KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday hailed the &quot;extraordinary&quot; Gaza ceasefire as bringing hope that US President Donald Trump could broker an end to the Russian invasion of his country.&nbsp;&quot;When peace is achieved for one part of the world, it brings more hope for peace in other regions,&quot; Zelensky said on social media.&nbsp;He added: &quot;If a ceasefire and peace have been achieved for the Middle East, the leadership and determination of global actors can certainly work for us too, in Ukraine.&quot;&nbsp;Trump had once vowed he could end the war in a matter of hours, but despite several rounds of talks and a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, there has been no significant progress towards a peace deal.&nbsp;Russia has refused multiple calls for a ceasefire and outlined hardline demands, essentially calling for Kyiv to capitulate in exchange for peace.&nbsp;The US leader has grown increasingly frustrated with Putin in recent weeks and recently said he could see Ukraine reclaiming every inch of territory seized by Russia.&nbsp;Moscow&#39;s army currently controls around a fifth of Ukraine, including the Crimean peninsula, which it captured and annexed in 2014.&nbsp;German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also urged Trump to carry the momentum from brokering the Israel-Hamas ceasefire into efforts on Ukraine.&nbsp;&quot;We also hope that the American president will now use the influence he has exerted on the parties involved in the Middle East to work with us on the Russian government,&quot; Merz said in Egypt, where he was to attend a summit of world leaders, including Trump.&nbsp;Merz added that he will discuss the Russia-Ukraine war settlement with Trump at the summit.

Europe

Ukrainian President Zelensky praised the Gaza ceasefire as a hopeful sign for Ukraine, urging US President Trump to apply similar efforts toward ending Russia's invasion. German Chancellor Merz echoed support for renewed peace talks.

Gaza deal brings hope for Ukraine: Zelensky

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KYIV: Russia seriously damaged one of Ukraine&rsquo;s thermal power plants in an overnight attack, authorities said Wednesday, as Moscow pursued its campaign to deny Ukrainians heat, light and running water as winter approaches.&nbsp;Two workers were injured in the attack, according to DTEK, Ukraine&rsquo;s biggest electricity operator. It provided no further information, including the plant&rsquo;s location.&nbsp;Ukrainian authorities release few details about the routine Russian attacks on its power grid so as not to give away intelligence to the enemy. Repair crews, meanwhile, work round the clock to undo the damage.&nbsp;The energy sector has been a key battleground since Russia launched its all-out invasion of its neighbor more than three years ago.&nbsp;Each year, Russia has tried to cripple the Ukrainian power grid ahead of the bitter winter, hoping to erode public morale and disrupt military manufacturing. Ukraine has accused Moscow of weaponizing winter.&nbsp;Ukraine&rsquo;s winter runs from late October through March, with January and February the coldest months.&nbsp;Ukraine, meanwhile, has been hitting back with long-range strikes on the Russian energy supply, recently causing outages in some Russian regions along the border.&nbsp;The Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday that its air defenses overnight intercepted 53 Ukrainian drones over nine Russian regions.&nbsp;The Ukrainian town of Shostka, in the northeastern Sumy region, has been hard hit by the Russian onslaught against the power supply, officials say.&nbsp;Authorities there have put up tents where locals can warm up, drink hot tea, charge their phones and receive psychological support, according to regional head Oleh Hryhorov.&nbsp;He posted photos on Telegram of people cooking in outdoor kitchens in the street over open fires on Tuesday.&nbsp;Shostka Mayor Mykola Noha posted the locations of 11 places in the town where locals can get food and tea. &ldquo;Please bring your own dishes,&rdquo; he wrote on Facebook Wednesday morning.&nbsp;Russia also struck energy infrastructure in Ukraine&rsquo;s northern Chernihiv, southern Kherson and southeastern Dnipropetrovsk regions, authorities said.&nbsp;Ukraine&rsquo;s air force said it intercepted or jammed 154 out of 183 Russian strike and decoy drones fired at the country overnight.&nbsp;Meanwhile, Ukrainian rockets killed three people and wounded one more in Russia&rsquo;s Belgorod border region, where previous attacks have brought power outages, Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said Wednesday.

Russia’s overnight attack severely damaged a Ukrainian thermal power plant, injuring two workers. As winter nears, Moscow continues targeting Ukraine’s energy grid, while Ukraine responds with drone and rocket strikes on Russian regions.

Russian strike seriously damages Ukrainian power plant, officials say

KYIV: The Ukrainian military said on Monday that its long-range drones hit a major Russian ammunition plant, a key oil terminal and an important weapons depot behind the front line, cranking up recent pressure on Moscow&rsquo;s military logistics.&nbsp;The Ukrainian General Staff said it struck the Sverdlov ammunition plant in the Nizhny Novgorod region of western Russia overnight, causing multiple explosions and a fire.&nbsp;&nbsp;It said the plant supplies Russian forces with aviation and artillery ordnance, aviation bombs, and anti-aircraft and anti-tank munitions.&nbsp;Ukrainian drones also hit an oil terminal in Crimea, starting a blaze, and an ammunition depot of Russia&rsquo;s 18th Combined Arms Army, the General Staff said.&nbsp;Russian authorities acknowledged a major Ukrainian drone attack over 14 Russian regions, as well as the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and around the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.&nbsp; But they gave few details beyond claiming that air defenses shot down 251 Ukrainian drones, making it one of the biggest Ukrainian barrages of Russian territory since the war began more than three years ago.&nbsp;Gleb Nikitin, the governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region, said that air defenses fended off an attack by 20 Ukrainian drones on a local industrial zone that includes the ammo plant and that no facilities were damaged.&nbsp;Ukraine&rsquo;s long-range attacks on refineries and other oil facilities contributed to Russian fuel shortages at the pump in August.&nbsp;Improving domestically produced weapons, especially drones, has been one of Ukrainian authorities&rsquo; chief goals as it strives to counter Russian&rsquo;s invasion and reach deeper into Russia with strikes that put military, political and social pressure on President Vladimir Putin.&nbsp;Though Russia&rsquo;s national economy and army are much bigger than Ukraine&rsquo;s, Kyiv has largely limited Russian battlefield gains to slow and costly progress across the Ukrainian countryside as cutting-edge drone technology makes up in part for its shortage of soldiers.&nbsp;Uncertain of what Western military support it can count on to thwart Russia&rsquo;s invasion, Ukraine has swiftly developed its defense manufacturing capacity.&nbsp; It is already sharing its drone expertise with European countries and is discussing possible technology and production cooperation with the United States.&nbsp;Ukraine&rsquo;s mushrooming defense industry could begin exporting surplus weapons production by the end of this year, using the revenue to help buy sophisticated systems it can&rsquo;t make itself, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday.&nbsp;By the end of this year, Ukraine hopes to provide at least half the weapons its troops need on the front line, Zelenskyy told a defense industry forum in Kyiv.&nbsp;&ldquo;Already at the front, more than 40% of the weapons used are weapons produced in Ukraine or with Ukraine,&rdquo; Zelenskyy said in a speech.&nbsp;Ukraine last year produced and delivered 2.4 million shells to the front line, according to the Ukrainian leader.

Ukraine said its drones struck a Russian ammunition plant, oil terminal, and weapons depot, escalating pressure on Moscow. Russia claimed shooting down 251 drones, while Zelenskyy highlighted Ukraine’s growing defense industry and domestic weapons production.

Ukraine claims drone strikes hit Russian ammo plant, weapons sites

<p style='box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 2; padding: 0.2rem 0px 0.8rem; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "AP Font", "AP Font Local", Verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;' id="isPasted">KYIV: A large Russian drone and missile attack on the Ukraninan capital killed two people and wounded at least 10 others early Sunday, authorities said.<p style='box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 2; padding: 0.2rem 0px 0.8rem; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "AP Font", "AP Font Local", Verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;'>Thick black smoke could be seen rising from a blast near the city center.<p style='box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 2; padding: 0.2rem 0px 0.8rem; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "AP Font", "AP Font Local", Verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;'>The strikes that began overnight and continued after dawn also targeted residential buildings, civilian infrastructure, a medical facility and a kindergarten, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, who also said damage was reported at more than 20 locations across the capital.<p style='box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 2; padding: 0.2rem 0px 0.8rem; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "AP Font", "AP Font Local", Verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;'>City administrator Tymur Tkachenko said a 12-year-old girl was among those killed.<p style='box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 2; padding: 0.2rem 0px 0.8rem; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "AP Font", "AP Font Local", Verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;'>&ldquo;The Russians have restarted the child death counter,&rdquo; Tkachenko wrote on Telegram.<p style='box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 2; padding: 0.2rem 0px 0.8rem; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "AP Font", "AP Font Local", Verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;'>At Kyiv&rsquo;s central train station, passengers arrived to the crackle of anti-aircraft gunfire and the low buzz of attack drones. Mostly women, they waited quietly in a platform underpass until the air raid alert ended. Parents checked the news on their phones while children played online games.<p style='box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 2; padding: 0.2rem 0px 0.8rem; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: "AP Font", "AP Font Local", Verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;'>&ldquo;The sky has turned black again,&rdquo; said one woman at the station, who gave only her first name, Erika. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s happening a lot.&rdquo;

Military medics of the 66th Brigade give first aid to a wounded Ukrainian soldier at a medical stabilisation point in Donetsk region, Ukraine

A large Russian drone and missile attack on the Ukraninan capital killed two people and wounded at least 10 others early Sunday, authorities said.

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Gaza deal brings hope for Ukraine: Zelensky

Russian strike seriously damages Ukrainian power plant, officials say

Ukraine claims drone strikes hit Russian ammo plant, weapons sites

Russian drone strikes on Kyiv kill two, injure ten