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Russian Strikes Kill 8 in Ukraine, Damage Maternity Clinic

A woman walks in front of a house destroyed in a Russian strike on a residential neighbourhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A woman walks in front of a house destroyed in a Russian strike on a residential neighbourhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
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Russian Strikes Kill 8 in Ukraine, Damage Maternity Clinic

A woman walks in front of a house destroyed in a Russian strike on a residential neighbourhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A woman walks in front of a house destroyed in a Russian strike on a residential neighbourhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Russian drone and missile strikes on Ukraine's capital Kyiv and its northeast killed eight people on Thursday in attacks that included a maternity hospital and a farm, officials said.

Moscow has stepped up its air war in recent months, deploying more of its faster and harder-to-stop drones while Ukraine is short of interceptors to down ballistic missiles.

Two people died in the latest assault on Kyiv, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who was in New York for the UN General Assembly.

"As people were sleeping, flashes from explosions ⁠lit up the sky," ⁠Zelenskiy said on Telegram.

"Once again, the main targets of their strike were Kyiv and civilian infrastructure, residential buildings, a maternity hospital, energy infrastructure, and logistics."

Police said nine homes, a post office, warehouses and dozens of cars were also damaged in Kyiv.

A separate Russian attack on a vegetable storage facility at a farm in a village of the northeastern Kharkiv region killed six people and injured a further ⁠12, prosecutors said.

The overnight barrage around Ukraine included an unspecified number of hypersonic and ballistic missiles, 282 drones and other weapons, Ukraine's air force said.

In Kyiv, eight people were injured as well as the two fatalities, one of whom was in the parking lot of the maternity hospital, Reuters quoted city mayor Vitali Klitschko as saying.

Part of the hospital's facade, windows and doors were damaged, officials said, adding that no patients or medics were injured.

A handout photo made available by the State Emergency Service (SES) shows Ukrainian rescuers working at the site of an overnight Russian attack on a residential area in Kyiv, Ukraine, 24 September 2026, amid the Russian invasion. EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE / HANDOUT

Authorities in the northwestern region of Rivne said infrastructure was damaged in overnight strikes that continued into Thursday morning, without providing further details. Volyn region bordering Poland also came under attack.

Insufficient pressure on Moscow ⁠was allowing ⁠it to launch repeated strikes, said Zelenskiy.

"Right now, the United States has the opportunity to respond strongly," he said. "We need ballistic interceptors to protect lives."

Russia's defense ministry said its forces hit Ukrainian defense facilities, logistics and telecoms centers, as well as vessels used by the military.

In the Black Sea port of Odesa, military administration head Serhiy Lysak said overnight Russian strikes damaged a medical facility and shattered windows in nearby houses and a school.

Moldova's President Maia Sandu said four Russian drones crossed into its airspace and at least one exploded, while Romania said a drone also crashed in its territory.

NATO alliance member Poland said it deployed aviation twice on Thursday due to Russian attacks on Ukraine.

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World

South Korea to Withdraw Some Kyiv Embassy Staff as Row Over POW Transfer Deepens

Lawmaker Yu Yong-weon of South Korea’s main opposition People Power Party explains pictures, showing two North Korean POWs who were recently transferred from Ukraine to South Korea, taken during his visit to a POW camp in Ukraine last February, at his office at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, September 28, 2026. (Reuters)
Lawmaker Yu Yong-weon of South Korea’s main opposition People Power Party explains pictures, showing two North Korean POWs who were recently transferred from Ukraine to South Korea, taken during his visit to a POW camp in Ukraine last February, at his office at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, September 28, 2026. (Reuters)
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South Korea to Withdraw Some Kyiv Embassy Staff as Row Over POW Transfer Deepens

Lawmaker Yu Yong-weon of South Korea’s main opposition People Power Party explains pictures, showing two North Korean POWs who were recently transferred from Ukraine to South Korea, taken during his visit to a POW camp in Ukraine last February, at his office at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, September 28, 2026. (Reuters)
Lawmaker Yu Yong-weon of South Korea’s main opposition People Power Party explains pictures, showing two North Korean POWs who were recently transferred from Ukraine to South Korea, taken during his visit to a POW camp in Ukraine last February, at his office at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, September 28, 2026. (Reuters)

South Korea said Tuesday it will withdraw some staff from its embassy in Kyiv, deepening a diplomatic row over Ukraine's announcement last month of a transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war that Seoul says was meant to be secret.

The diplomatic dispute between the countries began after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy disclosed the prisoners’ transfer during a Sept. 23 speech at the United Nations. South Korea has accused Ukraine of violating a nondisclosure agreement, but Ukraine denies the countries reached such a deal, further angering Seoul.

South Korea recalled its ambassador to Ukraine earlier this month in protest. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi told local media at the time that Kyiv remains open to “constructive dialogue” and that “diplomacy must prevail over emotions.”

South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson Park Doosoon said Tuesday that the withdrawal of additional embassy staff was due to Ukraine’s “lack of constructive steps” to address Seoul’s grievances, as well as concerns about safety amid intensifying Russian attacks.

Park did not specify how many staff members would withdraw or when. He said South Korea would keep its charge d’affaires and essential personnel in Kyiv to maintain contact with Ukrainian authorities and assist South Korean citizens.

“We are still maintaining communication, and, as I mentioned earlier, our goal is to seek an amicable resolution through close consultation with the Ukrainian side,” Park said. “We conveyed our clear position and requests over the pending issues between the two countries through various channels. It’s now up to the Ukrainian side to provide a response or take appropriate action on those matters.”

The two soldiers Ukraine handed over to South Korea were among thousands of North Korean troops deployed to support Russia’s war against Ukraine. Captured in early 2025, they said in media interviews that they hoped to resettle in South Korea, fearing persecution if they were returned to the North. South Korea, which in its constitution claims to be the legitimate government of the entire Korean Peninsula, has long accepted and financially supported North Korean defectors.

South Korean officials said the nondisclosure agreement was intended to protect the soldiers and their relatives in North Korea, although some experts say President Lee Jae Myung’s liberal government may have also feared that publicizing their arrival could undermine its efforts to improve ties with North Korea.

North Korea’s state media hasn’t commented on the soldiers’ transfer. The North has previously reacted with fury to high-profile defections by its citizens, sometimes accusing South Korea of kidnapping them.

Relations between the Koreas have sharply deteriorated in recent years, with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un taking a hard-line stance toward Seoul and moving to sever inter-Korean ties while accelerating his nuclear weapons program amid a diplomatic stalemate with Washington.

World

Trump Open to Idea of Joint Meeting with Xi, Putin Next Month

US President Donald Trump speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as they meet to negotiate for an end to the war in Ukraine, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, US, August 15, 2025. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as they meet to negotiate for an end to the war in Ukraine, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, US, August 15, 2025. (Reuters)
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Trump Open to Idea of Joint Meeting with Xi, Putin Next Month

US President Donald Trump speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as they meet to negotiate for an end to the war in Ukraine, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, US, August 15, 2025. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as they meet to negotiate for an end to the war in Ukraine, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, US, August 15, 2025. (Reuters)

US President Donald Trump said on Monday he is open to three-way arms-control talks with the leaders of China and Russia as soon as next month, raising the prospect of an unprecedented meeting and a major diplomatic gambit for the US president.

"We would have it to talk about nuclear weapons and denuclearization," Trump told reporters outside the White House. "If President Xi wants to have it, I'd have it. I'm sure we'd talk about other things like trade too."

Trump has tried to thaw frosty relations with Beijing and Moscow as those non-Western powers grow closer. A three-way meeting would also raise alarm from Europe to Asia over private deals that weaken Washington's transatlantic and Indo-Pacific alliances.

But a deal struck between the three countries could also lower global tensions. An end to Russia's war in Ukraine could resolve the biggest threat in decades to European security, and a deal on arms would bind the three nations with the biggest stockpiles of nuclear weapons.

In recent days, Trump ‌has moved to ‌warm ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, announcing a diesel-fuel deal and signing an order on ‌Friday ⁠waiving key sanctions ⁠on Moscow. Trump has also sought stable relations with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who in turn has nurtured close ties with Putin.

So far, Trump has not delivered on a campaign promise to quickly end the war in Ukraine.

The White House has been discussing for weeks a possible meeting between the leaders focused on denuclearization on the sidelines of the November 18-19 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Putin later pitched using such a meeting to negotiate an end to the four-year-old Ukraine conflict in a manner that would favor Moscow, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the discussions. Putin's suggestion came during an October 9 phone call with Trump that yielded the ⁠deal on Russian diesel.

Earlier on Monday, the Kremlin said that the potential meeting had come up ‌in talks.

The three leaders have met separately but never held formal talks together.

The White ‌House did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. The Russian and Chinese embassies in Washington also did not reply to requests for comment.

Trump's ‌diesel deal with Putin and the executive order waiving sanctions on Moscow have drawn criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has ‌warned they would embolden Putin and prolong the war.

Speaking about the possible meeting on Monday, Trump said, "I would do it, not so much for Ukraine because Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine." He added that "Zelenskiy is not helping matters much," and that "it's time for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine."

Moscow launched one of its broadest air assaults in months overnight, cutting power to more than half a million households and damaging energy ‌infrastructure across Ukraine. Ten people were reported killed.

TRUMP SEEKS NUCLEAR TALKS

Last week, Trump told reporters he thought a denuclearization deal with Russia and China was possible, but that it "doesn't have to be this ⁠year." It's not clear how advanced ⁠any talks between the countries are.

Russia has the most stored nuclear warheads, followed by the United States and China, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty expired earlier this year. The New START treaty, signed in 2010, allowed a single extension, which Putin and former US President Joe Biden agreed to for five years. Any new extension would require an executive decision to voluntarily extend the limits of the treaty.

China's foreign ministry said last week that its "nuclear strength is by no means at the same level with that of the US and Russia" and that it would be "neither fair, reasonable nor realistic to ask China to join the so-called trilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations at this stage."

Trump has already agreed to attend the APEC summit in Shenzhen next month, marking his second trip to China this year and his third visit with Xi over the same period. China, Russia and the United States are all members of APEC.

On Monday, Trump downplayed the idea of another high-profile meeting in China, with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

"I get along with him very well, and I'm not sure that anybody's asking for a meeting," he said.

Trump previously said he planned to meet with Kim this year. North Korea has publicly indicated that it is not open to talks aimed at convincing Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.

World

Alberta Separatists Lose Vote on Leaving Canada

Supporters of the Forever Canadian group, who want Alberta to remain in Canada, react after Alberta residents voted to remain part of Canada in a non-binding referendum on Alberta sovereignty, according to CBC News, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, October 19, 2026. (Reuters)
Supporters of the Forever Canadian group, who want Alberta to remain in Canada, react after Alberta residents voted to remain part of Canada in a non-binding referendum on Alberta sovereignty, according to CBC News, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, October 19, 2026. (Reuters)
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Alberta Separatists Lose Vote on Leaving Canada

Supporters of the Forever Canadian group, who want Alberta to remain in Canada, react after Alberta residents voted to remain part of Canada in a non-binding referendum on Alberta sovereignty, according to CBC News, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, October 19, 2026. (Reuters)
Supporters of the Forever Canadian group, who want Alberta to remain in Canada, react after Alberta residents voted to remain part of Canada in a non-binding referendum on Alberta sovereignty, according to CBC News, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, October 19, 2026. (Reuters)

Canada's province of Alberta rejected a plan to hold a binding independence referendum, results showed Tuesday, a setback for separatists backed by allies of US President Donald Trump.

Public broadcaster CBC and leading private network CTV projected a comfortable victory for the federalist side, with official results showing more than 76 percent support for national unity with more than a third of ballots counted.

Prime Minister Mark Carney welcomed the result and said Albertans had made a "clear choice" in favor of unity.

"They chose unity, to build together, and to take care of each other," he said in a statement on X.

Carney had campaigned for national stability as the country faced Trump's trade war and annexation threats.

A somber mood took over the restaurant in the provincial capital Edmonton where a leading separatist group watched the returns.

Jeffrey Rath, a top leader of the separatist Alberta Prosperity Project, told reporters his push for an independent Alberta will "absolutely" continue, despite the result from Monday's vote.

"We've learned a lot of lessons from this fight," he said.

Separatist supporter Jour Dain said he was "disappointed in (his) fellow Albertans."

"Honestly, if this continues down this path of remaining in Canada, I'm just going to move," the 40-year-old said, expressing a desire to live in the United States.

At the federalist election night party in Edmonton before the results were announced, a band warmed up ahead of an anticipated positive result.

"It was amazing to see the enthusiasm and resolve among Canadians," said Thomas Lukaszuk, who heads Forever Canadian, the group that campaigned across the province for national unity.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, a conservative, said she voted against independence but called the referendum to settle an issue that has divided the province.

She has said a win for the federalists would close the secession question.

- Foreign influence? -

Alberta has the world's fourth-largest proven oil reserves, and much of the separatist momentum has been driven by anger over oil industry management.

Smith has blamed Carney's predecessor Justin Trudeau for igniting the separatist fire, accusing him of trying to crush oil production to advance his pro-climate agenda.

Alberta's independence push has also drawn sustained interest from Trump allies.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called Alberta a "natural partner" for the United States. Elon Musk, the world's richest person and a top Trump supporter, posted on X this month that Alberta "should separate."

Separatist leaders also held meetings at the US State Department and received advice from Republican political operatives.

- 'Rash decisions' -

Carney, who grew up in Alberta, has worked to improve relations between the province and Ottawa since taking office last year.

He has partnered with Smith on advancing a new pipeline to export more Alberta bitumen overseas, a project considered a nonstarter during Trudeau's tenure.

Alberta Prosperity Project leader Mitch Sylvestre told AFP earlier Monday that Carney had "threatened" the province in the closing days of the campaign.

Carney's message was "voting against Canada is dangerous," Sylvestre said, calling that "very unreasonable."

Haley Erdegard, a 44-year-old who voted in Edmonton, voiced discomfort with the idea advanced by some separatists that Alberta is forced to share too much of its oil revenue with the rest of Canada.

"I think we probably need to put some more work towards cooperation before making rash decisions about trying to start our own country," she told AFP.