Sawt Falasteen - Russia scores highest Ukraine gains since first year of war

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said around 15 countries would attend the talks, along with representatives from the European Union and NATO, and with a US delegation joining the meeting via video link.

The talks -- and a following summit of leaders from the so-called coalition of the willing planned for next week in France -- are the latest in a flurry of efforts to broker peace after nearly four years of war.

Zelensky said in a New Year's Eve address that a US-brokered peace deal was "90 percent" ready, though the most important issue, territory, remains unresolved.

The diplomatic push comes as Russia presses its advantage against outmanned and outgunned Ukrainian troops on the battlefield.

The Russian army captured more than 5,600 square kilometres (2,160 square miles), or 0.94 percent, of Ukrainian territory in 2025, according to an analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which works with the Critical Threats Project.

This includes areas that Kyiv and military analysts say are controlled by Russia, as well as those claimed by Moscow's army.

The land captured is more than in the previous two years combined, though far short of the more than 60,000 square kilometres Russia took in 2022, the first year of its invasion.

- 'Heinous' -

Moscow has also continued its aerial barrage of Ukraine, with the latest strike on a residential area of the major city of Kharkiv reducing parts of multi-storey buildings to smouldering piles of rubble.

At least 19 people were wounded in the attack, including a six-month-old baby.

Zelensky slammed it as "heinous" and said preliminary reports indicated two missiles struck the area.

"Unfortunately, this is how the Russians treat life and people -- they continue killing, despite all efforts by the world, and especially by the United States, in the diplomatic process," he said on social media.

Underlining the deadly risks for civilians, Ukrainian officials on Friday ordered the evacuation of more than 3,000 children and their parents from 44 front-line settlements in the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions, where Russian troops have been advancing.

More than 150,000 people have been evacuated from front-line areas since June 1, said Ukrainian Reconstruction Minister Oleksiy Kuleba.

On Thursday, Russia accused Kyiv of a strike on a hotel and a cafe in Ukraine's occupied south that killed 27 people, and warned of "consequences" -- but Ukraine said the attack targeted a military gathering that was closed to civilians.

AFP was not able to verify either account.

- Zelensky names top aide -

On Friday, Zelensky named military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov as his new top aide, after the president's previous chief of staff resigned in November over a corruption scandal.

Budanov has built up a legendary reputation in Ukraine, credited with a series of daring operations against Russia.

"We will continue to do our job -– to defeat the enemy, defend Ukraine and work to achieve a just peace," Budanov said after accepting Zelensky's nomination.

When formally appointed, he will succeed Andriy Yermak, who resigned in November after investigators raided his house as part of a sweeping corruption probe.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, describing it as a "special military operation" to prevent the expansion of the NATO alliance -- a war aim that Kyiv has called a lie.

Moscow has since captured large swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine, while firing on Ukrainian towns and cities in daily drone and missile attacks.

U.AlSharif--SF-PST