Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says rising global oil prices following Israeli strikes on Iran will strengthen Russia by increasing its oil revenues, aiding its war effort in Ukraine

Russia is advancing around Kostyantynivka and in the Sumy region with small, fast-moving units as both sides try a new tactic of using motorcycles and civilian cars to quickly cross open terrain.

Zelenskiy said that the Ukrainian troops had maintained their defensive lines along more than 1,000 kilometres of the frontline. He also dismissed Moscow's claims that Russian troops had crossed the administrative border of the Ukrainian central region of Dnipropetrovsk.

Trump administration in talks with Capitol Hill to amend the Graham-Blumenthal legislation imposing sweeping sanctions on Russia, including 500% tariffs on countries doing business with Moscow.

The Ukrainian military says Russia’s military losses have topped 1 million, noting the huge price Moscow has paid for its 3-year-old invasion.

It’s the first time in three years of war that Russian troops have entered the Dnipropetrovsk region, a sign of battlefield momentum.

"Even if you're on the ground, it's very difficult for you to count casualties," said Marina Miron, a postdoctoral researcher at King's College London.

Military leaders and analysts alike are questioning whether any level of battlefield attrition can alter Russia’s efforts to occupy still more of Ukraine. Former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi admitted in November,

The Russia Day holiday marks the country's 1990 declaration of sovereignty, more than a year before the collapse of the Soviet Union.