A late-night Russian strike on the northeastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv killed two people, the region’s governor said yesterday, as both Moscow and Kyiv reported a wave of overnight aerial attacks.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council and an ally of President Vladimir Putin, described Ukraine yesterday as part of Russia and said what he called historical parts of Russia needed to “come home.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky yesterday urged the West to deliver more air defence systems as a wave of Russian missile, drone and artillery strikes killed at least eight people.

President Vladimir Putin warned yesterday of a “real” risk of nuclear war if the West escalates the conflict in Ukraine, offering a defiant and emboldened stance in his annual speech to Russians.

Sri Lanka has decided to stop issuing free long-term visas to Russian and Ukrainian nationals who have lived in the Indian Ocean island nation for the past two years, a government official said yesterday.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen vowed that Europe would back Ukraine until it was “finally free” as she and three other Western leaders arrived in Kyiv to show solidarity on the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Denmark became the latest Nato member to sign a 10-year agreement on security cooperation with Ukraine on Friday, the eve of the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Ukraine on Saturday marked two years since Russia's invasion, entering a new year of war weakened by a lack of western aid while Russia is emboldened by fresh gains

The United States yesterday issued sweeping sanctions to mark the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, targeting over 500 people and entities as Washington seeks to increase pressure on Moscow.

Russia yesterday claimed that its forces had advanced further in east Ukraine, putting Kyiv on the defensive days before the two-year anniversary of the war.

Russia launched 19 attack drones at Ukraine overnight and six missiles, with the Ukrainian air defence systems destroying 13 of the drones and one missile, Ukraine’s air force said yesterday.

Russian drone attacks killed five people from one family and damaged an industrial facility in Ukraine’s northern and central regions, local authorities said yesterday.

The Red Cross said yesterday it was trying to find out what happened to 23,000 people who have disappeared in the chaos of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Russia yesterday said it had full control of the Ukrainian town of Avdiivka after Ukraine withdrew though Moscow said that some Ukrainian troops were still holed up in a vast Soviet-era coke plant after one of the most intense battles of the war.

Events on the battlefield in Ukraine are a matter of "life and death" for Russia that could determine its fate, President Vladimir Putin said in remarks aired Sunday

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged allies at a global security conference yesterday to plug an “artificial” shortage of weapons that is giving Russia’s forces the upper hand on the battlefield.

Outnumbered Ukrainian defenders were fighting fierce battles inside the small eastern city of Avdiivka yesterday, commanders said, as Russian forces closed in on the strategic location.

Ukraine destroyed a Russian landing warship off the coast of occupied Crimea in an operation with naval drones that breached the vessel’s port side yesterday and caused it to sink, Kyiv’s military spy agency and armed forces said.

Russian strikes killed five people across Ukraine yesterday, Ukrainian officials said, as the second anniversary of Moscow’s invasion approaches.

A Ukrainian couple and their three small children were killed in a fire after a Russian drone attack on the northeastern city of Kharkiv hit an oil depot, triggering blazes and damaging residential houses, officials said yesterday.