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Ukraine Drone Attack Kills 3, Targets Moscow

Servicemen of the 115th Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces use an RPG-7 grenade launcher during a training between combat missions at a training ground, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine August 8, 2025. REUTERS/Oleksandr Ratushniak
Servicemen of the 115th Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces use an RPG-7 grenade launcher during a training between combat missions at a training ground, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine August 8, 2025. REUTERS/Oleksandr Ratushniak
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Ukraine Drone Attack Kills 3, Targets Moscow

Servicemen of the 115th Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces use an RPG-7 grenade launcher during a training between combat missions at a training ground, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine August 8, 2025. REUTERS/Oleksandr Ratushniak
Servicemen of the 115th Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces use an RPG-7 grenade launcher during a training between combat missions at a training ground, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine August 8, 2025. REUTERS/Oleksandr Ratushniak

Three people were killed in Ukrainian overnight drone attacks in the Tula and Nizhny Novgorod regions and which also targeted Moscow, Russia's regional official and the defense ministry said on Monday.

Two people died and two were hospitalized following an attack before midnight on Sunday on the Tula region that borders the Moscow region to its north, Tula Governor Dmitry Milyaev said on the Telegram messaging app.

One person was killed and two others were hospitalized following a Ukrainian attack targeting an industrial zone in the Nizhny Novgorod region in western Russia, Gleb Nikitin, the governor of the region, said on the Telegram, according to Reuters.

Russian air defense units destroyed a total of 59 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 12 over the Tula region and two over the Moscow region. The ministry only reports how many drones its units down, not how many Ukraine launches.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine. Both sides deny targeting civilians in their strikes on each others territory. But thousands of civilians have died in the war that Russia launched with a full-scale invasion on Ukraine in February 2022.

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World

Russia Shows Video of Drone It Says Ukraine Fired at Putin Residence

A Russian service member stands next to the remains of a drone, which, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, was downed during the repelling of an alleged Ukrainian attack on the Russian presidential residence in the Novgorod Region, in an unknown location in Russia, in this still image from a video released December 31, 2025. (Russian Defense Ministry/Handout via Reuters)
A Russian service member stands next to the remains of a drone, which, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, was downed during the repelling of an alleged Ukrainian attack on the Russian presidential residence in the Novgorod Region, in an unknown location in Russia, in this still image from a video released December 31, 2025. (Russian Defense Ministry/Handout via Reuters)
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Russia Shows Video of Drone It Says Ukraine Fired at Putin Residence

A Russian service member stands next to the remains of a drone, which, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, was downed during the repelling of an alleged Ukrainian attack on the Russian presidential residence in the Novgorod Region, in an unknown location in Russia, in this still image from a video released December 31, 2025. (Russian Defense Ministry/Handout via Reuters)
A Russian service member stands next to the remains of a drone, which, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, was downed during the repelling of an alleged Ukrainian attack on the Russian presidential residence in the Novgorod Region, in an unknown location in Russia, in this still image from a video released December 31, 2025. (Russian Defense Ministry/Handout via Reuters)

Russia's defense ministry published a video Wednesday of a downed drone that it said Ukraine launched at President Vladimir Putin's residence in northwest Russia this week -- a claim Kyiv has branded a "lie".

Moscow made the allegation shortly after Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky held talks with US President Donald Trump in Florida and Kyiv has called it a "fabrication" intended to "manipulate" the peace process.

The European Union also said the video was an attempt to "derail" peace efforts.

But Russia has called it a "terrorist attack" and a "personal attack" against Putin, saying it will toughen its negotiation stance in Ukraine war talks.

The video, shot at night in the dark, showed a damaged drone lying in snow in a forested area. The ministry said the alleged attack was "targeted, carefully planned and carried out in stages".

Russia has not said where Putin was at the time, claiming the attack was launched on the night of December 28-29 at Putin's home in the Novgorod region. His residences are normally kept a close secret.

The defense ministry said the attack started around 7:00 pm on December 28 and was a "mass" drone launch at Putin's residence, but said the longtime leader's home was not damaged.

It also published a video with a man it called a witness, saying he was a local villager from the settlement of Roshchino.

The US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which documents the Ukraine-Russia conflict, said Tuesday it had not seen any "footage or reporting that typically follows Ukrainian deep strikes to corroborate the Kremlin's claims of Ukrainian strikes threatening Putin's residence in Novgorod Oblast".

Russian officials have rallied around Putin since the claim. The Russian leader, in power since December 1999, has told Russians in recent weeks that Moscow intends to seize the rest of Ukrainian land he has proclaimed as Russian by force if diplomacy fails.

"Kremlin officials are using the alleged Ukrainian strike against Novgorod Oblast to justify Russia's continued insistence that both Ukraine and the West capitulate to Russia's original demands from 2021 and 2022," the ISW said this week.

World

China Slams Countries That Criticized Taiwan Drills as 'Irresponsible'

A screen broadcasting news about military drills conducted by China around Taiwan is seen on a street in Beijing, China, 30 December 2025. (EPA)
A screen broadcasting news about military drills conducted by China around Taiwan is seen on a street in Beijing, China, 30 December 2025. (EPA)
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China Slams Countries That Criticized Taiwan Drills as 'Irresponsible'

A screen broadcasting news about military drills conducted by China around Taiwan is seen on a street in Beijing, China, 30 December 2025. (EPA)
A screen broadcasting news about military drills conducted by China around Taiwan is seen on a street in Beijing, China, 30 December 2025. (EPA)

Beijing slammed on Wednesday countries including Japan and Australia for their "irresponsible" criticism of China's military drills in waters around Taiwan.

China launched missiles and deployed dozens of fighter jets, navy ships and coastguard vessels around the island on Monday and Tuesday in live-fire drills.

There has been a chorus of international criticism of China's drills, including from Japan, Australia and European countries.

Japan said Wednesday that China's exercises "increase tensions" across the Taiwan Strait, while Australia's foreign ministry condemned the "destabilizing" military drills.

The European Union on Tuesday said the military activity "endangers international peace and stability".

Beijing on Wednesday hit back at the remarks.

"These countries and institutions are turning a blind eye to the separatist forces in Taiwan attempting to achieve independence through military means," foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters at a news briefing.

"Yet, they are making irresponsible criticisms of China's necessary and just actions to defend its national sovereignty and territorial integrity, distorting facts and confusing right and wrong, which is utterly hypocritical."

Lin said Beijing appreciated countries such as Russia, Pakistan and Venezuela expressing their support for China.

"We want to reiterate China's unwavering resolve for safeguarding national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity," he added.

"Any egregious provocative act that crosses the line on the Taiwan issue will be met with a firm counter from China."

World

Iran Appoints New Central Bank Governor After Record Currency Fall and Mass Protests

A person walks past a sign at a currency exchange, as the value of the Iranian rial drops, in Tehran, Iran, December 30, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A person walks past a sign at a currency exchange, as the value of the Iranian rial drops, in Tehran, Iran, December 30, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Iran Appoints New Central Bank Governor After Record Currency Fall and Mass Protests

A person walks past a sign at a currency exchange, as the value of the Iranian rial drops, in Tehran, Iran, December 30, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A person walks past a sign at a currency exchange, as the value of the Iranian rial drops, in Tehran, Iran, December 30, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Iran on Wednesday appointed a new governor to the central bank after the former one resigned following a record currency fall against the US dollar that sparked large protests.

The plummeting of the rial, Iran's currency, sparked the largest protests in the country in three years, with rallies that began Sunday and continued until Tuesday.

A report by the official IRNA news agency said President Masoud Pezeshkian’s Cabinet appointed Abdolnasser Hemmati, a former economics minister, as new governor of the Central Bank of Iran. He replaces Mohammad Reza Farzin, who resigned on Monday.

Experts say a 40% inflation rate led to public discontent. The US dollar traded at 1.38 million rials on Wednesday, compared to 430,000 when Farzin took office in 2022.

Many traders and shopkeepers closed their businesses and took to the streets of Tehran and other cities to protest.

The new governor's agenda will included a focus on controlling inflation and strengthening the currency, as well as addressing the mismanagement of banks, the government’s spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani wrote on X.

Hemmati, 68, previously served as minister of economic and financial affairs under Pezeshkian.

In March parliament dismissed Hemmati for alleged mismanagement and accusations his policies hurt the strength of Iran’s rial against hard currencies.

A combination of the currency's rapid depreciation and inflationary pressure has pushed up the prices of food and other daily necessities, adding to strain on household budgets already under pressure due to Western sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.

Inflation is expected to worsen with a gasoline price change introduced in recent weeks.

Iran’s currency was trading at 32,000 rials to the dollar at the time of the 2015 nuclear accord that lifted international sanctions in exchange for tight controls on Iran’s nuclear program. That deal unraveled after President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from it in 2018, during his first term.