A Russian rocket hit a residential building today in the southern Ukraine city of Kryvyi Rig, killing two people and injuring five, the region's governor said.

Ukrainian forces staged their heaviest shelling attack in years in the country’s Russian-controlled east yesterday, Moscow-installed officials said, as both sides ruled out a Christmas truce in the nearly 10-month-old war.

Russia ruled out a "Christmas ceasefire" after nearly 10 months of war in Ukraine and rejected a call by Kyiv to start withdrawing troops by Christmas as a step to end Europe's biggest conflict since World War Two.

Ukrainian forces shot down 13 drones yesterday, officials said, as Russia launched its first major drone attack on the capital Kyiv in weeks and the United States considered sending its advanced Patriot air defence system to help Ukraine.

Russia yesterday dismissed a peace proposal from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that would involve a pullout of Russian troops, saying Kyiv needed to accept new territorial “realities”.

The world must "rethink nuclear safety" after Russia's seizure of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, Ukrainian energy minister German Galushchenko told AFP ahead of a Tuesday conference in Paris.

Russian forces pounded targets in eastern and southern Ukraine with missiles, drones and artillery, Ukraine’s General Staff said yesterday, while millions remained without power in sub-zero temperatures after further strikes on key infrastructure.

Russian forces pounded targets in eastern and southern Ukraine with missiles, drones and artillery, Ukraine's General Staff said yesterday, while millions remained without power in sub-zero temperatures after further strikes on key infrastructure.

Russia launched what it calls a special military operation in Ukraine because its concerns around peace accords between Kyiv and Russian-backed separatists were ignored, Russian news agencies quoted the Kremlin spokesman as saying yesterday.

The southern Ukrainian city of Odesa was left without power yesterday following a night-time attack by “kamikaze drones” launched by Russia, authorities said, as the US announced new military aid for Kyiv and vowed to disrupt Russian ties with Iran.

The Russian Nobel Peace Prize laureate who heads the organisation Memorial slammed President Vladimir Putin's "insane and criminal" war in Ukraine as he accepted his award in Oslo on Saturday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday said the West’s desire to maintain its dominance on the world stage was increasing the risks of conflict.

Russian forces are pressing forward with air and ground attacks on several settlements in eastern Ukraine, officials said yesterday, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin celebrated seizing territory during the nine-month war.

The United States has said it hadn’t “enabled” Ukraine to carry out strikes inside Russia, after a spate of drone attacks on military-linked facilities deep within Russian territory.

Time magazine named President Volodymyr Zelensky as well as “the spirit of Ukraine” as its 2022 person of the year on Wednesday, for the resistance the country has shown in the face of Russia's invasion.

A third Russian airfield was ablaze yesterday from a drone strike, a day after Ukraine demonstrated an apparent new ability to penetrate hundreds of kilometres deep into Russian air space with attacks on two Russian air bases.

Ukraine said Russia had destroyed homes in the south and knocked out power in the north in a new round of missile attacks yesterday as the West tried to limit Moscow’s ability to finance its invasion by imposing a price cap on Russian seaborne oil.

Ukraine yesterday welcomed a $60 price cap on Russian oil agreed by the EU, G7 and Australia, saying it would “destroy” Russia’s economy.

The White House poured cold water Friday on President Joe Biden's conditional offer to sit down with President Vladimir Putin, saying he has "no intentions" at present of holding a meeting.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is “open to negotiations” on Ukraine but the West must accept Moscow’s demands, the Kremlin said yesterday, a day after US President Joe Biden said he was willing to talk if Putin were looking for a way to end the war.