Death Toll from Russian Strikes in Ukraine Rises to 12

Ukrainian service members of the 260th Zaporizhzhia Separate Territorial Defence Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces load a 152-mm shell for a D‑20 howitzer before firing towards Russian troops at a frontline position, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, April 9, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
Ukrainian service members of the 260th Zaporizhzhia Separate Territorial Defence Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces load a 152-mm shell for a D‑20 howitzer before firing towards Russian troops at a frontline position, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, April 9, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
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Death Toll from Russian Strikes in Ukraine Rises to 12

Ukrainian service members of the 260th Zaporizhzhia Separate Territorial Defence Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces load a 152-mm shell for a D‑20 howitzer before firing towards Russian troops at a frontline position, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, April 9, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
Ukrainian service members of the 260th Zaporizhzhia Separate Territorial Defence Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces load a 152-mm shell for a D‑20 howitzer before firing towards Russian troops at a frontline position, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, April 9, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer

Russian strikes killed at least 12 people in Ukraine, local authorities said on Thursday, after Moscow pummeled its neighbor in overnight attacks.

Missile and drone attacks on the southern port city of Odesa killed six people, the head of the city's military administration Sergiy Lysak wrote on Telegram.

Strikes on the capital Kyiv killed at least four people, including a 12-year-old, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine said, while another two people died in the central city of Dnipro, according to Oleksandr Ganzha, head of the regional administration.

Moscow has fired hundreds of drones on its neighbor almost nightly since the beginning of the four-year war, with Kyiv regularly carrying out strikes within Russia in response to its attacks, AFP said.

Russia's overnight attack on Ukraine triggered a missile alert in the capital Kyiv, where the head of the capital's military administration Tymur Tkachenko warned residents to shelter until the warning was lifted.

In Kyiv, rescuers pulled a child from the rubble of a residential building that collapsed in the Podilsky district, Klitschko said.

The attack on the capital wounded at least 10 people, including several medics, he said.

A blaze broke out at a building in the capital's Obolonsky district where missile debris fell, and cars were on fire, he added.

A drone strike on Ukraine's northeastern city of Kharkiv wounded a 77-year-old woman and a 66-year-old man, the head of the regional military administration Oleg Synegubov said on Telegram.

Five people were wounded in an attack in the southern port city of Odesa, the head of the city's military administration Sergiy Lysak said on Telegram.



US Military Conducts Rapid Response Exercise at Embassy in Venezuela

US Embassy holds emergency and air evacuation drill in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Pedro Mattey)
US Embassy holds emergency and air evacuation drill in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Pedro Mattey)
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US Military Conducts Rapid Response Exercise at Embassy in Venezuela

US Embassy holds emergency and air evacuation drill in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Pedro Mattey)
US Embassy holds emergency and air evacuation drill in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Pedro Mattey)

The US military conducted a rapid response exercise involving Marines and military aircraft in Venezuela’s capital Saturday, over four months after the ouster of then-President Nicolás Maduro.

Two Marine Corps Osprey aircraft, which have characteristics of both a helicopter and a fixed-wing airplane, flew over the recently reopened US Embassy in Caracas. They landed in the parking lot with the downdraft blowing tree branches. Forces then descended from the aircraft.

“Ensuring the military’s rapid response capability is a key component of mission readiness, both here in Venezuela and around the world,” The Associated Press quoted the embassy as saying on Instagram.

Venezuela’s government had announced the drill earlier this week. Foreign Minister Yván Gil said the US would conduct the exercise to prepare “in the event of medical emergencies or catastrophic emergencies.”

The drill comes almost two months after the US formally reopened its embassy in Caracas. The reopening followed the restoration of full diplomatic relations with the South American country after Maduro 's ouster in early January.

Some Caracas residents Saturday gathered near the embassy to watch the aircraft, while a few dozen others gathered elsewhere in the city to protest the exercise. Protesters held a Venezuelan flag with the message “No to the Yankee drill” written over it.

US military aircraft last flew over Caracas on Jan. 3, when elite forces rappelled down from helicopters and captured Maduro and his wife. Both were taken to New York to face drug trafficking charges. They have pleaded not guilty.


Trump Says Negotiators Are Getting Closer to Iran Deal

FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump leaves Marine One to board Air Force One en route to Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, as he departs Morristown Airport in Morristown, New Jersey, US, May 22, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump leaves Marine One to board Air Force One en route to Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, as he departs Morristown Airport in Morristown, New Jersey, US, May 22, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper/File Photo
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Trump Says Negotiators Are Getting Closer to Iran Deal

FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump leaves Marine One to board Air Force One en route to Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, as he departs Morristown Airport in Morristown, New Jersey, US, May 22, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump leaves Marine One to board Air Force One en route to Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, as he departs Morristown Airport in Morristown, New Jersey, US, May 22, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper/File Photo

President Donald Trump said on Saturday that negotiators for the United States and Iran were "getting a lot closer" to finalizing an agreement to end the war, according to an interview with CBS News.

He said a final agreement would prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and would ensure that Iran's enriched ⁠uranium would be "satisfactorily handled," ⁠according to CBS.

"I will only sign a deal where we get everything we want," Trump was quoted as saying.

But in the interview with the TV network, Trump also warned that if the US and Iran do not come to an agreement, "we're going to have a situation where no country will ever be hit as hard as they're about to be hit."

Iran, the United States and mediator Pakistan all said on Saturday that ⁠progress had been made in talks on ending almost three months of war.

Trump said he would discuss the latest Iran draft agreement with advisers on Saturday and might make a decision on whether to resume the war by Sunday, he told Axios in a separate interview.

"Either we reach a good deal or I'll ⁠blow ⁠them to a thousand hells," Trump said, according to Axios.

Trump has vacillated between the two poles of diplomacy and military strike since a ceasefire was declared six weeks ago to allow the sides to come to agreement on Iran's nuclear program and on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil and gas supply route now controlled by Tehran.

Iran signaled on Saturday “narrowing differences” in negotiations with the US after Pakistan’s army chief held more talks in Tehran, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told journalists in India that “there’s been some progress made" and “there may be news later today.”


Rubio Says Progress Made on Iran

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as he speaks with reporters during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, in Helsingborg, Sweden May 22, 2026. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via REUTERS
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as he speaks with reporters during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, in Helsingborg, Sweden May 22, 2026. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via REUTERS
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Rubio Says Progress Made on Iran

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as he speaks with reporters during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, in Helsingborg, Sweden May 22, 2026. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via REUTERS
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as he speaks with reporters during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, in Helsingborg, Sweden May 22, 2026. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via REUTERS

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that some progress has been made on Washington's dispute with Iran and that the US might have "something to say" on the issue in the coming days.

"There's been some progress done, some progress made, even as I speak to you now, there's some work being done. There is a chance that, whether it's later today, tomorrow, in a couple days, we may have something to say," Rubio told reporters during his visit to New Delhi.

Meanwhile, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said on Saturday that Tehran was in the final stages of drafting a framework for a deal to end the war with the United States.

"Within a reasonable period of 30 to 60 days, the details of these points will be discussed and a final agreement will ultimately be concluded. We are currently in the process of finalizing these memoranda of understanding," he told state broadcaster IRIB.