Topic: World
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Zelensky says Ukraine ready to meet US negotiators in coming days
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine is ready to meet with American negotiators in the coming days and that he has conveyed the proposal to US President Donald Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. In his address he framed the talks as part of ongoing team-level negotiations on paths to peace, voiced Ukraine's support for a US-backed energy ceasefire, and stressed that Russia must also join such an agreement.
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Polish president accuses PM Tusk of exaggerating Russian threat for political gain
Polish President Karol Nawrocki said in an interview with Rzeczpospolita that the level of Russian threat has not significantly changed in the past six months and accused Prime Minister Donald Tusk of using that threat for personal political gain. Tusk responded on X, thanking Nawrocki for his honesty, and the two leaders' offices traded further barbs in a public dispute with direct implications for Poland's alliance standing and domestic threat assessments.
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EU figure contradicts Trump’s $250 billion claim on payments to Russia for energy
An EU source told European Pravda that EU countries paid Russia about 197 billion euros (around 209 billion dollars) for fossil fuels from March 2022 to July 2026, undercutting US President Donald Trump’s claim of 250 billion dollars. The figures come as Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky criticised a parallel Trump-Putin understanding to allow Russian diesel fuel exports, calling it “unfair and dishonest.”
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Finland pushes EU-wide tourist visa ban for Russian citizens
Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen is urging EU member states to co-sign a letter to the European Commission demanding a full ban on tourist Schengen visas for Russian citizens until Russia ends its war against Ukraine. The initiative, set out in five proposals, has drawn immediate public backing from Estonia.
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Drones attack two merchant vessels off Bulgaria; one sinks, crew still missing
Overnight on 12–13 October, drones attacked two commercial vessels in the Black Sea off the Bulgarian coast. The Maltese-flagged, Ukrainian-owned CHELSEA 3 was hit by three drones about 18 nautical miles east of Byala; all 15 crew were evacuated to Varna, five with minor injuries. A second vessel sank about 17 nautical miles east of Krapets, with 11 crew missing and either one or five rescued according to different sources. Bulgarian PM Rumen Radev convened his Security Council, announced he would summon Russia's ambassador, and appealed to the EU and NATO for investigative help. Ukraine's President Zelensky and Foreign Minister Sybiha publicly blamed Russia; Bulgarian officials said there is no conclusive evidence attributing the attacks to any state.
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Petraeus: Ukraine is the "real laboratory" of future warfare, NATO needs revolutionary change
Former CIA Director retired General David Petraeus said at the Warsaw Security Forum that the war in Ukraine is the real laboratory of future warfare and that NATO countries must carry out urgent, revolutionary institutional military changes. He said these must go beyond handing drones to existing units, and should touch doctrine, training, procurement, personnel policy and infrastructure, while predicting a shift toward autonomous and AI-enabled systems.
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Kellogg breaks with Trump, says Ukraine should be free to strike inside Russia
Former US special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg said at the Warsaw Security Forum that Kyiv should be free to hit targets in Russia, including oil refineries. His remarks put him at odds with US President Donald Trump, who over the weekend called on Ukraine to stop such attacks. Kellogg dismissed Trump's recent statements, including the suggestion that Volodymyr Zelensky consider leaving the presidency, as "noise."
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Tusk at Warsaw Security Forum: Ukraine fights for survival, Russia for domination
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk opened the Warsaw Security Forum in Warsaw on Monday, 12 October, framing Russia's war on Ukraine as a fight between Russian domination and Ukrainian survival. He pledged that Poland "cannot and will not" signal yielding to intimidation of Western support for Kyiv, and said Poland and NATO are preparing for various scenarios after his conversation with NATO's European commander General Alexus Grynkewich.
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Ukrainian drones hit three Yandex data centres; Zelensky says social media became 'easier to breathe on'
Between 8 and 11 October 2026, Ukrainian drones struck three of Yandex's five largest data centres in Russia — in Sasovo (Ryazan Oblast), Kaluga and Vladimir (Vladimir Oblast). Cloudflare Radar data cited by Tom's Hardware shows bot traffic from Yandex's network collapsing from roughly 80–88% of its two-week peak a week earlier to about 57% after the first strike and to 0.3–0.4% after the third, while NetBlocks reported Yandex Cloud traffic fell to 30% of normal levels. Speaking by video link at the Warsaw Security Forum, President Volodymyr Zelensky said the strikes made social media 'easier to breathe on' and proved that 'Europe is not the source of the problem.' American historian Timothy Snyder and MEP Tomasz Zdechovský suggested the drop showed Russian hosting of bots supporting Trump and Germany's AfD, a reading fact-check analyses contest.
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Sikorski urges NATO to prepare decisive response to potential deadly Russian hybrid attacks
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, in a Financial Times interview during a visit to London, called on NATO to prepare a decisive response to potential deadly Russian hybrid attacks in Europe. He proposed concrete measures including closing Russian consulates, restricting Russian diplomats, requiring biometric passports for Russians entering the EU, and reducing tourist visas issued to Russian citizens.
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Trump announces "energy ceasefire" with Russia; Kremlin declines to confirm, Ukraine says it wasn't told
On 11 October, US President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that an "energy ceasefire" between Russia and Ukraine was taking effect immediately, claiming both sides had agreed. The White House later told Axios that the proposal referred specifically to mutual cessation of strikes on oil refineries, described as "refinery for refinery." The Kremlin declined to confirm any deal, and within hours Russian forces struck energy infrastructure in Ukraine, including the TEC-5 thermal power plant in Kharkiv. Speaking by video link at the Warsaw Security Forum on 12 October, President Volodymyr Zelensky said the announcement was news to him, that Ukraine has only one oil refinery while Russia has an extensive network, and that if Russia does not agree to an energy ceasefire this winter, Ukraine will respond.
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NATO estimates Russian losses in September exceeded 50,000, roughly 10 times Ukraine's
A senior NATO military official told Bloomberg that Russian personnel losses in Ukraine in September exceeded 50,000, including up to 28,000 killed, compared with about 5,000 Ukrainian losses over the same period. The official attributed Russia's high attrition to offensive tactics that send troops into "kill zones" saturated with Ukrainian drones, mines and artillery. Bloomberg said it could not independently verify the figures.
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UK's Starmer and Zelensky agree to meet after phone call on sanctions and air defense
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer agreed during a phone call to hold a bilateral meeting in the coming days. The call covered continued UK sanctions on Russia, Ukraine's need for air defense, and a joint demand for an immediate energy ceasefire. It came against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump's public call for Ukraine to change its leadership and a reported US–Russian agreement on Russian diesel fuel supplies.
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Estonia to push EU for more aid to Ukraine to strike Russian oil refineries
Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal said he will propose at the next European Council meeting that Estonia and partners rapidly increase aid to Ukraine so it can destroy Russian oil refineries. The call follows an October 9 US-Russia deal on 4.8 million tonnes of Russian diesel and a US Treasury license for diesel trade with Russia valid until April 2027.
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Poland receives information on alleged assassination plot targeting PM Tusk and defence minister
Polish authorities announced on 11 October that police had received information about a possible assassination attempt on Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. Ministers Tomasz Siemoniak and Marcin Kierwiński ordered a security response, and an inter-agency meeting was scheduled at the Counter-Terrorism Centre of Poland's Internal Security Agency.
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German Space Forces commander warns Russian satellite maneuvers near ICEYE could threaten Starlink
Germany's space forces commander, Major General Michael Traut, warned that Russian military satellites that maneuvered near a Finnish ICEYE radar satellite earlier in 2026 are demonstrating capabilities that could also be used against large constellations such as Starlink. ICEYE supplies radar imagery to Ukraine and other allies, and Traut framed the activity as a 'grey zone' tactic that could shorten satellite lifespans and degrade signal quality without open military confrontation.
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Ukrainian drones hit Yandex data center in Vladimir, third strike in four days
Ukrainian drones struck a Yandex data center in the Russian city of Vladimir overnight on October 11, forcing Yandex to halt operations at the facility and knocking out a wide range of its consumer and cloud services. The attack is the third on a Yandex data center within four days, following strikes on facilities in Sasovo, Ryazan region on October 8 and in the Kaluga region on October 9. Outages hit the Alice voice assistant, Yandex Music, Telemost, Yandex Dom, taxi and other consumer apps, and more than 80 Yandex Cloud services, with disruptions reported in Russian cities and in Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia and Serbia.
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Sikorski: Polish embassy reports fuel shortage in Moscow after Trump–Putin diesel deal
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said on October 10 that the Polish Embassy in Russia is observing a fuel deficit even in Moscow, a city normally prioritized for supply. His post came a day after US President Trump announced an agreement with Russian President Putin for large Russian diesel supplies to world markets, and questioned how Russia could deliver export surpluses given Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refining capacity.
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Nord Stream sabotage trial: Kuznetsov's defense to cite two military commanders as witnesses
The defense of Ukrainian national Serhii Kuznetsov, who is standing trial in Hamburg for the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline sabotage, plans to present written sworn testimony from two of his military commanders, including a figure described as the likely organizer of the entire operation. Kuznetsov himself will not testify; his lawyers argue that as a servicemember he is not authorized to disclose details of his activities. He denies involvement in the sabotage, and Ukraine officially rejects the accusations against him.
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Ukraine's military intelligence publishes data on 20 vessels in Russia's sanctions-evading 'shadow fleet'
Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) of the Ministry of Defence has published information on 20 maritime vessels that export Russian oil, oil products and liquefied natural gas or refuel sanctioned ships. All 20 are under UK or Ukrainian sanctions, and one is also sanctioned by the US. The intelligence service called on international partners to tighten controls on ship sales, block servicing of the sanctioned fleet at foreign shipyards and cut off Russia's energy-export revenues.