Moscow threatens retaliation after EU blocks state media on Telegram - Vladimir Putin faces mounting pressure to admit responsibility for Azerbaijan plane crash in Kazakhstan

An Azerbaijan Airlines plane, which crashed in Kazakhstan on 26 December, was downed by a Russian surface-to-air missile system (SAM). Source: Andrii Kovalenko, Head of the Centre for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine,

In our news wrap Wednesday, at least 38 are dead after an Azerbaijan Airlines flight crashed in Kazakhstan, Ukraine says Russia launched an extensive missile and drone attack on the country’s energy and fuel infrastructure,

Russian officials claim Ukraine's drone strikes forced a plane diversion, leading to a crash in Kazakhstan that killed 38 passengers.- Watch Video on English Oneindia

Ukraine’s stockpiles of US-supplied long-range Atacms missiles are running low, according to senior US officials. Outgoing US president Joe Biden gave Kyiv permission to launch the Atacms – which have a range of up to 300 kilometres – into Russian territory a month ago. At that point, Ukraine had an estimated 50 left in its arsenal.

Russian air defense missile may have downed Azerbaijani plane, media say Russia terrorizes Ukraine with mass missile, drone attack against energy grid on Christmas morning Ukrainian drones destroy Russian ammunition depot in Rostov Oblast,

Russia won't say if it mistakenly downed an Azerbaijani plane on Christmas. But it acknowledges the crash came amid a Ukrainian drone attack in its republic of Chechnya.

Among the common myths: that Russia is victim of NATO aggression and that Putin only wants Ukrainian neutrality.

Ukraine and Russia carried out a new exchange of prisoners of war on Monday, with Kyiv bringing home 189 former captives. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the United Arab Emirates and other partners for facilitating the swap.

More than a billion people are set to tune in to watch the Times Square ball drop tonight. Follow Newsweek's live blog for updates.

“2024 has been less safe than recent years, but the last decade has been by far the safest in airline history, and all the signs are that it will — largely — stay that way,” wrote David Learmount, an aviation journalist, in an email to National Post.