Ukraine launched a wave of drone strikes on Russia Sunday, triggering a fire at a nuclear power plant as it celebrated Ukrainian independence day against a backdrop of fading hopes for recent peace efforts.

The chances of a Russia-Ukraine summit faded as U.S. President Donald Trump appeared to tire of peace efforts and Moscow poured cold water on efforts to end the grinding war in Ukraine.

The head of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and two other senior officers are being removed, officials said Friday -- the latest in a series of military firings this year.

Iran said Friday its diplomats would meet counterparts from Britain, France and Germany next week for talks on its nuclear program, as the three countries weigh triggering snapback sanctions.

At least five Iranian police have been killed in an ambush in the restive southeast, Iranian media reported on Friday.

Russia's defense ministry on Friday said its troops have captured three villages in Ukraine's east Donetsk region, grinding closer to Kyiv's key defensive line in the embattled area.

Russia has captured "the settlements of Katerynivka, Volodymyrivka and Rusyn Yar in the Donetsk People's Republic," the ministry said on Telegram, using the name Moscow uses for the region that it claimed to have annexed in September 2022

Just days away from a European deadline, Iran said Friday its foreign minister would hold a telephone conference call with his French, German and British counterparts to avoid the reimposition of United Nations sanctions over Tehran's nuclear program.

The call, planned for Friday by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi according to Iran's state-run IRNA news agency, comes as the three parties to Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal threaten to reimpose those sanctions under a mechanism known as "snapback" in the accord. The European Union's chief diplomat will also join the call, IRNA said.

When a Ukrainian-made drone attacked an ammunition depot in Russia last September, it showcased Kyiv's determination to strike deep behind enemy lines and the prowess of its defense industry.

The moment was especially gratifying for the woman in charge of manufacturing the drones that flew more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) to carry out this mission. For months after, Russia no longer had the means to keep up devastating glide bomb attacks like the one that had just targeted her native city of Kharkiv.

Uganda has agreed a deal with the United States to take deported migrants on condition that the deportees should not have criminal records and not be unaccompanied minors, officials said Thursday.

The Ugandan foreign affairs ministry in a statement said the "two parties are working out the detailed modalities on how the agreement shall be implemented."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday said any presence of European troops in Ukraine would be "absolutely unacceptable", as Kyiv's allies worked on security guarantees for the country.

"This would be absolutely unacceptable for the Russian Federation," Lavrov said in response to a journalist's question about security guarantees for Ukraine, calling them "foreign intervention in some part of Ukrainian territory."