Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed without evidence that Russian forces have taken control of Ukrainian cities Pokrovsk and Vovchansk.

In the early months of the invasion, in 2022, the Russians tried to suffocate Ukraine’s economy by imposing a naval blockade of its ports. About 20 million tons of grain got stuck in the port city of Odesa, causing global food prices to spike and raising fears of famine in parts of Africa and the Middle East that rely on supplies from Ukraine.

On December 11, Russian forces launched 68 assaults on Ukrainian positions in the area of responsibility of the East Operational Command. Despite Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s claims, Siversk remains under Ukrainian control,

The presidents of Ukraine and Russia are expected to be briefed this week on outcomes of Sunday's U.S.-Ukraine talks.

Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff will meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday for high-stakes talks on ending the war in Ukraine.The meeting -- preceded by days of frenzied diplomacy from Florida to Geneva to Abu Dhabi -- comes as Washington said it was "very optimistic" about ending Europe's bloodiest conflict since World War II.

Dressed head to toe in army fatigues, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday received the news he had been awaiting for more than a year: Russia had taken over the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk.

President Vladimir Putin thanked the Russian army on Thursday after commanders told him that their forces had taken full control of the town of Siversk in eastern Ukraine, but Ukraine's military said it remained in control there.

Vladimir Putin’s alleged secret daughter has apologized for her father’s war in Ukraine, after she was confronted in Paris by a Ukrainian journalist whose brother was killed in a recent Russian airstrike.

Five hours of talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and top United States negotiators did not yield a breakthrough compromise on a possible Ukraine peace deal, a Kremlin aide said early Wednesday.

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin met with President Donald Trump ’s special envoy tasked with negotiating an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine, as well as his son-in-law, for a "constructive" five-hour meeting Tuesday, but more work needs to be done, Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy adviser to Putin, said in a video the Kremlin posted online.

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.