Ukraine sees tactical advances in Russia’s Kursk, while Moscow claims to have secured front line town in Donbas.

Russia said on Monday its forces had made important gains in eastern Ukraine while continuing to fend off a new Ukrainian offensive inside the Kursk region of western Russia, where a second day of fierce fighting was under way.

The White House seized a rare chance to undermine Russia and build up regional allies as it built a coalition to support the Ukrainians.

Russia has been battling Ukraine in Kursk since August 2024, when Kyiv launched a surprise cross-border incursion into Russian soil. Ukraine still controls roughly half of the territory it seized in the late summer, although Moscow has been battling to peel back Kyiv's grip across the border.

Membership in NATO is the only credible long-term security guarantee Ukraine can receive against future Russian aggression, Finland's top diplomat said on Wednesday.

The surprise attack seeks to reverse Ukraine’s decreasing hold of the region. Since Kyiv’s forces gained partial control of Kursk following a daring cross-border assault last August, Russian troops, aided by North Korean soldiers, have halved the territory held by Ukraine, albeit while suffering thousands of casualties.

Ukraine confirmed responsibility for a strike against a Russian oil base in the city of Engels. Meanwhile, Donald Trump said he hoped to end the war in Ukraine before he reached six months in office.

The United States warned on Wednesday that North Korea is benefiting from its troops fighting alongside Russia against Ukraine, gaining experience that makes Pyongyang "more capable of waging war against its neighbors.

Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev is demanding answers, saying Vladimir Putin's latest apology "isn't enough" and that Moscow must take responsibility.

Ukraine must not accept a "Finlandization" deal struck following a previous invasion by Moscow 85 years ago, experts tell Newsweek.

Russia’s Defense Ministry is claiming that its troops in eastern Ukraine have captured the town of Kurakhove after a months-long battle.

Russia said on Monday its forces had made important gains in eastern Ukraine while continuing to fend off a new Ukrainian offensive inside the Kursk region of western Russia, where a second day of fierce fighting was under way.