Missiles Hit Near Odesa in Ukraine as New Mariupol Evacuation Bid Planned

Ukraine estimates 20,000 people have been killed in the war so far. Genya SAVILOV AFP
Ukraine estimates 20,000 people have been killed in the war so far. Genya SAVILOV AFP
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Missiles Hit Near Odesa in Ukraine as New Mariupol Evacuation Bid Planned

Ukraine estimates 20,000 people have been killed in the war so far. Genya SAVILOV AFP
Ukraine estimates 20,000 people have been killed in the war so far. Genya SAVILOV AFP

Missiles struck near Ukraine's southern port of Odesa on Sunday with Russia saying it had destroyed an oil refinery used by the Ukrainian military, while attempts to evacuate people from the devastated city of Mariupol were due to continue.

There was little sign of a breakthrough in efforts to negotiate an end to the five-week war, although Russia's chief negotiator said talks were due to resume on Monday.

In Odesa, the city council said "critical infrastructure facilities" were hit by missiles. No casualties were reported.

Russia's defense ministry said strikes by its military destroyed an oil refinery and three fuel storage facilities near Odesa. It said the facilities were used to supply Ukrainian troops near the city of Mykolaiv.

Odesa, on the Black Sea, is the main base for Ukraine's navy. It has been targeted by Russian forces seeking a land corridor to Transdniestria, a Russian-speaking breakaway province of Moldova which hosts Russian troops.

"Smoke is visible in some areas of the city. All relevant systems and structures are working ... No casualties reported," Vladyslav Nazarov, an officer of Ukraine's South Operational Command, said on Telegram.

Dmytro Lunin, governor of the central Poltava region, said the Kremenchug oil refinery, 350 kilometers (220 miles) northeast of Odesa, had been destroyed in a separate rocket attack on Saturday.

Evacuation efforts in Mariupol and nearby Berdyansk, both also on Ukraine's southern shores, were due to continue with a convoy of buses being prepared for the operation with help from the Red Cross.

"Seven buses will try to get closer to Mariupol, accompanied by the International Committee of the Red Cross," Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in an online video posting.

The ICRC abandoned earlier attempts due to security concerns. Russia blamed the ICRC for the delays.

Mariupol is Russia's main target in Ukraine's southeastern region of Donbas, and tens of thousands of civilians there are trapped with scant access to food and water.

Peace talks

Russia's chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, said a draft deal was not ready for any meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

On Saturday, Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia raised hope for negotiations with Russia, saying enough progress had been made for direct talks between the two.

Medinsky said that while Ukraine was showing more realism by agreeing to be neutral, renouncing nuclear weapons, not joining a military bloc and refusing to host military bases, there had been no progress on other key Russia demands.

"I repeat again and again: Russia's position on Crimea and Donbas remains UNCHANGED," he said on Telegram, adding talks via video-conference would continue on Monday.

Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and has recognized declarations of independence by the self-proclaimed republics of Luhansk and Donetsk in the Donbas area of eastern Ukraine which rose up against Kyiv's rule.

Bucha Destruction

Ukraine said on Saturday its forces had retaken all areas around Kyiv, claiming complete control of the capital region for the first time since Russia launched its invasion on Feb 24.

Russia has pulled back forces that had threatened Kyiv from the north to regroup for battles in eastern Ukraine.

There was no Russian comment on the claim that the Kyiv region was entirely in Ukrainian hands, which Reuters could not immediately verify.

The mayor of Bucha, a liberated town 37 km (23 miles) northwest of the capital, said 300 residents had been killed during a month-long occupation by the Russian army, and victims were seen in a mass grave and still lying on the streets.

"The bastards!" Vasily, a 66-year-old man said, weeping with rage as he looked at more than a dozen bodies in the road outside his house. "I'm sorry. The tank behind me was shooting. Dogs!"

The Kremlin and the Russian defense ministry in Moscow did not immediately reply to requests for comment when asked on Saturday about the bodies found in Bucha.

Moscow denies targeting civilians and rejects war crimes allegations.

Among those killed near Kyiv was Maksim Levin, a Ukrainian photographer and videographer who was working for a news website and was a long-time contributor to Reuters.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said she was appalled by atrocities in Bucha and voiced support for the International Criminal Court's inquiry into potential war crimes.

Ukraine's emergencies service said more than 1,500 explosives had been found in one day during a search of the village of Dmytrivka, west of the capital.

Zelenskiy warned in a video address: "They are mining all this territory. Houses are mined, equipment is mined, even the bodies of dead people." He did not cite evidence.

Russia's defense ministry did not reply to a request for comment on the allegations about mines. Reuters could not independently verify them.

Since the launch of what Putin called a "special military operation" to demilitarize and "denazify" Ukraine, Russia has failed to capture a single major city and has instead laid siege to urban areas, uprooting a quarter of the country's population.

British military intelligence said Russian naval forces were maintaining a blockade along the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, but the option of amphibious landings were becoming increasingly high-risk for Russia.

It said reported mines, the origin of which remained unclear and disputed, posed a serious risk to shipping in the Black Sea.



Iran Opens Trial of Dual National Accused of Spying for Israel 

Iranians go shopping in Tajrish Bazaar in Tehran, Iran, 08 December 2025. (EPA)
Iranians go shopping in Tajrish Bazaar in Tehran, Iran, 08 December 2025. (EPA)
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Iran Opens Trial of Dual National Accused of Spying for Israel 

Iranians go shopping in Tajrish Bazaar in Tehran, Iran, 08 December 2025. (EPA)
Iranians go shopping in Tajrish Bazaar in Tehran, Iran, 08 December 2025. (EPA)

The trial of a dual national holding European citizenship has begun in Iran, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Monday, saying they were indicted for "intelligence cooperation and espionage in favor of the Zionist regime (Israel)."

According to the Alborz provincial attorney general, the defendant - whose identity has not been disclosed - entered Iran about a month before the 12-day war in June, during which Israel and the US struck Iranian nuclear facilities.

They were arrested on the fourth day of the conflict by the elite Revolutionary Guards.

"Sophisticated spy and intelligence items and equipment were discovered in their villa in Karaj," the attorney general said, adding that the charges under investigation carry penalties for "waging war against God" and "corruption on earth" - offences often punishable by death.

In recent years, the Revolutionary Guards have detained dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on espionage and security-related charges.

Rights groups and some Western countries have accused Tehran of using such arrests to gain leverage in negotiations. Tehran denies arresting people for political reasons.


China Vows to Defend Sovereignty Over Taiwan as Trump Unveils Security Strategy 

08 December 2025, China, Beijing: Guo Jiakun, China's Foreign Office spokesperson, speaks to journalists. (dpa)
08 December 2025, China, Beijing: Guo Jiakun, China's Foreign Office spokesperson, speaks to journalists. (dpa)
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China Vows to Defend Sovereignty Over Taiwan as Trump Unveils Security Strategy 

08 December 2025, China, Beijing: Guo Jiakun, China's Foreign Office spokesperson, speaks to journalists. (dpa)
08 December 2025, China, Beijing: Guo Jiakun, China's Foreign Office spokesperson, speaks to journalists. (dpa)

China on Monday pledged to defend its sovereignty and warned against "external interference" after the US unveiled a new security strategy aimed at building up military power to deter conflict with Beijing over Taiwan.

Washington laid out its approach to one of the world's most sensitive diplomatic issues in its official National Security Strategy released on Friday.

The document came as Beijing last week deployed a large number of naval and coast guard vessels across East Asian waters in its largest show of maritime force to date.

Taiwan is the first red line that must not be crossed in China-US relations and China brooks no external interference, Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, told reporters in Beijing when asked about the document.

"The US side should ... handle the Taiwan question with the utmost prudence, and stop indulging and supporting 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces in seeking independence by force or resisting reunification by force," he said.

Guo added that China was willing to work with Washington to promote stable ties while safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests.

China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has never renounced the use of force to take control of the island. Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims.

The new US document has been warmly welcomed in Taiwan, whose President Lai Ching-te wrote on X on Saturday: "Greatly appreciate that the US National Security Strategy prioritizes deterring a conflict over Taiwan."

Taiwan Defense Minister Wellington Koo told reporters on the same day that the United States still regards maintaining peace and stability in the region as its highest core interest.

"The United States is vigorously promoting that the countries in the Indo-Pacific region work together to establish an effective form of collective deterrence," he said.

"We in Taiwan must also strengthen our self-defense capabilities."

Lai has said Taiwan aims to spend 5% of its GDP on defense by 2030 and last month unveiled $40 billion in extra defense spending to run from 2026-2033.


Trump Says Zelenskyy 'Isn't Ready' Yet to Accept US-authored Proposal to End Russia-Ukraine War

US President Donald Trump poses on the red carpet for the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., US, December 7, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon
US President Donald Trump poses on the red carpet for the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., US, December 7, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon
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Trump Says Zelenskyy 'Isn't Ready' Yet to Accept US-authored Proposal to End Russia-Ukraine War

US President Donald Trump poses on the red carpet for the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., US, December 7, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon
US President Donald Trump poses on the red carpet for the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., US, December 7, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

President Donald Trump on Sunday claimed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “isn't ready” to sign off on a US-authored peace proposal aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war.

Trump was critical of Zelenskyy after US and Ukrainian negotiators completed three days of talks on Saturday aimed at trying to narrow differences on the US administration's proposal. But in an exchange with reporters on Sunday night, Trump suggested that the Ukrainian leader is holding up the talks from moving forward.

“I’m a little bit disappointed that President Zelenskyy hasn’t yet read the proposal, that was as of a few hours ago. His people love it, but he hasn’t,” Trump claimed in an exchange with reporters before taking part in the Kennedy Center Honors. The president added, "Russia is, I believe, fine with it, but I’m not sure that Zelenskyy’s fine with it. His people love it. But he isn’t ready.”

To be certain, Russian President Vladimir Putin hasn't publicly expressed approval for the White House plan. In fact, Putin last week had said that aspects of Trump's proposal were unworkable, even though the original draft heavily favored Moscow.

Trump has had a hot-and-cold relationship with Zelenskyy since riding into a second White House term insisting that the war was a waste of US taxpayer money. Trump has also repeatedly urged the Ukrainians to cede land to Russia to bring an end to a now nearly four-year conflict he says has cost far too many lives.

Zelenskyy said Saturday he had a “substantive phone call” with the American officials engaged in the talks with a Ukrainian delegation in Florida. He said he had been given an update over the phone by US and Ukrainian officials at the talks.

“Ukraine is determined to keep working in good faith with the American side to genuinely achieve peace,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media.

Trump's criticism of Zelenskyy came as Russia on Sunday welcomed the Trump administration’s new national security strategy in comments by the Kremlin spokesman published by Russia’s Tass news agency.

Dmitry Peskov said the updated strategic document, which spells out the administration's core foreign policy interests, was largely in line with Moscow’s vision.

“There are statements there against confrontation and in favor of dialogue and building good relations,” he said, adding that Russia hopes this would lead to “further constructive cooperation with Washington on the Ukrainian settlement.”

The document released Friday by the White House said the US wants to improve its relationship with Russia after years of Moscow being treated as a global pariah and that ending the war is a core US interest to “reestablish strategic stability with Russia.”

Speaking on Saturday at the Reagan National Defense Forum, Trump’s outgoing Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, said efforts to end the war were in “the last 10 meters.”

He said a deal depended on the two outstanding issues of “terrain, primarily the Donbas,” and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

Russia controls most of Donbas, its name for the Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk regions, which, along with two southern regions, it illegally annexed three years ago. The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is in an area that has been under Russian control since early in Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and is not in service. It needs reliable power to cool its six shutdown reactors and spent fuel, to avoid any catastrophic nuclear incidents.

Kellogg, who is due to leave his post in January, was not present at the talks in Florida.

Separately, officials said the leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Germany would participate in a meeting with Zelenskyy in London on Monday.

As the three days of talks wrapped up, Russian missile, drone and shelling attacks overnight and Sunday killed at least four people in Ukraine.

A man was killed in a drone attack on Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region Saturday night, local officials said, while a combined missile and drone attack on infrastructure in the central city of Kremenchuk caused power and water outages. Kremenchuk is home to one of Ukraine’s biggest oil refineries and is an industrial hub.

Kyiv and its Western allies say Russia is trying to cripple the Ukrainian power grid and deny civilians access to heat, light and running water for a fourth consecutive winter, in what Ukrainian officials call “weaponizing” the cold.

Three people were killed and 10 others wounded Sunday in shelling by Russian troops in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, according to the regional prosecutor’s office.