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Donald Trump said he was not considering giving Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine for carrying out strikes inside Russia, at least for now.

“No, not really,” Trump told reporters as he flew to Washington from Palm Beach, Florida, when asked whether he was considering a deal to sell the missiles. He added, however, that he could change his mind.

Trump has publicly toyed with the idea of providing the long-range missiles to Ukraine, saying that Volodymyr Zelensky would like him to add Tomahawks to Kyiv‘s arsenal. Tomahawk missiles have a range of 2,500km, enough to strike deep inside Russia, including Moscow.

Trump and Nato secretary general Mark Rutte discussed the Tomahawk idea when they met at the White House on 22 October. Rutte said on Friday that the issue was under review and that it was up to the US to decide.

The US president’s statement came as Ukraine’s military chief said his troops were battling “multi-thousand” enemy forces in key frontline town Pokrovsk in the Donetsk oblast.

Oleksandr Syrskyi said elite special forces had been deployed to defend key supply lines facing Russian fire.

Zelensky thanks Germany for more Patriot systems

Volodymyr Zelensky has thanked Germany’s chancellor for providing Ukraine with Patriot air defence systems at a time the war-hit nation is under nightly Russian missile attacks.

“Today, we can already say there is a good result for our air defense – Ukraine now has more Patriots. I thank Chancellor Merz, I thank Germany, and everyone who helps – our agreements have been fulfilled. More Patriots are now in Ukraine and being put into operation,” he said in his nightly address.

He added that Ukraine needs more systems to protect key infrastructure sites.

“…we will continue working to obtain them – not only at the political level with states and leaders but also directly with manufacturers of all necessary air defence systems and missiles for them,” he said.

At least two people were killed in a Russian drone attack in Ukraine’s southwestern Odesa region. The strikes were the latest in Russia’s sustained campaign on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as winter temperatures approach.

The attacks have grown more effective as Russia launches hundreds of drones, some equipped with cameras that improve targeting, overwhelming air defences — especially in regions where protection is weaker.

Arpan Rai3 November 2025 06:54

Zelensky says Russia has deployed 170,000 troops in push for Pokrovsk

Volodymyr Zelensky has revealed that Russia has amassed approximately 170,000 troops in the eastern Donetsk region, aiming to seize the strategic stronghold of Pokrovsk in a significant push for a battlefield victory.

Speaking on Friday, Mr Zelensky described the situation in Pokrovsk as “difficult”, while simultaneously refuting recent Russian assertions that the devastated city is encircled after over a year of intense fighting.

He conceded that some Russian units had infiltrated, but maintained that Ukrainian defenders are actively “weeding them out”

“There are Russians in Pokrovsk,” Zelensky told a media briefing in Kyiv. “They are being destroyed, gradually destroyed, because, well, we need to preserve our personnel,” he said.

Arpan Rai3 November 2025 06:31

Belgium investigating new drone sightings over military base

Police in Belgium are investigating drone sightings over a military air base, defence minister Theo Francken said, following other recent drone sightings at military areas in the country.

The government received reports on Saturday of drones flying over the Kleine Brogel air base in north-east Belgium, Francken said in a post on X. A helicopter and police vehicles pursued but failed to capture the drone, and a drone jammer was unable to intercept it, he said.

“It was not a simple overflight, but a clear command targeting Kleine Brogel,” Francken said.

It is illegal to fly drones over military areas in Belgium.

A spokesperson for Francken’s office told Reuters police were investigating the incident. Government ministers will discuss the sightings this week.

Nato countries have been on high alert in recent weeks after drone sightings and other air incursions, including at airports in Copenhagen, Munich and in the Baltic region. Some 20 Russian drones entered Polish airspace in September.

Investigations are already underway in Belgium into multiple drone sightings over a military base in the country’s south-east, and another military base at Elsenborn, on the German border last month.

(Belga/AFP via Getty Images)

Arpan Rai3 November 2025 06:25

North Korean PoWs in Ukraine plead to be deported to South Korea

Two North Korean prisoners of war detained in Ukraine have pled to go to South Korea, according to a human rights organisation that interviewed them.

Nearly 10,000 of Pyongyang’s troops were sent in 2024 to fight for Russia in its war against Ukraine.

Around 2,000 North Korean soldiers are estimated to have been killed in combat and several captured.

During an interview for a documentary last week, the two PoWs asked the producer “to take them to the South,” Jang Se-yul, head of the rights group said.

Arpan Rai3 November 2025 06:10

Watch: Trump says won’t sell Tomahawks to Kyiv for now after Putin threatsTrump says won’t sell Tomahawks to Kyiv for now after Putin threats

Arpan Rai3 November 2025 06:05

At least one vessel hit as Ukrainian drone strike hits key Russian oil port

A Ukrainian drone attack struck one of Russia’s main Black Sea oil ports, causing a fire and damaging at least one ship.

Footage on Russian and Ukrainian Telegram news channels appeared to show a terminal and one tanker ablaze at night.

The Independent has not verified the timing or location of the images.

Russian authorities said two foreign vessels had been damaged in the attack on Tuapse, one of the biggest oil terminals on the Black Sea, sparking a fire.

“As a result of the drone attack on the port of Tuapse on the night of 2 November, two foreign civilian ships were damaged,” the emergency operational headquarters of the Krasnodar region said in a statement.

Ukraine has for several months been striking Russian oil refineries, depots and pipelines in a bid to undermine the Russian economy.

Kyiv’s General Staff said in a statement that its forces had struck infrastructure of the Tuapse oil refinery. An official from Ukraine’s SBU domestic security service said five recorded drone strikes on an oil terminal had damaged an oil tanker, loading infrastructure and nearby port buildings.

The port is home to the Tuapse Black Sea oil terminal and an oil refinery controlled by Russia’s biggest oil company Rosneft . Ukraine has targeted the refinery with several drone strikes this year.

Arpan Rai3 November 2025 05:50

At least one vessel hit as Ukrainian drone strike hits key Russian oil port

A Ukrainian drone attack struck one of Russia’s main Black Sea oil ports, causing a fire and damaging at least one ship.

Footage on Russian and Ukrainian Telegram news channels appeared to show a terminal and one tanker ablaze at night.

The Independent has not verified the timing or location of the images.

Russian authorities said two foreign vessels had been damaged in the attack on Tuapse, one of the biggest oil terminals on the Black Sea, sparking a fire.

“As a result of the drone attack on the port of Tuapse on the night of 2 November, two foreign civilian ships were damaged,” the emergency operational headquarters of the Krasnodar region said in a statement.

Ukraine has for several months been striking Russian oil refineries, depots and pipelines in a bid to undermine the Russian economy.

Kyiv’s General Staff said in a statement that its forces had struck infrastructure of the Tuapse oil refinery. An official from Ukraine’s SBU domestic security service said five recorded drone strikes on an oil terminal had damaged an oil tanker, loading infrastructure and nearby port buildings.

The port is home to the Tuapse Black Sea oil terminal and an oil refinery controlled by Russia’s biggest oil company Rosneft . Ukraine has targeted the refinery with several drone strikes this year.

Arpan Rai3 November 2025 05:49

Moscow says PM Mishustin’s visit to China is ‘very important’

Russian prime minister Mikhail Mishustin’s two-day visit to China is being hailed by Moscow as important, just days after Donald Trump met with Chinese president Xi Jinping.

Mishustin departed for a two-day visit to China, with planned talks with president Xi and premier Li Qiang expected to centre on economic and technological cooperation despite pressure from the West.

The Kremlin attached “very great” importance to Mishustin’s visit to China, spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday, while declining to say whether president Vladimir Putin would send a message to Xi via the Russian prime minister, Interfax agency reported.

Mishustin is scheduled for a regular heads-of-government meeting with Li in the city of Hangzhou today, and will travel to Beijing tomorrow for talks with Xi, TASS agency reported, citing the Russian government’s press service.

Mishustin’s talks in China were expected to focus on trade and economic ties, transport and industrial cooperation, enhanced energy partnerships and expanded collaboration in advanced technology and agriculture, TASS reported.

The last heads-of-government meeting between China and Russia took place in Moscow in August 2024, where Li praised the “new vigor” and “vitality” in bilateral ties.

Arpan Rai3 November 2025 05:18

Watch: Ukrainians rescued from Sumy apartments after Russian strikeUkrainians rescued from Sumy apartments after Russian strike

Arpan Rai3 November 2025 05:03

Nato will ‘stand with Ukraine’ to get long-lasting peace

A senior Nato military official has said the alliance “will stand with Ukraine up to the day” they will sit around a table for “long-lasting peace”.

Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, chair of Nato’s military committee, told the BBC that the Ukraine will not be ruled by a Moscow-friendly government and the Russian president will not win in his quest. “They will not get a friendly or puppet government like in Belarus. Putin will not succeed.”

From an operational point of view, Admiral Dragone said he considered the Russia-Ukraine war was bogged down, and “it was almost time to sit and talk because it’s a waste of lives”.

He also described the war as a strategic failure for Putin despite recent slow gains by the Russian forces on the battlefield.

The top official also said European nations were prepared to keep going ahead with supporting Ukraine’s defence.

Arpan Rai3 November 2025 04:53