear-capable bombers.
Engels is hundreds of kilometres from Ukraine. In December 2022, three Russian air force personnel were killed when a drone was shot down there.
Ukraine-Russia war map: Where are Putin’s forces making gains?
Ukraine-Russia war map 2025: Where are Putin’s forces making gains on the frontline?
Russian forces are advancing in the east, slowly but surely, and they are shrinking Ukraine’s partial hold of the border region of Kursk
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