Russia uses nuclear-capable missile in ‘massive strike’ on Ukraine
A multi-storey apartment block in the Darnytskyi district is damaged by a Russian drone strike during a massive overnight attack on the capital, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on January 9, 2026. (Photo by Danylo Antoniuk/Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images)NO USE RUSSIA. NO USE BELARUS. (Photo by Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(KYIV, Ukraine) — Russia attacked Ukraine overnight with a massive barrage of 242 drones and 36 missiles, including one that was nuclear-capable, the Ukrainian Air Force said Friday morning.
The missile types used in the attack, which began Thursday night, included 22 cruise, 13 ballistic and one medium-range ballistic, according to the country’s air force.
Ukraine’s air defense system destroyed or suppressed 226 drones, 10 cruise missiles and 8 ballistic missiles. However, strikes from 18 missiles and 16 drones were recorded at 19 locations across the country, the air force said.
The capital, Kyiv, was among the hardest-hit areas, where 40 facilities were damaged, including 20 residential buildings, officials said. At least four people were killed and 25 others were injured there, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, which said rescues were ongoing. The wider Kyiv region as well as the regions of Lviv, Kirovohrad and Cherkasy were also targeted.
The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed that the Oreshnik intermediate-range ground missile system was used in the “massive strike” on Ukraine’s “critical facilities” overnight.
The Oreshnik, used only for the second time by Russia, is capable of flying at hypersonic speeds and delivering multiple warheads.
The ministry said this was in response to an alleged Ukrainian drone attack on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state residence in the Novgorod region of northwestern Russia last month, which Ukraine has denied.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Russia used the intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) on the Lviv region in western Ukraine.
“Such a strike close to EU and NATO border is a grave threat to the security on the European continent and a test for the transatlantic community. We demand strong responses to Russia’s reckless actions,” Sybiha wrote in a post on X “We are informing the United States, European partners, and all countries and international organizations about the details of this dangerous strike through diplomatic channels.”
Sybiha called it “absurd” that Moscow justified the strike as a response to “the fake ‘Putin residence attack’ that never happened.”
“Another proof that Moscow does not need any real reasons for its terror and war,” he added. “Putin uses an IRBM near EU and NATO border in response to his own hallucinations — this is truly a global threat. And it demands global responses.”
U.S. President Donald Trump (R) welcomes President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy (L) at his Mar-a-Lago residence for a meeting and closed-door lunch afterwards in Florida, United States on December 28, 2025. (Photo by Ukranian Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev praised U.S. President Donald Trump’s “peace efforts” after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to the White House on Sunday to discuss a possible peace deal to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country.
“The whole world appreciates President Trump and his team’s peace efforts,” Dmitriev, who also serves as the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund and has been closely involved in negotiations with U.S. representatives, said in a post to X.
Dmitriev also posted criticism of what he called “UK/EU warmongers” for their continued backing of Ukraine, echoing the established Kremlin narrative that seeks to frame U.S. diplomatic efforts as being undermined by NATO and European allies.
Trump and Zelenskyy met at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday.
Before the meeting, Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone, according to Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov. The call was “organized at the initiative of Trump,” Ushakov said, as quoted by Russia’s state-run Tass news agency.
After his meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump told reporters that the negotiating teams are “getting a lot closer, maybe very close” to achieving a peace deal to end Russia’s full-scale invasion, which Moscow launched in February 2022.
“We had a terrific meeting. We discussed a lot of things. As you know, I had an excellent phone call with President Putin that lasted for over two hours. We discussed a lot of points, and I do think we’re getting a lot closer,” Trump said.
The president said the two leaders covered “95%” of the issues needed to end the war. Trump then detailed a call with European leaders after his bilateral meeting with Zelenskyy, indicating that it went well.
The thorniest negotiating issues still appeared unsettled following the White House meeting. Both Trump and Zelenskyy said the question of Ukrainian territorial concessions — specifically regarding the eastern Donbas region — was yet to be agreed upon.
Russia wants Ukrainian forces to withdraw from the entirety of the Donbas — which is formed of Donetsk and Luhansk regions — in exchange for a peace deal. Zelenskyy has instead proposed a “demilitarized zone” covering the area.
Trump also again dismissed the idea of an immediate ceasefire to facilitate subsequent peace negotiations, which Ukraine has repeatedly proposed. Instead, Trump indicated sympathy with Putin’s demand for a full peace deal before any halt to the fighting.
“He feels that look, you know, they’re fighting and to stop and then, if they have to start again, which is a possibility, he doesn’t want to be in that position,” Trump said of Putin. “I understand that position.”
Zelenskyy nonetheless gave a positive readout of his White House visit in subsequent posts to social media.
“Thank you to President Trump and his team for the negotiations,” he wrote on Telegram. “Thank you to the United States for their support. Together, we have and can implement our vision of a series of steps towards peace.”
Zelenskyy described the talks as “a wonderful meeting,” which included “a meaningful discussion on all issues and highly appreciate the progress made by the Ukrainian and American teams over the past few weeks.”
Zelenskyy also thanked presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who have been fronting the White House’s recent shuttle diplomacy.
“We discussed all aspects of the peace framework and achieved significant results. We also discussed the sequence of further actions,” Zelenskyy said.
“We agree that security guarantees are key to achieving lasting peace, and our teams will continue to work on all aspects. We agreed that our teams will meet next week to finalize all discussed issues,” he added.
Trump, Zelenskyy said, agreed to host Ukrainian and European leaders in Washington, D.C., in January for further talks. “Ukraine is ready for peace,” Zelenskyy said.
Trump said if things go “really well,” a peace settlement could be reached in “a few weeks.” It’s also possible that a breakthrough never comes.
“But you know, in a few weeks we will know one way or the other,” Trump said, adding, “It’s been a very difficult negotiation.”
On Monday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Putin and Trump will speak over the phone again “in the very near future.” Peskov said the Kremlin did not yet know the outcome of the Sunday talks in Florida, but said Moscow agrees with Trump’s statement that peace is “significantly closer.”
As to a possible call between Putin and Zelenskyy, Peskov said, “There is no talk of such a conversation at this time.”
Responding to questions from journalists while traveling back from Florida on Monday, Zelenskyy gave more details on the ongoing peace talks.
Asked by ABC News whether Ukraine has a plan B, Zelenskyy said, “Ukraine has always had plan A, which is peace.”
“We never wanted war. And in Russia plan A was the war. Therefore, in my opinion, Russia should already think about plan B, about ending the war,” he continued.
Zelenskyy also said he was open to a phone call with Putin, as well as “any options” that can help end the war.
Talks are ongoing as to U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine, Zelenskyy said. The current term of the proposed guarantee is 15 years with the possibility of extension, he added. Kyiv is pushing to extend that term to 30 to 40 years, Zelenskyy said.
Kyiv and Moscow continued their exchange of nightly long-range strikes overnight into Monday, though their scale was somewhat muted compared with major attacks in recent days.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 25 drones into the country overnight, of which 21 were shot down or suppressed. Four drones impacted at two locations, the air force said.
Sunday night’s attack was the smallest since the one launched on the night of June 27 to 28, according to air force data analyzed by ABC News.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said it downed at least 112 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Flight restrictions were introduced at airports in Krasnodar, Kaluga and Pskov during the overnight attacks, said Russia’s federal air transport agency, Rosaviatsiya.
ABC News’ Natalya Kushnir, Nataliia Popova, Yulia Drozd and Somayeh Malekian contributed to this report.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his press conference after the Summit of Collective Security Treaty Organization, on November 27, 2025 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. (Photo by Contributor/Getty Images)
(KHARKIV, Ukraine and LONDON) — President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is due to travel to Moscow on Monday to present a peace plan proposal to Russian President Vladimir Putin in what is expected to be a crucial test for the Trump administration’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
Witkoff is travelling to Putin a day after taking part in talks with a high-level Ukrainian delegation in Florida, aimed at trying to find a deal to end the war that Ukraine and Russia might accept. The Kremlin on Monday said a meeting between Witkoff and Putin was scheduled for Tuesday.
“The president will hold several closed-door meetings today in preparation for the Russian-American contacts,” spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow.
There is little expectation Putin will agree to a deal. The Russian leader has already signalled he will not compromise, last week making hardline remarks where he repeated his demands that Ukraine withdraw from territory he claims and saying it is “pointless” to negotiate with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He suggested the Kremlin believes it is making sufficient progress on the battlefield and is content to wait until Kyiv concedes to its conditions.
Zelenskyy is expected to be in Paris today to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron, with whom he’s expected to discuss the negotiations with the U.S. Zelenskyy and Europe appear to be signaling solidarity on a day when the U.S. and Putin are expected to dominate the airwaves.
“It will be a very substantive day,” Zelenskyy said on Monday morning. “Diplomacy, defense, energy — the priorities are clear.”
Zelenskyy on Sunday said his emissaries in Florida had reported back the “main parameters” of what had been discussed, along with “some preliminary results.” But the full details were still to be relayed, he said.
“I look forward to receiving a full report from our team during a personal meeting,” Zelenskyy said on social media.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday after taking part in the talks with Ukraine the next steps in the negotiations were “delicate,” adding that “it’s complicated, there are a lot of moving parts.”
There was “another party involved here that’ll have to be a part of the equation — and that’ll continue later this week when Mr. Witkoff travels to Moscow, although we’ve also been in touch in varying degrees with the Russian side,” Rubio said.
“We have a pretty good understanding of their views as well,” Rubio said.
Officials from Ukraine and the United States both said the about 2-hour meeting at Shell Bay Golf Course in Hallandale Beach were productive, but neither side released details about what agreements were made and there is no indication a breakthrough was made on the most difficult issues that would allow an end to the war.
The meeting discussed a revised 19-point peace plan that was developed a week ago during another round of negotiations in Geneva between the U.S. and Ukraine. Those talks reworked an earlier 28-point plan that the Trump administration had presented and that had alarmed Kyiv and European allies as heavily favoring Russia.
Officials on Sunday did not release details about whether the proposal had again been updated.
A source familiar with the talks said they had discussed security guarantees for Ukraine, as well as including the fate of billions of dollars of Russian assets frozen by Western countries and possible elections in Ukraine. The issue of the frozen assets was a “key” one for the Russians, the source said.
On the crucial issue, though, of Russia’s demand that Ukraine surrender unoccupied territory in the Donbas region, there was no sign of progress. The source said Russia was still unwilling to discuss any form of ceasefire and Ukraine is not willing to cede territory.
Rubio said the talks had been “a very productive and useful session where additional progress was made.”
“I think there is a shared vision here that this is not just about ending the war, which is very important; it is about securing Ukraine’s future, a future that we hope will be more prosperous than it’s ever been,” he told reporters after emerging from the talks with Rustem Umerov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, who had been the lead negotiator from Kyiv.
“We worked — we already had a successful meeting in Geneva, and today we continued this success,” Umerov said, adding that there would be “later stages” to the talks.
Zelenskyy on Monday said initial reports from his team appeared to show that the meeting on Sunday had been “very constructive.”
“There are some tough issues that still have to be worked through,” he added.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — A woman has died, and a man was seriously injured after a shark attack off Australia’s east coast, police said Friday.
Emergency services were called to a beach at Crowdy Bay, about 40 miles south of Port Macquarie in New South Wales, around 6:30 a.m. Thursday after reports that two people had been bitten, according to New South Wales Police.
A witness helped the victims before paramedics arrived, but the woman, who was believed to be 25, died at the scene, police said.
“The 26-year-old man sustained serious injuries and was airlifted to the John Hunter Hospital where he remains in a serious but stable condition,” police said.
Authorities said the pair are believed to have been visiting from Switzerland, though neither victim has been publicly identified.
The beach remained closed Friday as police continued their investigation, and a report is being prepared by the coroner.
