Ukraine war latest: Baby rushed from train on fire in dramatic footage after Russian bombing

Countries in the European Union signed off on the bloc's legally binding plan to phase out Russian gas imports by late 2027 this week.

We're now getting more detail on what the draft document includes, now that it has been allowed to pass into law.

According to Reuters, the draft shows that the EU plans to exempt gas from key suppliers, including the US and Qatar, from extra checks.

It comes as shipments of gas and liquefied natural gas from non-Russian countries are set to be subjected to "prior authorisation".

That means companies must provide authorities in European customs with proof of the production country five days before it arrives in the EU.

The requirement will be waived for major existing suppliers and for countries where the EU deems the risk of Russian gas entering their exports to be low.

The US, Norway, Qatar, the UK, Algeria and Nigeria are all set to be granted the exemption.

In our latest Q&A with military analyst Michael Clarke, he was asked how the most vulnerable in Ukraine are surviving the harsh weather and if attacks on the energy infrastructure amount to a war crime.

Temperatures in Ukraine have dropped as low as -20C this winter.

At the same time, Moscow has relentlessly attacked Ukraine's energy infrastructure, which has cut off heating, electricity and water in different parts of the country, sometimes for days on end.

This is a particularly dangerous situation for vulnerable people.

Clarke said whether it constitutes a war crime depends on the intention.

"In other words, it's automatically a war crime to try to make civilians suffer in a war," he said.

"It's a war crime if the intention is anti-civilian, which in this case it certainly is, I don't think the Russians could possibly defend themselves on the basis that this was in any way military related."

Clarke said Ukrainians are surviving in "family groups".

"They have these resilience centres which are a big tent you can see being put up in the cities," he added.

"They bring heaters, food, rechargers, people bring all their devices and charge them all up as best they can.

"People get some hours in the resilience centres and there's lots of generators."

'No signs of determination diminishing'

But they've still got two more months of the harsh winter to try to get through this, he explained.

"There's no sign that this is actually diminishing the determination of the Ukrainians to somehow survive," Clarke said.

"They don't want to see this war go on, but they're determined that they're not going to crack under this particular offensive this winter - even though this is far and away the harshest of the four winters they've endured so far."

You can watch the full Q&A here...

Jen Stout is a freelance journalist in Kyiv, who says she's due to travel on one of the long-distance trains bombed by Russia tomorrow.

"This is a lifeline train that runs between the east of Ukraine and it goes right up to the west and even further to the border towns where people are going to get out and cross into the rest of Europe," she tells Paste BN.

"These are lifeline trains for people with family on the front line, with husbands or wives who are fighting in the military."

Stout says the train was carrying 291 passengers and explains what it's like inside.

"They have a lot of carriages, and the carriages have compartments," she says.

"You've got lots of people on bunk beds, so it is quite packed."

She says the pictures showing the train in flames are "horrific" and says it's "remarkable" so many people managed to get out.

"To see those carriages that we all travel on with the blue and white livery with the logo on the side, to see these burning and people escaping into snowdrifts is very shocking," she says.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio has been speaking about the next round of trilateral talks with Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi.

It comes after reports suggested they could resume on Sunday (see 14.07 post).

Speaking at a Senate foreign relations committee hearing, Rubio says there could be a US presence at the follow-up talks but it won't be Donald Trump's top envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who had taken part in the previous round of talks.

Providing more detail on the sticking points, Rubio says territorial issues over Donetsk still need smoothing over, adding that it's a "very difficult" topic.

Could Donetsk fall into Putin's hands?

His comments come as the Institute for the Study of War says Ukraine's Donetsk region - which alongside the Russian-held Luhansk region makes up the Donbas - will fall into Moscow's hands by August 2027 if Putin's troops sustain their rate of advance (see 10.50 post).

It says Russia "would need to expend significant amounts of resources, time, and personnel to seize the rest of Donbas".

Meanwhile, a report in the Financial Times suggests the Trump administration has indicated to Ukraine that US security guarantees are contingent on Kyiv first agreeing a peace deal that would likely cede the Donbas to Russia.

The White House has hit back against the report, calling it "totally false". 

Last week, the French navy announced it had intercepted a Russian oil tanker after receiving intelligence from the UK.

The tanker was operating under a false flag and is suspected of belonging to Russia's shadow fleet, which allows the country to export oil despite sanctions.

In an update, the Marseille prosecutor says the vessel has been grounded at a port in the city.

The tanker's Indian captain, who had been detained by authorities, has since been released and allowed to return back on board the vessel.

French President Emmanuel Macron has spoken to Volodymyr Zelenskyy after Russia's latest attacks on Ukraine.

He calls the attack on a passenger train in Kharkiv "unacceptable" before announcing "we are mobilising".

In a similar move to Italy (see 17.08 post), he confirms that generators will be sent to Ukraine to help its citizens get through winter.

"France's position is clear: we will support Ukraine for as long as necessary, so that it can defend itself and defeat the war of aggression launched by Russia," he wrote in a post on social media. 

"Ukraine can also count on France within the framework of the Coalition of the Willing. We continue to work to create the conditions for a just and lasting peace that guarantees the security of Ukraine and of Europe."

We've been bringing you updates through the day on a Russian strike on a passenger train in northeastern Ukraine that killed five people (see 5.59 post).

This footage shows the moment a baby was evacuated from the train in a pram.

As Ukraine deals with its harshest winter in the four years of the war, the Italian government has outlined the support it's providing during the ongoing energy crisis.

Industrial boilers and electric generators are being delivered to Ukraine as part of a commitment made by Italy's prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, in her meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the European Council back in October.

The first batch of 78 industrial boilers has been delivered, with a further 300 coming over the next few weeks.

The boilers are to support those in damaged urban networks, hospitals and essential services.

Italy's government says this initiative will make a total thermal capacity sufficient for around 90,000 homes or a city centre of around 250,000 people.

It's also launched a programme to send medium and large-scale generators to Ukraine, supporting hospitals, water systems and critical infrastructure during power outages.

A funeral has been held in Kyiv today for a rescue worker killed in a Russian strike earlier this month.

Oleksandr Zibrov died from his injuries 18 days after the mass aerial attack on the city on 9 January.

The farewell service took place at a fire station in the Ukrainian capital.

Roman Rudak, head of the Kyiv city directorate of Ukraine's state emergency service, said: "Oleksandr gave his life for our citizens. The enemy killed him cynically. I don't know if there are words today that can describe this situation. My condolences to his family and loved ones."

US secretary of state Marco Rubio has said NATO needs to be "reimagined" as he called for a "rebalancing" of obligations among its members.

NATO chief Mark Rutte said yesterday that European members should "keep dreaming" if they believe they can be separate from the US on matters of security and defence.

There's been rising concern over Washington's commitment to NATO, with Donald Trump repeatedly threatening to withdraw the US from the defence alliance over other nations' defence spending - fuelling talk of a separate European pillar.

Questioned in the US Senate on where the Trump administration stands on NATO, Rubio said the "erosion in European defence capabilities" was a "problem".

He insisted the US's alliances in NATO would "work out", saying: "Without the US, there is no NATO."

But he added: "In order for NATO to be stronger, our partners need to be stronger. And one of the things we've explained to our allies in NATO is the US is not simply focused on Europe. We also have defence needs in the Western Hemisphere. We have the defence needs in the Indo-Pacific and it will require us. We may be the richest country in the world, but we don't have unlimited resources."

He urged Washington's allies need to "step up" and be "capable of stepping up".

"Frankly many of them have not," he said, referring to the commitment by NATO allies last year to spend 5% of GDP on defence.

"I do think there needs to be a rebalancing and hopefully we'll have cooperation," he said.