Ukrainian soldiers are fighting tense battles in the country’s east where Russian forces have exploited dense fog on the frontline to expand their efforts to capture more territory.
Top military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said the Russian army overran three settlements in the southern Zaporizhzhia region and Ukrainian units are locked in “grueling battles” to repel the thrust.
Dense fog and weather conditions have allowed Russian troops to infiltrate Ukrainian positions in Zaporizhzhia.
The fiercest battles are still in the besieged Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, he said.
This comes as Ukrainian forces pulled back from several positions in the southern Zaporizhzhia region amid heavy fighting and adverse weather.
Russia is taking advantage of the weather to advance in small groups, moving on foot or motorcycles, with the adverse weather preventing Ukrainian forces from deploying drones against them.
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The longest government shutdown in U.S. history has come to an end after 43 days.
Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) was officially sworn in to office Wednesday, more than seven weeks after she won her special election.
Venezuela said late Tuesday that it is launching a “massive deployment” of nearly 200,000 soldiers in response to the U.S. 
Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and accused sex trafficker, wrote that President Donald Trump "spent hours at my house" with one of his victims, according to emails House Democrats released Nov. 12.
