Moscow

Russian aerial attacks wounded more than a dozen and knocked out electricity for tens of thousands of Ukrainians overnight in attacks on residential areas as temperatures dropped towards freezing, Kiev said on Oct. 20.

Moscow also said it had shot down 110 Ukrainian drones fired at its territory overnight, the largest attempted aerial barrage by Kiev in more than two weeks.

U.S. President Joe Biden and the leaders of Germany, France and Britain pledged Friday to keep up support for Ukraine and condemned "Russia's continued war of aggression".

After meeting in Berlin, the four leaders in a joint statement "reiterated their resolve to continue supporting Ukraine in its efforts to secure a just and lasting peace".

Cyprus' banks have said their exposure to Russian and Ukrainian businesses shrunk by more than 13,000 clients and 35,000 accounts, amounting to €2 billion euros, in the year after Moscow's 2022 invasion of its neighbor as they adhered to sanctions that the UN, the European Union, the US and Britain have imposed on Russia.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of playing a role in initiating the ongoing war in Ukraine. This accusation signals a potential shift in US policy toward Russia should Trump win the election.

On Thursday, Russia claimed that its forces had seized control of another settlement in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, an area where Moscow has reported gains over recent months, including the capture of the key city of Vuhledar.

President Volodymyr Zelensky told allies Thursday Ukraine must be in a position of strength before any peace talks with Russia, as he presented his "victory plan" to EU leaders and NATO defence chiefs in Brussels.

Istanbul is set to host the third meeting of a regional bloc focused on fostering peace and trade in the South Caucasus on Oct. 18.

The gathering will be chaired by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and attended by his counterparts from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iran and Russia.

MOSCOW - Serbian Deputy PM Aleksandar Vulin spoke with the head of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) Alexander Bortnikov in Moscow on Wednesday about continuing the cooperation between Serbian and Russian security structures and confronting shared challenges.

MOSCOW - Serbian Deputy PM Aleksandar Vulin met with the head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service Sergey Naryshkin on Wednesday to discuss further advancement and strengthening of cooperation between Serbian and Russian security structures.