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1 week ago | 
theguardian.com | Peter Beaumont
Moscow has launched its third consecutive night of massive drone strikes against Ukraine, killing at least six people, as Donald Trump broke his silence to suggest the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, had “gone crazy”.
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1 week ago | 
theguardian.com | Peter Beaumont
Ukraine and Russia have completed a “1,000 for 1,000” prisoner swap after three days of exchanges, amid heavy Russian airstrikes on Ukrainian cities. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Sunday that the final 303 Ukrainian captives scheduled to be released had been returned from Russia in the final stage of the largest-ever such swap between the warring countries.
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1 week ago | 
theguardian.com | Peter Beaumont
The noises in Kyiv in the early hours of Sunday morning went like this. First was the staccato sound of the air defences booming on the edge of the city. As those guns stopped, the sound of drone motors approaching was audible, getting quickly louder before the briefest moment of silence and then a sudden detonation. But, after two days of heavy Russian air raids that hit civilian buildings across Ukraine, there has been only silence from Donald Trump.
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1 week ago | 
theguardian.com | Peter Beaumont
Russia has launched a second straight night of massive drone and ballistic missile strikes against Ukraine, with the capital city, Kyiv, once again the focus of heavy attack. Across the country nine people were killed, including three children in the Kyiv region, and dozens more injured, according to reports on Sunday morning.
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2 weeks ago | 
theguardian.com | Peter Beaumont |Pjotr Sauer
Ukraine and Russia have begun the largest prisoner exchange of the three-year war, with almost 800 captives returned on both sides in a process expected to last several days. Confirming the first phase of the exchange had taken place, the Ukrainian president, Volodmyr Zelenskyy, said Ukraine had returned 390 people to Russia and that the process would continue with further groups on Saturday and Sunday.
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2 weeks ago | 
theguardian.com | Peter Beaumont
Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK has said Kyiv should focus on fighting a “hi-tech war of survival” that minimises the loss of its military personnel and not expect to recapture Russian-occupied territory, including Crimea and in the Donbas.
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2 weeks ago | 
theguardian.com | Peter Beaumont
Even before the Russian strike on a shuttle bus travelling from his frontline town at the weekend, the mayor of Bilopillya, Yuri Zarko, was very sceptical that Vladimir Putin’s agreement to direct Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul would lead to peace. The strike, which killed nine people including five over 60, only confirmed his conviction that talks to end the war were going nowhere and Ukraine had a challenging time ahead.
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2 weeks ago | 
theguardian.com | Peter Beaumont
The UK and Europe have announced major sanctions against Russia as it became clear that Monday’s call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin had failed to deliver any meaningful concessions from Moscow. The Ukrainian president, Volodmyr Zelenskyy, accused Russia of “trying to buy time in order to continue its war and occupation”.
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2 weeks ago | 
theguardian.com | Peter Beaumont
Ukrainian officials believe a largely stalemated war of attrition with Russia is likely to continue for several more years, despite international efforts pushed by Donald Trump to end the fighting. Following the inconclusive breakup of the first direct talks between Kyiv and Moscow in Istanbul on Friday, and despite the US president’s planned calls with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, they see no evidence that Moscow is serious about peace.
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2 weeks ago | 
businessandamerica.com | Peter Beaumont
The largest known Russian drone attack since full-scale war began in 2022 killed a woman in the Kyiv region and wounded at least three people, Ukrainian authorities said early on Sunday. The attack comes two days after Ukraine and Russia held their first direct talks since 2022 and a day ahead of a planned phone call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
