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Russia Says Captured Three More East Ukrainian Villages

Rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential building which was heavily damaged by a Russian strike on Ternopil, Ukraine, Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Vlad Kravchuk)
Rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential building which was heavily damaged by a Russian strike on Ternopil, Ukraine, Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Vlad Kravchuk)
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Russia Says Captured Three More East Ukrainian Villages

Rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential building which was heavily damaged by a Russian strike on Ternopil, Ukraine, Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Vlad Kravchuk)
Rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential building which was heavily damaged by a Russian strike on Ternopil, Ukraine, Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Vlad Kravchuk)

Russia on Sunday said it had captured three more villages in eastern Ukraine as US, Ukrainian and European officials gathered in Geneva to discuss a controversial plan to end the war.

Moscow's defense ministry said troops had seized Petrivske in the Donetsk region, as well as Tikhe and Otradne in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Kyiv has been scrambling to hold on to key strongholds on the eastern front, where Russian soldiers have been steadily gaining ground.

Russia's latest advances came ahead of talks in Geneva to discuss US President Donald Trump's plan to end the nearly four-year war.

Trump has given Ukraine until November 27 to approve the proposal, but Kyiv is seeking changes to a draft that accepts some of Russia's hardline demands.

The 28-point plan would require the invaded country to cede territory, cut its army, and pledge never to join NATO.

It also offers Western security guarantees to Kyiv to prevent further Russian attacks.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has welcomed the proposal, saying it could "lay the foundation" for a final peace settlement, but threatened more land seizures if Ukraine walked away from negotiations.

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Kremlin Accuses Ukraine of 'Reckless' Strikes on Major Gas Pipeline

File photo: Pipes at the landfall facilities of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022. (Reuters)
File photo: Pipes at the landfall facilities of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022. (Reuters)
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Kremlin Accuses Ukraine of 'Reckless' Strikes on Major Gas Pipeline

File photo: Pipes at the landfall facilities of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022. (Reuters)
File photo: Pipes at the landfall facilities of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022. (Reuters)

The Kremlin accused Ukraine on Thursday of targeting a major gas pipeline in southern Russia that leads to Türkiye with "reckless" drone strikes.

Ukraine has hit Russian energy targets throughout Moscow's four-year offensive, a war that has killed thousands and displaced millions.

"At night, there were renewed attempts to attack the Russkaya compressor station with drones," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, calling the pipeline an "international facility" that "ensures energy security for Türkiye".

"These are absolutely reckless actions by the Kyiv regime," Peskov said.

Russia's defense ministry said it had downed 10 Ukrainian-launched drones in the early hours of Thursday "above the gas compressor station that supplies gas to the TurkStream pipeline".

The station lies in Russia's southern Krasnodar region, which is regularly targeted by Ukrainian drone strikes.

State-owned Russian gas producer Gazprom earlier said that the Russkaya and Beregovaya stations were targeted.

It called them "critical energy infrastructure facilities ensuring the reliability of gas exports via the TurkStream and Blue Stream gas pipelines."

Russia has decimated much of Ukraine's energy infrastructure in more than four years of war.

World

First Passenger Train in Six Years Arrives in Pyongyang from China

A passenger train with cross-border service to North Korea's Pyongyang leaves Beijing Railway Station in Beijing, China March 12, 2026. REUTERS/Florence Lo
A passenger train with cross-border service to North Korea's Pyongyang leaves Beijing Railway Station in Beijing, China March 12, 2026. REUTERS/Florence Lo
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First Passenger Train in Six Years Arrives in Pyongyang from China

A passenger train with cross-border service to North Korea's Pyongyang leaves Beijing Railway Station in Beijing, China March 12, 2026. REUTERS/Florence Lo
A passenger train with cross-border service to North Korea's Pyongyang leaves Beijing Railway Station in Beijing, China March 12, 2026. REUTERS/Florence Lo

A passenger train that departed from the northeastern Chinese city of Dandong arrived in the North Korean capital Pyongyang on Thursday, as rail service between the neighboring countries resumed after six years.

The train arrived at a railway station in central Pyongyang, state news agency Xinhua said, after reporters from South Korea's Yonhap reported seeing a train crossing the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge over the Yalu River.

China and ⁠North Korea are "friendly neighbours" and a cross-border passenger train service facilitates people-to-people exchanges, a foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters on Thursday.

China also backs stronger communication between both sides to ease such exchanges, the spokesperson added.

The service was suspended when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out ⁠in 2020.

North Korea is largely closed ‌to foreign tourism, with ‌few exceptions, largely for Russian tour ​groups under restricted arrangements, say ‌travel agencies organizing trips to the country.

World

NYT: US Says Iran Campaign Cost $11 Billion in Six Days

FILE PHOTO: A map showing the Strait of Hormuz and Iran is seen in this illustration taken June 22, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A map showing the Strait of Hormuz and Iran is seen in this illustration taken June 22, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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NYT: US Says Iran Campaign Cost $11 Billion in Six Days

FILE PHOTO: A map showing the Strait of Hormuz and Iran is seen in this illustration taken June 22, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A map showing the Strait of Hormuz and Iran is seen in this illustration taken June 22, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

The opening week of the war against Iran cost the United States more than $11.3 billion, lawmakers were told in a Pentagon briefing, according to a New York Times report underscoring the pace at which the conflict is consuming weapons and resources.

The Times, citing unnamed sources familiar with Tuesday's closed-door briefing, said members of Congress were told that the figure excludes many costs connected with the buildup to the strikes -- suggesting the final tally for the first week could rise substantially.

Defense officials had previously told Congress that roughly $5.6 billion worth of munitions were expended in just the first two days of fighting, according to US media -- a burn rate far higher than earlier public estimates.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) independent think tank in Washington estimated that the first 100 hours of Operation Epic Fury cost $3.7 billion -- or more than $891 million per day.

Most of these costs, $3.5 billion, had not already been budgeted, the CSIS said.

The Iran War Cost Tracker website, which estimates the cost of the conflict in real time, showed a figure of more than $17 billion on its counter at around 08:00 GMT on Thursday.

According to the site, the United States is spending $1 billion per day on the war.

However, it points out the true cost of the war is likely higher, as the figures do not take into account long-term expenses such as veteran healthcare.