News

These are the key developments from day 1,385 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here’s where things stand on Wednesday, December 10 :

Fighting

• Ukrainian troops holding parts of the beleaguered city of Pokrovsk have been ordered to withdraw from hard-to-defend positions in the past week, Ukraine’s top military commander, Oleksandr Syrskii, said.

• Syrskii said the situation in Pokrovsk remains difficult for Ukrainian forces, with Russia massing an estimated 156,000 troops in the area under cover of recent rain and fog.

• Russia’s top general, Valery Gerasimov, said that Moscow’s forces were advancing along the entire front line in Ukraine and were also focused on Ukrainian troops in the surrounded town of Myrnohrad.
• Russia said air defence systems intercepted and destroyed 121 Ukrainian drones throughout Tuesday.
• A member of the United Kingdom’s armed forces was killed in Ukraine while observing Ukrainian forces test a new defensive capability, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said. The ministry said the British soldier was killed away from the front lines with Russian forces.

• Ukraine’s state gas and oil company, Naftogaz, said that Russian drones had damaged gas infrastructure facilities, but there were no casualties.

• Russia’s Syzran oil refinery on the Volga River halted oil processing on December 5 after being damaged by a Ukrainian drone attack, the Reuters news agency reported, citing two industry sources.

• Ukraine will introduce more restrictions on power use and will allow additional energy imports as it struggles to repair infrastructure targeted by Russian strikes, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said.

Ceasefire

• Ukraine and its European partners, Germany, France and the UK, will present the US with “refined documents” on a peace plan to end the war with Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
• Finnish President Alexander Stubb said that allies of Ukraine worked on three separate documents, including a 20-point framework for peace, a set of security guarantees and a post-war reconstruction plan.
• At a United Nations Security Council meeting on Ukraine, Deputy US Ambassador Jennifer Locetta said the United States is working to bridge the divide in peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv. She said the aim is to secure a permanent ceasefire, and “a mutually agreed peace deal that leaves Ukraine sovereign and independent and with an opportunity for real prosperity”.
• Russia’s UN ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, said, “What we have on the table are fairly realistic proposals for long-term, lasting settlement of Ukrainian conflict, something that our US colleagues are diligently working on.”
• Pope Leo said Europe must play a central role in efforts to end the war in Ukraine, warning that any peace plan sidelining the continent is “not realistic”, while urging leaders to seize what he described as a great opportunity to work together for a just peace.

Politics and diplomacy

• Zelenskyy said he was prepared to hold elections within three months if the US and Kyiv’s European allies could ensure the security of the vote. Wartime elections are forbidden by law in Ukraine, but Zelenskyy, whose term expired last year, is facing renewed pressure from US President Donald Trump to hold a vote.
• The Kremlin said that European claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to restore the Soviet Union were incorrect and that claims Putin plans to invade a NATO member were absolute rubbish.
• The European Union is very close to a solution for financing Ukraine in 2026 and 2027 that would have the support of at least a qualified majority of EU countries, European Council President Antonio Costa said.
• Japan has denied a media report that it had rebuffed an EU request to join plans to use frozen Russian state assets to fund Ukraine.

Regional security

• Three men went on trial in Germany, accused of following a former Ukrainian soldier on behalf of a Russian intelligence service as part of a possible assassination plot.

Sanctions

• US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said he discussed US sanctions on Russian oil giants Lukoil and Rosneft with Ukrainian Prime Minister Svyrydenko.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said the shooting appeared to be an isolated incident rather than a mass shooting event.

A shooting at Kentucky State University in the United States has left one person dead and another in critical condition, police said. The suspected shooter, who is not a student, has been taken into custody.

The Frankfort Police Department said on Tuesday that officers responded to reports of “an active aggressor” and secured the campus, which was briefly placed on lockdown. Authorities said there was no ongoing threat.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said the shooting appeared to be an isolated incident rather than a mass shooting event.

“Today there was a shooting on the campus of Kentucky State University. Two individuals were critically injured, and sadly, at least one of them is not going to make it,” Beshear said in a post on X.

“This was not a mass shooting or a random incident… the suspected shooter is already in custody, which means that while this was frightening, there is no ongoing threat,” he said.

“Violence has no place in our commonwealth or country. Please pray for the families affected and for our KSU students,” he added.

The shooting that took place today at Kentucky State University appears to be an isolated incident – not a mass shooting. The suspect has been arrested, and there is no ongoing threat. Two individuals were critically injured, and I am sad to share that one has now passed away.1/2 pic.twitter.com/4G1BgJNVQj

— Governor Andy Beshear (@GovAndyBeshear) December 9, 2025

Stabbing at North Carolina high school

Earlier on Tuesday, a stabbing at a central North Carolina high school left one student dead and another injured, authorities said.

Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough said officers at North Forsyth High School in Winston-Salem responded shortly after 11am local time (16:00 GMT), following reports of a dispute between students.

“We responded to an altercation between two students,” Kimbrough said at a news conference, adding that “there was a loss of life”.

In an email to families and staff, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Superintendent Don Phipps confirmed that one student died and another was injured.

Sheriff’s office spokesperson Krista Karcher later said the injured student was treated at a hospital and released.

Kimbrough declined to take questions at the news conference, citing an ongoing investigation, and did not provide details about the potential charges.

North Carolina Governor Josh Stein called the incident “shocking and horrible” in a post on X, saying he was praying for the students involved and their loved ones.

The stabbing that took place at North Forsyth High School is shocking and horrible. I am praying for all students in the community and their loved ones.

North Carolinians need to be safe wherever they are — especially in school. I have spoken with Sheriff Kimbrough to offer my…

— Governor Josh Stein (@NC_Governor) December 9, 2025

Former President Jair Bolsonaro has endorsed his eldest son’s campaign to be Brazil’s next president in the 2026 race.

Far-right Senator Flavio Bolsonaro has reaffirmed his commitment to running in Brazil’s 2026 presidential race, despite criticism that he appeared to be openly haggling over whether to remain a candidate.

On Tuesday, Bolsonaro met with reporters outside federal police headquarters in the capital Brasilia, where his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, is serving a 27-year sentence for attempting to foment a coup.

The younger Bolsonaro said he conveyed to his father that he would not shrink from the 2026 race.

“I told him this candidacy is irreversible,” Flavio said. “And in his own words, ‘We will not turn back.’ Now it is time to talk to people, so we can have the right people on our side.”

The senator also attempted to clear up the comments that sparked the initial controversy.

On Sunday, Flavio raised eyebrows when he told Brazilian media that he could exit the race — for the right “price”.

“There’s a possibility I won’t go all the way,” Flavio said at the time. “I have a price for that. I will negotiate.”

He declined to name what that price would be, but his comments were widely interpreted to be a reference to his father’s imprisonment.

In September, a panel on Brazil’s Supreme Court convicted Jair of five charges related to his attempts to overturn the 2022 presidential election, including one count of seeking the violent abolition of the democratic rule of law.

Jair lost the 2022 race to current Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a left-wing leader who has announced he will run for a fourth term in 2026.

In November, the Supreme Court panel ordered Jair to be taken into custody to begin his sentence, after the ex-president admitted to damaging his ankle monitor.

Separately, in 2023, Brazil’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal ruled that Jair should be barred from holding public office for eight years, as a penalty for misusing the presidential office to spread election falsehoods.

Since his detention, Jair has backed his eldest son’s candidacy in the 2026 race. Liberal Party (PL) president Valdemar Costa Neto also confirmed on Friday that Jair’s endorsement meant that Flavio would indeed lead the party’s ticket.

Flavio has since received other right-wing endorsements, including from Sao Paulo Governor Tarcisio de Freitas, who was previously considered a frontrunner to represent the PL.

But Flavio’s comments on Sunday have thrown his nascent candidacy into doubt.

Critics, including from Lula’s Workers Party, have seized upon Flavio’s suggestion of a “price” to question his ethics and commitment.

“No one launches a candidacy one day, and the next day says, ‘Look, I can negotiate,’” Edinho Silva, the president of the Workers Party, told reporters. “It’s not just me. No one would take it seriously.”

But Flavio on Tuesday dismissed the attacks and reaffirmed he would stay in the race, while fighting for his father’s freedom.

“My price is Bolsonaro free and on the ballot,” he said. “In other words, there is no price.”

Tony Dokoupil is expected to move from mornings to evenings at CBS News.

Dokoupil, currently the co-host of “CBS Mornings,” has signed a new deal to take over as anchor of “CBS Evening News,” according to several people briefed on the matter who were not authorized to comment publicly. One person said an announcement is expected as soon as this week.

A representative for CBS News declined comment. Dokoupil, 44, did not respond to a request for comment.

The news division’s signature program is expected to return to a solo anchor format after pairing John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois over the last year. Both Dickerson and DuBois are departing CBS News later this month.

The appointment of Dokoupil would not point to a major change in direction at the program. Dokoupil, who has been with CBS News since 2016 after three years at NBC, became co-host at CBS Mornings in 2019.

Bari Weiss, the recently appointed editor in chief at CBS News, reportedly expressed a desire to bring in an outside name, including Bret Baier, the Washington-based anchor at conservative-leaning Fox News. CNN’s Anderson Cooper was also discussed internally, but he chose to sign a new deal with his network.

The Free Press, the digital news site co-founded by Weiss and acquired by Paramount, vigorously defended Dokoupil last year when he was at the center of controversy over an aggressive on-air interview he conducted with author Ta-Nehisi Coates last year.

Dokoupil was admonished in an editorial meeting for how he questioned Coates about his new book, “The Message,” which examines the Israel-Gaza conflict. CBS News leadership said on the call that the interview did not meet the company’s editorial standards after receiving a number of complaints from staffers.

A recording of the meeting was posted on the Free Press site.

“It is journalists like Tony Dokoupil who are an endangered species in legacy news organizations, which are wilting to the pressures of this new elite consensus,” the editors of the Free Press wrote on the matter.

Shari Redstone, the former majority shareholder in CBS News parent Paramount, also publicly expressed her support for Dokoupil at the time. She said CBS News executives made “a bad mistake” in their handling of the matter. Both executives who led the editorial call, Wendy McMahon and Adrienne Roark, are no longer with the network.

Dec. 9 (UPI) — Former Colorado clerk Tina Peters seeks a pardon from President Donald Trump after her request to be released via a writ of habeas corpus was denied.

Peters, 70, was the Mason County (Colo.) clerk and kept a copy of Colorado’s 2020 election results as reported by Dominion Voting Systems, according to her attorney.

Attorney Peter Ticktin wrote the president on Saturday while seeking Peters’ pardon and said other inmates have threatened and attacked her several times, The Hill reported.

“About 6 months ago, Mrs. Peters was threatened with harm … by a group of inmates” who said they would “stab and kill her,” Ticktin wrote.

“This was reported to the FBI and DOJ, which had agents interview her,” he said, adding that she was moved to a different unit.

“In the new unit, she was attacked by other prisoners three times in different locations where guards had to pull inmates off of her,” Ticktin said.

Peters has sought a transfer to a safer unit six times, but was denied each time, Axios Denver reported.

‘They stole our whole country’

Peters is serving a nine-year sentence after being convicted in 2024 of attempting to influence a public official, conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, first-degree official misconduct, violation of duty and failure to comply with Colorado Secretary of State requirements.

Ticktin called her trial a “travesty” and said she was not allowed to raise her defenses.

“Tina Peters is a critical and necessary witness to the most serious crime perpetrated against the United States in history,” he wrote. “They stole our whole country for four years.”

He accused Dominion officials of carrying out an “illegal operation on our soil, which was supported and controlled by foreign actors.”

Ticktin said Dominion officials told Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold to help delete all data collected by Dominion voting machines and demanded criminal charges be filed against Peters when they learned she had a lawful copy of the state’s 2020 election data.

He told the president that Peters’ copy of that data is “essential” and that she is a “necessary and material witness” who can testify regarding chain of custody and other evidence regarding alleged misconduct during the 2020 election in Colorado.

Release petition denied

The pardon request preceded U.S. District Court of Colorado Chief Magistrate Judge Scott Varholak on Monday denying Peters’ request to be given a bond and released from prison pending the outcome of an active appeal of her conviction that is active in the Colorado Court of Appeals.

Varholak said three conditions must exist for a federal court to intervene in a state-level case and grant a writ of habeas corpus in the matter.

One is that there is an ongoing case, which her appeal satisfied, while another is that there be an important state interest, which Varholak agreed exists in the matter.

The third condition is that there be an adequate opportunity to raise federal claims in the state court proceeding, and the judge ruled her bond request satisfies that requirement.

When the three conditions are met, the federal court then must determine if one of three exceptions apply for it to intervene in a state case.

The exceptions are that the prosecution was done in bad faith or to harass the petitioner, is unconstitutional or related to any other extraordinary circumstances that create a “‘threat of irreparable injury, both great and immediate,'” Varholak explained.

He said Peters did not establish grounds for the federal court to determine one or more of the exceptions apply in her case and dismissed without prejudice her writ of habeas corpus petition.