A heightened Russian offensive in eastern and southern Ukraine saw them capture the key town of Avdiivka last week in a major boost ahead of the second anniversary of the February 2022 invasion.

Donald Trump's last remaining Republican rival for the US election in November bashed the ex-president Sunday for his continued silence over the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his recent outburst over NATO.

As President Volodymyr Zelensky headed for Berlin and Paris in a new bid to secure desperately needed military aid, Ukrainian generals said there was bitter fighting inside Avdiivka and that their forces were taking up "new positions".

Putin may have signalled in last week's interview with right-wing US talk show host Tucker Carlson that Russia was interested in negotiations but this would be so much on Moscow's own terms that Kyiv would not countenance such talks.

Andrei Volna had long started losing faith in his homeland before Russian tanks entered Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met North Korea's top diplomat in the Kremlin on Tuesday in the latest sign of deepening ties between the two authoritarian states.

President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Moscow would intensify strikes on military targets in Ukraine, after an unprecedented Ukrainian attack over the weekend on the Russian city of Belgorod.

Authorities transferred Russia's most prominent opposition politician to an isolated penal colony three months before a presidential vote expected to easily hand Vladimir Putin a fifth term.

Finland on Monday signed an agreement to enhance military cooperation with the United States, saying it saw a long-term threat from Russia, a day after its giant neighbor issued a warning over Helsinki's recent entrance into NATO.

The Russian leader will "sum up the results of the year", his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

The Russian military has also lost some 2,200 of the 3,500 tanks it had before the start of the conflict, the source said, citing a declassified US intelligence assessment shared with Congress.

In a flurry of diplomatic activity after the White House announced Zelensky's visit, an aide for Mike Johnson said the new Republican speaker for the House of Representatives will also meet with the Ukrainian leader Tuesday.

Pope Francis continues to be the only Latino to ever receive the magazine's award in 2013

Could Donald Trump make a comeback? Will anyone in Russia challenge another six years for Vladimir Putin?

The first was harsh, but the servicemen said they have learned to manage, particularly by installing heating.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Kazakhstan on Thursday, while Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi are expected in Uzbekistan, amid renewed diplomatic interest in the region.

Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed Thursday the "unprecedented" energy links between Moscow and Beijing despite failing to secure a much-sought agreement on a major new gas pipeline.

The conflict between Hamas and Israel is both an opportunity and a risk for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been mired in pressing his invasion of Ukraine for the past 19 months.

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives in China on Tuesday to meet his "dear friend" Xi Jinping, bolstering their relationship at an infrastructure summit that will be overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war.

President Putin is wanted by the court over the deportation of Ukrainian children. Its ruling requires members of the ICC, which does not include Kyrgyzstan, to make the arrest if he sets foot on their territory.

Zelensky made a plea for air defence, long-range missiles and ammunition in the face of fears that the Hamas attack on Israel could distract key backer the United States from the conflict in his country.

Speaking at a meeting with Putin in Saint Petersburg, at which the Russian leader accepted an invitation to visit China next month, Wang Yi said the "world is rapidly moving toward multipolarity."

North Korea's Kim Jong Un expressed his "heartfelt thanks" to President Vladimir Putin, state media said Monday, as he headed home after nearly a week in Russia on a defence-focused trip.

Last week, Kneissl's ponies were flown to Saint Petersburg on a military aircraft from the Russian air base at Hmeimim in Syria, according to a report.

The influential group, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, is preparing to welcome Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Argentina, the United Arab Emirates, and Ethiopia.

South Africa is the current chair of the BRICS group, a gathering of heavyweights that also includes Brazil, Russia, India and China, which sees itself as a counterweight to Western economic domination.

Amid Russia-Ukraine war, the Wagner mutiny shows that there are "real cracks" in Vladimir Putin's authority, said Antony Blinken.

Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the beleaguered Belgorod region, confirmed on Sunday that fresh clashes erupted within their territory.

Ukraine raised alarms for airstrikes over the country's capital Kyiv and other areas shortly after the Kremlin statement.

Bill Clinton has expressed regret for his part in the 1994 agreement that led to Ukraine giving up its nuclear arsenal.