Zaporizhzhia Deaths Rise as Trump Eases Russia Sanctions

Russia's overnight barrage was its deadliest in days: guided bombs hit a residential building in Zaporizhzhia, killing at least fifteen people, including three children, nearly double the initial count of eight. The strike came amid a 160-drone wave that hit fourteen Ukrainian locations and knocked out power lines in Kyiv Oblast, halting Kyiv's metro while the capital lost electricity and water. In Kharkiv, a drone hit a medical facility in Slobidskyi district, wounding two and starting a fire. Ukraine struck back too, setting Russia's NZNP oil terminal in Rostov region ablaze. Diplomacy around the war grew tenser. Trump announced large Russian diesel imports after calling Putin, over 300,000 tonnes at once and 500,000 more in November, as Washington suspended related sanctions through April 2027. Axios reported envoys Witkoff and Kushner had separately threatened to cut intelligence sharing with Kyiv over its strikes on Russian refineries. Told Zelensky called the deal weak, Trump brushed it off with one word: fine. Elsewhere, Germany backed the International Criminal Court after Washington widened sanctions on it, calling it a new fuse of escalation, while Iran's president proposed a CIS plus Iran format in Turkmenistan. In the US, Hurricane Isaias made landfall near Destin, Florida, triggering emergencies and cutting power to hundreds of thousands.