Ukraine<\/a> said it used British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles to strike a major Russian oil refinery on Thursday, reporting explosions at a site supplying fuel to Moscow<\/a>\u2019s forces.<\/p>\n The Ukrainian military said it targeted the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russia<\/a>\u2019s Rostov region, adding: \u201cMultiple explosions were recorded. The target was hit.\u201d<\/p>\n Officials said the plant was one of southern Russia\u2019s main producers of petrol products and was \u201cdirectly involved in supplying the Russian Federation\u2019s armed forces\u201d.<\/p>\n The UK authorised Ukraine to deploy Storm Shadow missiles against targets inside Russia last year.Separately, Ukrainian long-range drones hit oil product storage tanks at the southern port of Temryuk in the Krasnodar region and a gas processing plant in Orenburg, around 1,400km from the Ukrainian border.<\/p>\n Russian officials said two tanks caught fire in Temryuk, with flames spreading across about 2,000 square metres.<\/p>\n Earlier, Ukraine\u2019s president Volodymyr Zelensky<\/a> hinted at progress on a peace deal between Russia<\/a> and Ukraine<\/a>, following a \u201creally good conversation\u201d with president Donald Trump\u2019s special envoy Steve Witkoff on Christmas Day.The talks came a day after Mr Zelensky unveiled<\/a> an updated 20-point peace proposal. <\/p>\n <\/a>Poland intercepts Russian plane over Baltic, reports airspace breaches from Belarus<\/p>\n Poland scrambled fighter jets to intercept a Russian reconnaissance aircraft flying near its airspace over the Baltic Sea and said dozens of objects entered its airspace from Belarus overnight, warning the incidents during the holiday period could amount to a provocation.<\/p>\n \u201cEarlier today, over international waters in the Baltic Sea, Polish fighter jets intercepted, visually identified and escorted out of their area of responsibility a Russian reconnaissance aircraft flying near the borders of Polish airspace,\u201d the Polish army said yesterday.<\/p>\n Countries on Nato\u2019s eastern flank have remained on heightened alert for potential airspace violations since September, when three Russian military aircraft breached Estonia\u2019s airspace for 12 minutes, days after more than 20 Russian drones entered Polish airspace.<\/p>\n Poland\u2019s National Security Bureau said several dozen objects crossed into Polish airspace from the Belarusian side, with four so far identified as likely smuggling balloons.<\/p>\n \u201cThe mass nature of the airspace violations, their occurrence during the holiday season, the assessment of the Russian aircraft\u2019s activity in the Baltic Sea, and similar incidents recently recorded in Lithuania may indicate a provocation disguised as a smuggling operation,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n The Belarusian and Russian embassies in Warsaw did not immediately respond to requests for comment. <\/p>\n Namita Singh26 December 2025 04:45<\/p>\n <\/a>Putin critic sentenced to six years in prison by Russian court<\/p>\n A Russian court sentenced a pro-war activist and critic of President Vladimir Putin of justifying terrorism to six years in prison on Thursday.<\/p>\n According to Russian independent news site Mediazona, the charges against him stem from an article Udaltsov posted online in support of another group of Russian activists accused of forming a terrorist organisation.<\/p>\n Those activists were handed sentences ranging from 16 to 22 years in prison after being convicted earlier this month.<\/p>\n Udaltsov has rejected the charges against him as fabricated. On Thursday, he denounced the verdict as \u201cshameful\u201d and said he was going on a hunger strike, Mediazona reported.<\/p>\n Maira Butt26 December 2025 04:30<\/p>\n <\/a>Putin told Bush Ukraine was ‘part of Russia’, according to newly released transcripts<\/p>\n Russian president Vladimir Putin told former US president George W Bush that Ukraine was a part of Russia, according to newly released transcripts. <\/p>\n The comments are said to have been made in April 2001, according to the Telegraph. <\/p>\n \u201cWhat really happened? Soviet goodwill changed the world, voluntarily,\u201d Putin is reported to have told Bush at a summit in Slovenia. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd Russians gave up thousands of square kilometers of territory, voluntarily. Unheard of.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cUkraine, part of Russia for centuries, given away. Kazakhstan, given away. The Caucasus too. Hard to imagine, and done by party bosses.\u201d<\/p>\n Maira Butt26 December 2025 04:00<\/p>\n <\/a>Ukraine says British missiles hit Russian refinery as drone attacks spread<\/p>\n Ukraine has struck a major Russian oil refinery using British-supplied missiles, Kyiv said, in an escalation of attacks on Moscow\u2019s energy infrastructure.<\/p>\n Storm Shadow missiles hit the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russia\u2019s Rostov region, triggering blasts, according to the Ukrainian General Staff. <\/p>\n \u201cMultiple explosions were recorded. The target was hit,\u201d it said on Telegram. <\/p>\n Ukrainian officials said the facility had been a key supplier of diesel and jet fuel for Russian forces fighting in Ukraine. <\/p>\n London authorised Kyiv to use Storm Shadow missiles against targets inside Russia last year, with the first confirmed strikes reported in November.<\/p>\n Separately, Ukrainian long-range drones hit oil product storage tanks at the southern port of Temryuk in the Krasnodar region and a gas processing plant in Orenburg, around 1,400km from the Ukrainian border. Russian officials said two tanks caught fire in Temryuk, with flames spreading across about 2,000 square metres.<\/p>\n Both sides have intensified strikes on energy sites in recent months, as Kyiv seeks to curb Russia\u2019s oil revenues. <\/p>\n Elsewhere, Russia said there was \u201cslow but steady progress\u201d in talks with the United States, though foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused western European countries of undermining negotiations. <\/p>\n Ukraine\u2019s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said talks with US figures had produced \u201cgood ideas\u201d on moving closer to peace. <\/p>\n Namita Singh26 December 2025 03:38<\/p>\n <\/a>Who is French political scholar Laurent Vinatier?<\/p>\n Laurent Vinatier was arrested in Moscow in June 2024. Russian authorities accused him of failing to register as a \u201cforeign agent\u201d while gathering information on Russia\u2019s \u201cmilitary and military-technical activities\u201d that could be used to undermine national security.<\/p>\n He is serving a three-year sentence in Russia and reportedly facing new charges of espionage.<\/p>\n The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.<\/p>\n The arrest came amid heightened tensions between Moscow and Paris, following comments by French president Emmanuel Macron about the possibility of deploying French troops to Ukraine.<\/p>\n Vinatier\u2019s lawyers asked the court to impose a fine, but in October 2024 a judge sentenced him to three years in prison. France\u2019s foreign ministry described the punishment as \u201cextremely severe\u201d and called for the scholar\u2019s immediate release.<\/p>\n Since Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, detentions on charges of espionage and the collection of sensitive information have become increasingly common amid what critics describe as a highly politicised legal system.<\/p>\n Beyond condemning Vinatier\u2019s sentence, France\u2019s foreign ministry urged Russia to abolish its foreign agent laws, which subject those designated to heightened government scrutiny and sweeping restrictions. <\/p>\n Violations can result in criminal prosecution. <\/p>\n The ministry said the legislation \u201ccontributes to a systematic violation of fundamental freedoms in Russia, like the freedom of association, the freedom of opinion and the freedom of expression\u201d.<\/p>\n Vinatier is an adviser to the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, a Switzerland-based non-governmental organisation, which said in June 2024 that it was doing \u201ceverything possible to assist\u201d him.<\/p>\n Ahead of the verdict, Vinatier appealed for leniency, citing his two children and his elderly parents, whom he supports. <\/p>\n Namita Singh26 December 2025 03:34<\/p>\n <\/a>Kremlin says Moscow made an offer to France regarding a French citizen imprisoned in Russia<\/p>\n The Kremlin on Thursday said it was in contact with the French authorities over the fate of a French political scholar serving a three-year sentence in Russia and reportedly facing new charges of espionage.<\/p>\n Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia has made “an offer to the French” regarding Laurent Vinatier, arrested in Moscow last year and convicted of collecting military information, and that “the ball is now in France’s court”. <\/p>\n He refused to provide details, citing the sensitivity of the matter.<\/p>\n French president Emmanuel Macron is following Vinatier’s situation closely, his office said in a statement. <\/p>\n French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pascal Confavreux said on Thursday that all government services are fully mobilised to provide consular support to Vinatier and push for his liberation as soon as possible. <\/p>\n Namita Singh26 December 2025 03:03<\/p>\n <\/a>Pope Leo XIV calls for ‘respectful’ dialogue between Russia and Ukraine in first Christmas sermon<\/p>\n Pope Leo XIV dedicated a portion of his Christmas sermon to calls for peace between warring nations across the world, including Russia and Ukraine.<\/p>\n The head of the Catholic Church said that the people of Ukraine were being \u201ctormented\u201d by violence.<\/p>\n \u201cMay the clamour of weapons cease, and may the parties involved, with the support and commitment of the international community, find the courage to engage in sincere, direct and respectful dialogue,\u201d he said on Christmas Day.<\/p>\n Elsewhere, the pope expressed concern for Palestinians in Gaza, drawing parallels to Jesus pitching a \u201cfragile tent\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cHow, then, can we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n Maira Butt26 December 2025 03:00<\/p>\n <\/a>Polish jets intercept Russian plane over the Baltic<\/p>\n Polish jets intercepted a Russian reconnaissance plane over the Baltic Sea, which was flying close to its airspace, the NATO country’s army said.<\/p>\n Countries on NATO’s eastern flank have been on high alert for potential airspace incursions since September when three Russian military jets violated Estonia’s airspace<\/a> for 12 minutes just days after more than 20 Russian drones<\/a> had entered Polish airspace.<\/p>\n \u201cThis morning, over the international waters of the Baltic Sea, Polish fighter jets intercepted, visually identified, and escorted from their area of \u200b\u200bresponsibility a Russian reconnaissance aircraft flying near the borders of Polish airspace,\u201d the army said.<\/p>\n It also said that at night, objects were observed entering Polish airspace from the direction of Belarus.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter detailed analysis, it was determined that these were most likely smuggling balloons, moving in accordance with the wind direction and speed,\u201d the army said.<\/p>\n It added that part of the airspace over northeast Poland’s Podlaskie region, which borders Belarus, was temporarily closed to civilian traffic to ensure security.<\/p>\n Maira Butt26 December 2025 02:00<\/p>\n![\"U.S.](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-681431.jpg\")
U.S. President George W. Bush (R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands after speaking with the media in the East Room of the White House November 13, 2001 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/UKRAINE-RUSSIA-CONFLICT-WAR-pj2pixi0.jpeg\")
A Ukrainian rescuer extinguishes a fire at a damaged residential building following a drone strike in Chernihiv, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine (AFP)<\/p>\n![\"French](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/FILES-RUSSIA-FRANCE-POLITICS-COURT-itc62nr8.jpeg\")
French scholar Laurent Vinatier is accused of gathering Russian military information without registering as ‘foreign agent’ (AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Vatican_Pope_Christmas_85136.jpg\")
(AP)<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-21-at-10-33-37-AM.png\")
The US Coast Guard boards an oil tanker that was last docked in Venezuela on Dec. 20. (Department of Homeland Security)<\/p>\n