KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia unleashed a major missile and drone barrage on Ukraine overnight into Saturday, after U.S. and Ukrainian officials said they’ll meet on Saturday for a third day of talks aimed at ending the nearly 4-year-old war,
Following talks that made progress on a security framework for postwar Ukraine, the two sides also offered the sober assessment that any “real progress toward any agreement” ultimately will depend “on Russia’s readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace.”
The statement from U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner as well as Ukrainian negotiators Rustem Umerov and Andriy Hnatov came after they met for a second day in Florida on Friday. They offered only broad brushstrokes about the progress they say has been made as Trump pushes Kyiv and Moscow to agree to a U.S.-mediated proposal to end the war.
Russia used 653 drones and 51 missiles in the wide-reaching overnight attack on Ukraine, which triggered air raid alerts across the country and came as Ukraine marked Armed Forces Day, the country’s air force said Saturday morning.
Ukrainian forces shot down and neutralized 585 drones and 30 missiles, the air force said, adding that 29 locations were struck.
At least eight people were wounded in the attacks, Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko said.
Among these, at least three people were wounded in the Kyiv region, according to local officials. Drone sightings were reported as far west as Ukraine’s Lviv region.
Russia carried out a “massive missile-drone attack” on power stations and other energy infrastructure in several Ukrainian regions, Ukraine’s national energy operator, Ukrenergo, wrote on Telegram.
Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant temporarily lost all off-site power overnight, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Saturday, citing its Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi.
The plant is in an area that has been under Russian control since early in Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and is not in service, but it needs reliable power to cool its six shut-down reactors and spent fuel, to avoid any catastrophic nuclear incidents.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that energy facilities were the main targets of the attacks, also noting that a drone strike had “burned down” the train station in the city of Fastiv, located in the Kyiv region.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense said its air defenses had shot down 116 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory overnight into Saturday.
Russian Telegram news channel Astra said Ukraine struck Russia’s Ryazan Oil Refinery, sharing footage appearing to show a fire breaking out and plumes of smoke rising above the refinery. The Associated Press could not independently verify the video.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces later said Ukrainian forces had struck the refinery. Ryazan regional Gov. Pavel Malkov said a residential building had been damaged in a drone attack and that drone debris had fallen on the grounds of an “industrial facility,” but did not mention the refinery.
Months of Ukrainian long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries have aimed to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue the war. Meanwhile, Kyiv and its western allies say Russia is trying to cripple the Ukrainian power grid and deny civilians access to heat, light and running water for a fourth consecutive winter, in what Ukrainian officials call “weaponizing” the cold.
The latest round of attacks came as U.S. President Donald Trump’s advisers and Ukrainian officials said they’ll meet for a third day of talks on Saturday, after making progress on finding agreement on a security framework for postwar Ukraine.
Following Friday’s talks, the two sides also offered the sober assessment that any “real progress toward any agreement” ultimately will depend “on Russia’s readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace.”
The statement from U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner as well as Ukrainian negotiators Rustem Umerov and Andriy Hnatov came after they met for a second day in Florida on Friday. They offered only broad brushstrokes about the progress they say has been made as Trump pushes Kyiv and Moscow to agree to a U.S.-mediated proposal to end nearly four years of war.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Workers and military inspect Ukrainian Fire Point's Flamingo missiles during handover to the military in an undisclosed location in Ukraine Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Mitchell Starc has been menacing England with the ball in this Ashes series. Now he's doing damage with the bat, too.
At stumps on Day 3 of the second test, England was teetering on 134-6 in its second innings and still needed to score 43 runs to make Australia bat again.
Starc was voted player of the match for his 10-wicket haul in Australia's thumping eight-wicket win in the series opener at Perth last month.
Now he's in line for another award in the day-night test in Brisbane. After taking six wickets in England's first innings of 334 on Days 1 and 2, Starc scored an innings-high 77 as Australia responded with 511 on Saturday afternoon and then took two wickets in the night session.
England's hopes now rest on skipper Ben Stokes, who will resume Sunday on 4.
The 35-year-old Starc made England's bowlers toil all afternoon in sunny, subtropical conditions at the Gabba as he led Australia to a 177-run first-innings lead.
With the lights on and the pink ball starting to move around on the third night of the match, Starc took the crucial wicket of top-ranked Joe Root (15) to have England reeling at 123-5, still 54 runs in arrears.
He added the wicket of Jamie Smith in his next over as England slipped to 128-6.
Scott Boland and Michael Neser combined to take the first four wickets for Australia after Starc, for the first time in the series, didn't take a wicket in the first over of the innings.
Boland removed Ben Duckett (15) and Harry Brook (15) and Neser took two sharp return catches to dismiss Ollie Pope (26) and Zak Crawley (44).
Neser later credited Starc with being the greatest left-arm bowler of all time.
“He’s a special player," Neser said. "He doesn’t like to admit it, but he is the GOAT — the greatest lefty of all time.
“He does it with the ball, the bat, and to be next to him, witnessing what he does, is just amazing.”
Starc and the bowling attack will be aiming for four quick wickets Sunday to give Australia a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
For just the third time in almost 150 years of test cricket, all 11 Australian batters reached double figures in a test innings.
Starc's was one of five half-centuries, following opener Jake Weatherald (72), No. 3 Marnus Labuschagne (65), stand-in skipper Steve Smith (61) and wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey (63).
England had a tricky half-hour to navigate before the end of the middle session with the lights on and the sun going down. But for the first time in the series, Starc didn't take a wicket in the first over of the innings.
England reached the break at 45 without loss, with Crawley on 26 and Duckett on 13, setting a foundation for more attacking batting in the night session.
Australia had injected some conventional test cricket into the series while batting through almost two sessions in natural light in a bid to grind England down, adding 133 runs for the last four wickets after resuming Saturday at 378-6.
Starc went into bat in the fourth over Saturday at the end of a 54-run seventh-wicket partnership between overnight batters Carey and Neser.
Starc batted for more than 2½ hours for his best test score against England, guiding a 75-run partnership with No. 10 Boland, a record for a ninth-wicket stand at the Gabba.
While no Australian batters went on to post centuries, three England bowlers conceded triple figures. Brydon Carse took four wickets for 152 runs in 29 overs. Skipper Stokes returned 3-113 in 24 overs and Gus Atkinson took figures of 1-114 off 28.
Pace spearhead Jofra Archer took 1-87 and Jacks, the only spinner in the match, had 1-34 in 12, taking the last Australian wicket to fall.
“Tough day, yeah, obviously not in a great position,” England assistant coach Marcus Trescothick said. “Obviously it’s been quite challenging watching what’s going on and Australia getting ahead of the game and putting us under pressure.”
He said the England lineup needed to find solutions quickly so “we can come back tomorrow and sort of impact the game.”
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
Australia's Mitchell Starc appeals successfully for the wicket of England's Joe Root, left, during the second Ashes cricket test match between Australia and England in Brisbane, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025.. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
England's captain Ben Stokes celebrates the wicket of Australia's Mitchell Starc during the second Ashes cricket test match between Australia and England in Brisbane, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025.. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
Australia's Mitchell Starc plays a shot during the second Ashes cricket test match between Australia and England in Brisbane, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025.. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
Australia's Mitchell Starc keeps away from bouncer a delivery during the second Ashes cricket test match between Australia and England in Brisbane, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025.. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
England's captain Ben Stokes reacts after bowls a delivery during the second Ashes cricket test match between Australia and England in Brisbane, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025.. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
Australia's Mitchell Starc plays a shot during the second Ashes cricket test match between Australia and England in Brisbane, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025.. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
