At least three oil tankers have been hit by explosions in what appears to be a stepped up unilateral effort by Ukraine to sink Russia's sanctions-dodging oil sales.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte issued a stark warning to Western allies about the reality of the threat posed by Russia, as negotiations are making slow progress to end the war in Ukraine and the U.S. pressures Kyiv to make painful compromises with the Kremlin, including on territorial concessions.

Russia's Foreign Ministry called on Thursday for Britain to disclose what a British soldier killed in Ukraine was doing there, and accused London of directly helping Kyiv to carry out attacks which it said were "acts of terrorism" on Russia.

Russia is pushing to take over all of eastern Ukraine's Donbas region, where one resident tells NPR that she feels her "life depends on how our guys at the front hold on."

If not by negotiation then by military means, this territory will come under the full control of the Russian federation’ top foreign policy aid Ushakov said about the Donbas region

Senior military official claims covert import of spent nuclear fuel via Poland and Romania raises risk of appearance of 'dirty bomb' - Anadolu Ajansı