Russian drone strikes damaged infrastructure in Kyiv, Ukraine, while European Union countries agreed to a compromise for a gas price cap.
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Russian drone attack takes out power supplies in Kyiv; Ruble tumbles
Russia unleashed 35 self-detonating drones on Ukraine in the early hours of Monday morning as many people slept, damaging critical infrastructure in and around the capital, Kyiv.
Governor Oleksiy Kubela said the assault was “fairly serious,” after three areas in the region were left without power supply.
The assault marks Moscow’s third air attack on the city in six days.
Meanwhile, the Russian ruble fell to a more than six-month low against the dollar. As of around noon ET Monday, it was trading at 68.08 against the dollar.
The fall marks the ruble’s lowest level since mid-May.
Russia’s war in Ukraine, Iran protests limited U.S. election meddling, official says
Russia’s war in Ukraine and anti-regime protests in Iran limited both Moscow and Tehran’s ability to try to influence or interfere in the recent U.S. midterm elections, a senior American military official said.
U.S. agencies were on high alert before November’s vote for potential cyberattacks or foreign influence operations, particularly after adversaries were judged by intelligence agencies to have meddled in the last two presidential elections. But there was little sign of disruption in the midterms.
“I was surprised by the lack of activity we saw from the Russians, the Iranians, or the Chinese,” said Army Maj. Gen. William Hartman, who leads the U.S. Cyber National Mission Force, which partners with the National Security Agency in detecting and stopping election intrusions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been mired in a prolonged war with tens of thousands of casualties since he ordered an invasion of Ukraine in February. And Iran’s leaders are waging a bloody crackdown against street protests sparked by the September death of a 22-year-old woman, in one of the largest sustained challenges to their power since the 1979 revolution.
— Associated Press
10 HOURS AGO
Putin arrives in Belarus for talks with Lukashenko
Russian President Vladimir Putin landed in Minsk for talks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Russian state media reported Monday afternoon.
The meeting, Putin’s first to the Belarusian capital since 2019, comes amid increasing fears that Moscow may be pushing its ally to increase its military involvement in the war.
Speaking to Russian news agencies earlier Monday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called Belarus Russia’s “number one ally,” but said that suggestions that Moscow wanted to pressure Minsk into joining the conflict were “stupid and unfounded fabrications.”
—Karen Gilchrist