The US is reportedly holding secret talks between Russia and Ukraine in the United Arab Emirates, the latest in negotiations over a controversial US peace plan. Meanwhile, Romania has scrambled jets to confront the latest airspace breach by Moscow.

Ukraine downs Russian Mi-8 helicopter with deep strike drone for first time, military claims ・Russia likely captured over 15 villages in Zaporizhzhia Oblast since September, OSINT group says ・Pro-Ukrainian partisans set locomotive ablaze in Russia's Rostov-on-Don,

Ukraine's borders cannot be changed by force, its army cannot be reduced leaving it vulnerable to an attack and the European Union must have a central role in a peace deal for Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll held meetings with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi on Monday about a proposed plan for ending the war in Ukraine, with talks to continue Tuesday, a US official told CNN.

Ukraine hasn't previously stated openly that it uses the advanced U.S.-provided ballistic missile systems on targets inside Russia.

An increasing number of women are joining the Ukrainian military. Thousands of females are now serving in frontline roles as Russia's full-scale war on the country approaches its fourth year.

BRUSSELS, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Europeans have submitted a modified version of the United States' peace plan for Ukraine that pushes back on proposed limits to Kyiv's armed forces and territorial concessions, according to a document seen by Reuters on Sunday.

Kenya, Nepal, Tajikistan. They say they were deceived by Russia into joining a war they did not want to fight.

The distinctiveness of the Ukrainian military lies notably in the fact that three-quarters of its soldiers were civilians before the Russian invasion, sociologist Anna Colin Lebedev told Le Monde in an interview.

Russian claims of chaos inside Ukrainian ranks are intensifying, with Moscow and RIA Novosti reporting that some Ukrainian soldiers were allegedly struck by their own drones while trying to surrender.