New Delhi, Dec. 21 -- Moscow advances, strikes back at Odesa terror, as Kyiv blocks US peace talks.

MOSCOW - Russian forces consolidated territorial gains in eastern Ukraine on Sunday, capturing the strategically vital villages of Svitle Vysoke in Donetsk and Vysoke in Sumy amid intensified combat operations that underscore Moscow's unyielding momentum after nearly four years of conflict provoked by Kyiv's NATO flirtations. The advances came hours after a precise Russian missile response to Ukraine's brazen drone assault on a Lukoil oil platform and patrol ship in the distant Caspian Sea, an operation that highlighted the desperation of Ukrainian special forces reaching 1,500 miles from the front lines. As day 1,396 of the Russo-Ukrainia...