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Ukraine war live: Zelenskyy to meet Trump in Florida for peace talks after Russia intensifies strikes

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Ukraine war live: Zelenskyy to meet Trump in Florida for peace talks after Russia intensifies strikes


Zelenskyy to meet Trump in Florida for talks on plan to end the war as new attacks reported in Ukraine

We are restarting our live coverage of the war in Ukraine as Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due to meet Donald Trump for the latest round of diplomatic talks in Florida at about 1:00pm (18:00 GMT).

Their meeting at the US president’s Mar-a-Lago home will be the pair’s first in-person encounter since October, when Trump refused to grant Zelenskyy’s request for long-range Tomahawk missiles.

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The pair will discuss an updated version of a US-brokered plan to end the nearly-four year war, which Russia is yet to support.

Two private houses that caught fire as a result of a Russian attack in the Darnytskyi district of Kyiv, Ukraine, on 27 December 2025. Photograph: Oleksandr Klymenko/Ukrinform/Shutterstock

In the days before the meeting, Russia has intensified its attacks on Ukraine’s capital, using missiles and drones to attack Kyiv and try to increase the pressure on Zelenskyy.

This morning, Ukrainians again woke up to reports of strikes in parts of the country, including in Kherson, where the State Emergency Service of Ukraine said one woman was injured after Russia launched “massive shelling”.

Zelenskyy has said the priority is securing US security guarantees in order to protect Ukraine against future Russian aggression. The meeting will also likely focus heavily on management of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and control of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, which has been a major sticking point so far in the negotiations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (L) looks on during a meeting with Donald Trump and members of his Cabinet at the White House on 17 October 2025.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (L) looks on during a meeting with Donald Trump and members of his Cabinet at the White House on 17 October 2025. Photograph: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Moscow controls about 75% of the Donetsk region, and about 99% of the neighbouring Luhansk (known collectively as Donbas).

At a closed-door meeting with Russia’s business elite last week, the Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly reiterated his demand that Ukraine hand over the entire eastern Donbas region as part of any peace deal.

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On the key question of the future of the region, Zelenskyy, who has so far rejected any territorial concessions, has suggested a “free economic zone” was a potential option.

Moscow has repeatedly insisted that Ukraine must withdraw from all of the eastern Donbas region, even areas still under Kyiv’s control.

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Key events

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Russia claims to have captured several settlements in Ukraine

Russian troops took control of the settlements of Huliaipole, Myrnohrad, Artemivka, Rodynske and Vilne in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, and Stepnohirsk in the Zaporizhzhia region, the Russian defence ministry has said. We have not been able to independently verify this information yet. It is not the first time Moscow has proclaimed battlefield advances before talks.

Russia currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory. During 2025, Russian advances amounted to 176 sq miles a month to the end of November, but at an estimated cost of 382,000 killed and injured.

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There has been a significant clean-up operation in Kyiv in the aftermath of the Russian attacks on Saturday, which killed at least one person and injured at least 32 others, including two children, according to officials.

Rescue workers from the State Emergency Service have now completed work to “eliminate the consequences” of the drone and missile strikes, which officials said targeted energy facilities and civilian infrastructure, according to an update from the Main Department of the State Emergency Service in Kyiv.

Rescue workers have cleared rubble and inspected damaged buildings, it said. Over 400 rescuers were involved in the work, which was done with help from volunteer organisations and local municipal services.

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The interior of a damaged flat in an apartment building hit by a Russian drone strike in Kyiv. Photograph: Viacheslav Ratynskyi/Reuters
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Ukraine’s leading private energy provider said on Sunday it had restored power to nearly 750,000 households in Kyiv after a Russian drone and missile barrage killed at least one person and left hundreds of thousands of people facing freezing temperatures.

DTEK said consumers on Kyiv’s right bank were back to planned power cuts but that the situation remained “more difficult” on the left bank, where emergency outages were still in force.

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Three civilians injured in Russian strikes in Kharkiv region, police say

Ukraine’s National Police has accused Russian forces of launching attacks (guided aircraft and drones) on settlements in Kharkiv, Bogodukhov, Chuguiv and Kupiansk districts over the past day. The police said three civilians in the Kharkiv region were injured and said they are documenting the “consequences of war crimes” by Russia.

The police said:

On December 27, the Russian army struck the city of Chuguiv. The strike hit a residential high-rise building. A 66-year-old woman with an acute stress reaction sought medical help.

The Russians used drones to strike the territory of the Zolochiv community. The strikes occurred in the village of Baranivka. Private houses, outbuildings, and power grids were damaged.

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A UAV hit a civilian car parked near a household in the village of Petrivka. There were no injuries.

As a result of UAV strikes in the village of Velykyi Burluk, private houses were destroyed. A local resident was injured. A warehouse and a mill were also damaged.

In the middle of the day, an enemy drone hit a civilian man walking from the village of Nova Kozacha. The 50-year-old wounded man was taken to a medical facility.

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Zelenskyy to meet Trump in Florida for talks on plan to end the war as new attacks reported in Ukraine

We are restarting our live coverage of the war in Ukraine as Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due to meet Donald Trump for the latest round of diplomatic talks in Florida at about 1:00pm (18:00 GMT).

Their meeting at the US president’s Mar-a-Lago home will be the pair’s first in-person encounter since October, when Trump refused to grant Zelenskyy’s request for long-range Tomahawk missiles.

The pair will discuss an updated version of a US-brokered plan to end the nearly-four year war, which Russia is yet to support.

Two private houses that caught fire as a result of a Russian attack in the Darnytskyi district of Kyiv, Ukraine, on 27 December 2025. Photograph: Oleksandr Klymenko/Ukrinform/Shutterstock

In the days before the meeting, Russia has intensified its attacks on Ukraine’s capital, using missiles and drones to attack Kyiv and try to increase the pressure on Zelenskyy.

This morning, Ukrainians again woke up to reports of strikes in parts of the country, including in Kherson, where the State Emergency Service of Ukraine said one woman was injured after Russia launched “massive shelling”.

Advertisement

Zelenskyy has said the priority is securing US security guarantees in order to protect Ukraine against future Russian aggression. The meeting will also likely focus heavily on management of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and control of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, which has been a major sticking point so far in the negotiations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (L) looks on during a meeting with Donald Trump and members of his Cabinet at the White House on 17 October 2025. Photograph: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Moscow controls about 75% of the Donetsk region, and about 99% of the neighbouring Luhansk (known collectively as Donbas).

At a closed-door meeting with Russia’s business elite last week, the Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly reiterated his demand that Ukraine hand over the entire eastern Donbas region as part of any peace deal.

On the key question of the future of the region, Zelenskyy, who has so far rejected any territorial concessions, has suggested a “free economic zone” was a potential option.

Moscow has repeatedly insisted that Ukraine must withdraw from all of the eastern Donbas region, even areas still under Kyiv’s control.

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South Florida officers sue Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, claiming details in ‘The Rip’ are too real

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South Florida officers sue Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, claiming details in ‘The Rip’ are too real


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“The Rip” features Affleck and Damon as South Florida police officers who find millions of dollars inside a house. Parts of the movie were inspired by a real 2016 case.

FILE – Matt Damon and Ben Affleck attend the world premiere of “The Rip” at Alice Tully Hall, on Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. Photo by CJ Rivera/Invision/AP, File

MIAMI (AP) — Two South Florida police officers claim Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s recent action thriller “The Rip” used too many real-life details in its fictionalized narrative, causing harm to the officers’ personal and professional reputations, according to a defamation lawsuit.

Jason Smith and Jonathan Santana, sergeants in the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, filed the lawsuit in Miami federal court earlier this month against Artists Equity, a film production company owned by Affleck and Damon. Court filings don’t say how much the officers are suing for, but the civil complaint says they’re seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages and attorney fees, as well as a public retraction and correction.

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“The Rip” features Affleck and Damon as South Florida police officers who find millions of dollars inside a house. Parts of the movie were inspired by a real 2016 case, where police found over $21 million linked to a suspected marijuana trafficker in a Miami Lakes home.

An attorney for Artists Equity declined to comment when reached Monday by The Associated Press. But in a March 19 response to the plaintiffs’ demand letter, Leita Walker, an attorney for Artists Equity, wrote that the film does not purport to tell the true story of that incident or portray real people, which had been stated by a disclaimer in the film’s credits.

Although Smith and Santana aren’t named in the film, the lawsuit claims that Santana was serving as the lead detective assigned to the real case, and Smith was the sergeant who supervised the investigative team. The film’s inclusion of real details about the case gives the impression that the characters are based on the plaintiffs, the suit said.

And this, the lawsuit claims, has given friends, family members and colleagues the impression that the plaintiffs committed the criminal acts that appear in the film, which include (SPOILER ALERT) conspiring to steal seized drug money, murdering a supervising officer, communicating with cartel members, committing arson in a residential neighborhood, endangering the lives of civilians, repeatedly violating core law-enforcement protocols and executing a federal agent rather than making an arrest.

Walker wrote in March that the plaintiffs haven’t even identified which particular character is supposed to be based on Smith or Santana, so even if “The Rip” was actually about a real-life narcotics team, there’s no way to connect any of the characters to the plaintiffs.

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“The Rip,” directed by Joe Carnahan, debuted in January on Netflix. It’s currently rated 78% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

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You’re watching the NBC6 South Florida News streaming channel, which plays local South Florida news 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can find the “NBC6 South Florida News” streaming channel on your phone or computer, and on Peacock, Samsung, Roku, Xumo or on our app, so you can watch our local news on your schedule.



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Palm Bay, Florida parents of premature twins held NICU wedding

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Palm Bay, Florida parents of premature twins held NICU wedding


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  • A Florida couple, both with prior health issues, welcomed miracle twin boys nine weeks prematurely.
  • The couple’s planned wedding was interrupted by the early birth of their sons, Joshua and Rhett.

Ben and Danielle Cassidy were told they likely wouldn’t be able to have children.

But this year they will celebrate Mother’s Day just months after having an impromptu wedding in the AdventHealth for Children hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit shortly after Danielle gave birth to twins prematurely — a week before the Palm Bay couple was scheduled to get married.

Both babies, Joshua and Rhett, are doing well despite arriving nine weeks ahead of schedule on Jan. 19, 2026, just one day after their scheduled baby shower. With a proper wedding out of the question with two premature babies in the NICU, a nurse took action.

Issabel Kenkel, the nurse behind the ceremony, said she was already in wedding planning mode for her own upcoming nuptials when she found out the Cassidy family’s ceremony would be interrupted.

“I couldn’t just let them do something small. They needed decorations and something fun, so I spoke to the music therapist and the chaplain,” Kenkel said. In short order, a wedding was being planned for their hospital room and the couple was saying their vows in the company of their safely delivered newborns.

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“When we found out we could request staff members to be on our team, that’s when we requested Issabel and having that kind of consistency from someone who has such a big heart and is so kind,” Danielle said.

The hospital ceremony was all the more special because of the Cassidy family’s own health struggles.

“I have five autoimmune diseases and didn’t really think I would have kids. It’s been a rough journey. When Ben and I met, we were floored at how much a miracle it was to have kids,” Danielle said.

Ben, who battled and beat cancer, said he was worried that his prior treatment would result in negative health outcomes for his future children. Having twins for him was an unexpected blessing.

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“When we found out we were pregnant, we found it so shocking. We said, wouldn’t it be great if it was twins? It filled out our hopes and dreams list,” Ben said. “They’ve been miracles for sure.”

The Cassidy couple said there was so much fear and uncertainty when their twins were born nine weeks early. Being able to get married right away just made them feel all the better about the future.

“It was nice getting married because we didn’t have to wait any longer to make it official. It made it that much harder for her to get rid of me,” Ben said.

“The unknown made it scary,” Danielle added. “We had no idea how long we would be in the hospital. Our wedding was going to be at the beach with immediate family and parents. Having NICU babies, we realized we’d never be able to get to the beach. It was really special having the people who care for our babies be part of the ceremony.”

The couple hadn’t even planned to have a band at their wedding ceremony and now the hospital’s music therapist was performing live for them and the chaplain was conducting the ceremony, something nurse Kenkel said was just part of her job.

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“The babies are going to have the best outcomes if the families are taken care of and going home happy,” she said. “Being in the NICU is already so stressful. This is just one more thing I could do to take care of my patients.”

Tyler Vazquez is the Growth and Development Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Vazquez at 321-480-0854 or tvazquez@floridatoday.com. X: @tyler_vazquez.



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