Russia

Catch up on key developments and the latest in-depth coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian forces to observe the cease-fire for 36 hours starting Jan. 6. A Ukrainian official dismissed the move as "a cynical trap."

Russia will end 2022 in a weaker global standing than when the year began. Its struggles in Ukraine surprised the Kremlin, and the global punishments are starting to hamper the Russian economy.

Russian forces fired its largest air barrage into Ukraine in nearly two weeks Thursday as Ukrainian air defenses repelled several drones and missiles throughout the attack.

Ukraine's foreign minister told the AP that his government is aiming to have a summit, preferably at the United Nations with Secretary-General António Guterres as a possible mediator.

Germany is firing up coal plants and importing liquefied natural gas to shore up energy supplies. Activists are carrying out increasingly disruptive protests, gluing themselves to roads and runways.

Putin said in a state television interview, excerpts of which were released Sunday afternoon, that Russia is "prepared to negotiate some acceptable outcomes with all the participants of this process."

Brittney Griner has asked her supporters to advocate for the release of Paul Whelan, a former Marine serving a 16-year prison term in Russia for espionage charges the United States are baseless.

A Kharkiv metro station became a bomb shelter as the city came under Russian attack. Now, at the holiday season, it's also a Christmas village where kids can drop off letters to Grandfather Frost.