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Two Dead in Attacks on Either Side of Ukraine-Russia Border

A handout photo made available by the State Emergency Service shows a damaged private building following a drone attack in Kyiv's area, Ukraine, 03 January 2025, amid the ongoing Russian invasion. EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by the State Emergency Service shows a damaged private building following a drone attack in Kyiv's area, Ukraine, 03 January 2025, amid the ongoing Russian invasion. EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE HANDOUT
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Two Dead in Attacks on Either Side of Ukraine-Russia Border

A handout photo made available by the State Emergency Service shows a damaged private building following a drone attack in Kyiv's area, Ukraine, 03 January 2025, amid the ongoing Russian invasion. EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by the State Emergency Service shows a damaged private building following a drone attack in Kyiv's area, Ukraine, 03 January 2025, amid the ongoing Russian invasion. EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE HANDOUT

Attacks on both sides of the Ukraine-Russia border killed two people on Friday, local officials said.
Three missiles hit a residential area near the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, killing one person, injuring four and destroying two houses, they said. A picture posted by the regional governor showed the shattered facade of a private home.
In southern Russia's Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces hold swathes of territory five months after a mass incursion, a man walking down a road was killed in a drone strike, Reuters quoted the regional governor as saying.
The Ukrainian military said on Thursday it had carried out a high-precision strike on a Russian command post in Kursk region. Russia's military said it had downed four Ukrainian missiles.
Russia says it has recaptured much of the territory seized by Ukrainian forces after they poured over the border into Kursk region in August.

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World

Inside Chernobyl, Ukraine Scrambles to Repair Radiation Shield

A satellite image shows a closer view of sarcophagus at Chernobyl, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine, March 10, 2022. Satellite image. 2022 Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS Purchase Licensing Rights
A satellite image shows a closer view of sarcophagus at Chernobyl, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine, March 10, 2022. Satellite image. 2022 Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS Purchase Licensing Rights
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Inside Chernobyl, Ukraine Scrambles to Repair Radiation Shield

A satellite image shows a closer view of sarcophagus at Chernobyl, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine, March 10, 2022. Satellite image. 2022 Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS Purchase Licensing Rights
A satellite image shows a closer view of sarcophagus at Chernobyl, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine, March 10, 2022. Satellite image. 2022 Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS Purchase Licensing Rights

Inside an abandoned control room at Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear power plant, a worker in an orange hardhat gazed at a grey wall of seemingly endless dials, screens and gauges that were supposed to prevent disaster.

The 1986 meltdown at the site was the world's worst ever nuclear incident. Since Russia invaded in 2022, Kyiv fears another disaster could be just a matter of time, said AFP.

In February, a Russian drone hit and left a large hole in the New Safe Confinement (NSC), the outer of two radiation shells covering the remnants of the nuclear power plant.

It functions as a modern high-tech replacement for an inner steel-and-concrete structure -- known as the Sarcophagus, a defensive layer built hastily after the 1986 incident.

Ten months later, repair work is still ongoing, and it could take another three to four years before the outer dome regains its primary safety functions, plant director Sergiy Tarakanov told AFP in an interview from Kyiv.

"It does not perform the function of retaining radioactive substances inside," Tarakanov said, echoing concerns raised by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The strike had also left it unclear if the shell would last the 100 years it was designed to.

The gaping crater in the structure, which AFP journalists saw this summer, has been covered over with a protective screen, but 300 smaller holes made by firefighters when battling the blaze still need to be filled in.

Scaffolding engulfs the inside of the giant multi-billion-dollar structure, rising all the way up to the 100-metre-high ceiling.

Charred debris from the drone strike that hit the NSC still lay on the floor of the plant, AFP journalists saw on a visit to the site in December.

- 'Main threat' -

Russia's army captured the plant on the first day of its 2022 invasion, before withdrawing a few weeks later.

Ukraine has repeatedly accused Moscow of targeting Chernobyl and its other nuclear power plants, saying Moscow's strikes risk triggering a potentially catastrophic disaster.

Ukraine regularly reduces power at its nuclear plants following Russian strikes on its energy grid.

In October, a Russian strike on a substation near Chernobyl cut power flowing to the confinement structure.

Tarakanov told AFP that radiation levels at the site had remained "stable and within normal limits".

Inside a modern control room, engineer Ivan Tykhonenko was keeping track of 19 sensors and detection units, constantly monitoring the state of the site.

Part of the 190 tons of uranium that were on site in 1986 "melted, sank down into the reactor unit, the sub-reactor room, and still exists," he told AFP.

Worries over the fate of the site -- and what could happen -- run high.

Another Russian hit -- or even a powerful nearby strike -- could see the inner radiation shell collapse, director Tarakanov told AFP.

"If a missile or drone hits it directly, or even falls somewhere nearby ... it will cause a mini-earthquake in the area," he said.

"No one can guarantee that the shelter facility will remain standing after that. That is the main threat," he added.

World

US Says It Struck ISIS Militants in Northwest Nigeria

Military personnel inspect the scene of the explosion at a mosque in the Gamboru market in Maiduguri on December 25, 2025. (Photo by Audu MARTE / AFP)
Military personnel inspect the scene of the explosion at a mosque in the Gamboru market in Maiduguri on December 25, 2025. (Photo by Audu MARTE / AFP)
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US Says It Struck ISIS Militants in Northwest Nigeria

Military personnel inspect the scene of the explosion at a mosque in the Gamboru market in Maiduguri on December 25, 2025. (Photo by Audu MARTE / AFP)
Military personnel inspect the scene of the explosion at a mosque in the Gamboru market in Maiduguri on December 25, 2025. (Photo by Audu MARTE / AFP)

The United States carried out a strike against ISIS militants in northwest Nigeria at the request of Nigeria's government, President Donald Trump and the US military said on Thursday, claiming the group had been targeting Christians in the region.

"Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!," Trump said in a post on Truth Social. The US military’s Africa Command said the strike was carried out in Sokoto state ‌in coordination with ‌the Nigerian authorities and killed multiple ISIS militants. An earlier statement posted ‌by ⁠the command on ‌X said the strike had been conducted at the request of Nigerian authorities, but that statement was later removed. The strike comes after Trump in late October began warning that Christianity faces an "existential threat" in Nigeria and threatened to militarily intervene in the West African country over what he says is its failure to stop violence targeting Christian communities.

Reuters reported on Monday the US had been conducting intelligence-gathering flights over large parts of Nigeria since late November.

'MORE TO COME'

Nigeria’s foreign ministry said the strike was carried out as part of ongoing security cooperation with the ⁠United States, involving intelligence sharing and strategic coordination to target militant groups.

"This has led to precision hits on terrorist targets in Nigeria by air ‌strikes in the North West," the ministry said in a post ‍on X. A video posted by the Pentagon ‍showed at least one projectile launched from a warship. A US defense official said the strike targeted ‍multiple militants at known ISIS camps.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on X thanked the Nigerian government for its support and cooperation and added: “More to come...” Nigeria's government has said armed groups target both Muslims and Christians, and US claims that Christians face persecution do not represent the complex security situation and ignore efforts to safeguard religious freedom. But it has agreed to work with the US to bolster its forces against militant groups.

The country's population is split between Muslims living primarily in the north and Christians in the ⁠south. Police said earlier on Thursday a suspected suicide bomber killed at least five people and injured 35 others at a mosque in Nigeria's northeast, another region troubled by extremist insurgents.

In a Christmas message posted on X earlier, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu called for peace in his country, "especially between individuals of differing religious beliefs."

He also said: "I stand committed to doing everything within my power to enshrine religious freedom in Nigeria and to protect Christians, Muslims, and all Nigerians from violence."

Trump issued his statement on the strike on Christmas Day while he was at his Palm Beach, Florida, Mar-a-Lago Club, where he has been spending the holiday. He had no public events during the day and was last seen by the reporters traveling with him on Wednesday night. The US military last week launched separate large-scale strikes against dozens of ISIS targets in Syria, after Trump vowed to ‌hit back in the wake of a suspected ISIS attack on US personnel in the country.

World

Zelensky Says Has Had Talks on Ukraine with US Envoys

This handout photograph taken on December 23, 2025 and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Office on December 24, 2025 shows Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky during a meeting with journalists in Kyiv. (Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Office/ AFP)
This handout photograph taken on December 23, 2025 and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Office on December 24, 2025 shows Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky during a meeting with journalists in Kyiv. (Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Office/ AFP)
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Zelensky Says Has Had Talks on Ukraine with US Envoys

This handout photograph taken on December 23, 2025 and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Office on December 24, 2025 shows Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky during a meeting with journalists in Kyiv. (Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Office/ AFP)
This handout photograph taken on December 23, 2025 and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Office on December 24, 2025 shows Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky during a meeting with journalists in Kyiv. (Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Office/ AFP)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday he had had "very good" talks with US President Donald Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, focused on ending the "brutal Russian war".

"We discussed certain substantive details of the ongoing work," he said in a post on social media.

"There are good ideas that can work toward a shared outcome and the lasting peace," he added.

Zelensky thanked the two envoys for their "constructive approach, the intensive work, and the kind words."

"We are truly working 24/7 to bring closer the end of this brutal Russian war against Ukraine and to ensure that all documents and steps are realistic, effective, and reliable," he added.

They had also agreed during the conversation that Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov would speak with the two envoys again Thursday.

Zelensky's post came a day after having said that Ukraine had won some limited concessions in the latest version of a US-led draft plan to end the Russian invasion.

The 20-point plan, agreed on by US and Ukrainian negotiators, is being reviewed by Moscow. But the Kremlin has previously not shown a willingness to abandon its territorial demands for full Ukrainian withdrawal from the east.

Zelensky conceded on Wednesday that there were some points in the document that he did not like.

But he said Kyiv had succeeded in removing immediate requirements for Ukraine to withdraw from the Donetsk region or that land seized by Moscow's army would be recognized as Russian.