Russia has amassed a large force of tens of thousands — including recently arrived North Korean troops — to carry out an assault on the Ukrainian positions in Russia’s Kursk region expected in the coming days,

Russia attacked the Ukrainian capital Kyiv with a sophisticated combination of missiles and drones for the first time in 73 days on Wednesday, authorities reported, as the Pentagon said most of the North Korean troops sent to help Moscow's war effort are fighting to drive Ukraine's army off Russian soil in the Kursk border

As Donald Trump's election win brings the prospect of talks to end Russia's war in Ukraine closer, Kyiv is battling to put itself in the strongest position for any negotiations, including by securing more arms and holding out on the battlefield.

Vladimir Putin was massing troops in southern Ukraine for what could be a fresh offensive which would be in defiance of Donald Trump’s warning not to escalate the war. Russian infantry groups could launch ground assaults in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region within days,