Russia is threatening to strike British military facilities and says it plans to hold drills simulating the use of battlefield nuclear weapons. Monday's statements came after the Kremlin reacted angrily to comments by senior Western officials about the war in Ukraine. Moscow warned that Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory using U.K.-supplied weapons could bring retaliatory strikes against British military facilities and equipment on the Ukrainian territory or elsewhere. It was the first time Russia has publicly announced drills involving tactical nuclear weapons, though its strategic nuclear forces regularly hold exercises. Tactical nuclear weapons have a lower yield compared to massive warheads that arm intercontinental ballistic missiles intended to obliterate entire cities.

Ukrainian energy workers are struggling to repair the damage from intensifying airstrikes aimed at pulverizing Ukraine's energy grid. They worry they will lose the race to prepare for winter unless allies come up with air-defense systems to stop Russian missiles from reaching their targets. At one plant that was damaged last week, manager Oleh says there is one thing they need most: Patriot missiles. The Associated Press on Thursday visited an energy plant days after it was damaged in a cruise-missile attack. Owner DTEK says it has lost 80% of its electricity-generating capacity in almost 180 aerial attacks. It says repairing the damaged plants would take between six months and two years, even if there are no more strikes.

European Union countries possessing Patriot air defense systems appear reluctant to give any to Ukraine. The country is desperately seeking at least seven of the missile batteries to help fend off Russian air attacks. At a meeting on Monday of EU foreign and defense ministers, countries with Patriots preferred to focus on the money they are spending to help Ukraine. Only Germany has come forward with a single Patriot missile battery in answer to Ukraine's latest request. A key advantage of the U.S.-made systems, apart from their effectiveness, is that Ukrainian troops are already trained to use them.

Israel and Iran are both playing down an apparent Israeli airstrike near a major air base and nuclear site in central Iran. The muted public responses signal the two bitter enemies are ready to prevent their latest eruption of violence from escalating into a full-blown regionwide war. But the indecisive outcome of weeks of tensions — which included an alleged Israeli strike that killed two Iranian generals, an unprecedented Iranian missile barrage on Israel and the apparent Israeli strike early Friday in the heart of Iran — has done little to resolve the deeper grievances between the foes and left the door open to further fighting.

Local officials say three Russian missiles have slammed into the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, hitting an apartment building and killing at least 17 people. Emergency services say at least 61 people were wounded. Chernihiv is about 150 kilometers or 90 miles north of the capital Kyiv near the border with Russia and Belarus. The city has a population of around 250,000 people. The latest Russian bombardment came as the war approaches what could be a critical juncture. A lack of further military support from Ukraine's Western partners increasingly leaves it at the mercy of the bigger Kremlin forces.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country will be the one to decide whether and how to respond to Iran's major air assault over the weekend. Netanyahu's remarks on Wednesday appeared to brush off calls for restraint from close allies, including the visiting foreign ministers of Germany and Britain. Israel has vowed to respond to Iran's unprecedented attack without saying when or how. That's left the region bracing for further escalation after months of unrest linked to the ongoing war in Gaza. Iran's president warned Israel against responding. Violence meanwhile has continued to surge along Israel's border with Lebanon. A rocket attack on an Israeli town by Iran-backed Hezbollah wounded at least 14 people.

An Israeli airstrike on a paramedics center linked to a Lebanese Sunni Muslim group in south Lebanon has killed seven of its members. It also triggered a rocket attack from Lebanon that killed one person in northern Israel. The strike on the village of Hebbariye on Wednesday came after a day of airstrikes and rocket attacks between Israel's military and Lebanon's Hezbollah group along the Lebanon-Israel border. It has raised concerns of further escalation along the frontier that has been active for the past five months of the Israel-Hamas war. Rescue services in Israel said that a 25 year-old man was killed when a direct rocket hit sparked a fire in an industrial park in Kiryat Shmona.

Russia unleashed one of its most devastating attacks against Ukraine's electric sector, an aerial assault it said was retaliation for recent strikes inside Russia. It could signal an escalation of the war just days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on power in a preordained election. Many Ukrainians were plunged into darkness across several cities on Friday. At least five people were killed, and damage to the country's largest hydroelectric plant briefly cut off power to a nuclear plant that has been a safety risk throughout the war. Ukrainian officials said it was the most brutal attack against its energy infrastructure since the full-scale war began in early 2022.