Venezuela abduction backfires? Putin unleashes fury on Ukraine as US gets distracted with Maduro

Russia carried out its first deadly strike on Kyiv of 2026, hitting a private medical centre in the Obolonskyi district, killing at least two people and injuring several others as blasts damaged homes and cut power in the wider region. The attack, part of a broader wave of Russian “revenge” strikes after earlier hits on Kharkiv, comes as Donald Trump talks up “peace” in Ukraine while defending his shock January 3 operation to seize Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro on narco‑terrorism charges.