However, an important memoir published in 2024 by John Sullivan, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Russia from 2020 until 2022, could provide some answers. Ominously titled "Midnight in Moscow" the book shows just how belligerent towards Russia the Biden administration was at a fraught moment — and how little key American diplomats seemed to think of real diplomacy.

A Russian drone attack on a residential block killed nine people including three elderly couples in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, officials said on Thursday. Moscow has pummelled Ukrainian cities with dozens of drones or missiles almost daily since it invaded in early 2022.

Putin has indicated that he will not view any peace agreement with Ukraine as binding, the Institute for the Study of War said.

Ukrainian special operations forces have given an insight into the brutal, near-suicidal tactics of the North Koreans they have faced in intense fighting in the Russian border region of Kursk.

Ukrainian forces fighting around Velyka Novosilka claim its Russian takeover will amount to nothing more than a flag-raising exercise

Ukrainian drones hit an oil refinery 250 miles east of Moscow in a huge wave of attacks on Russian power plants, say military sources. A large fire exploded at the refinery in Kstovo city in the Nizhny Novgorod region following the attack, the Ukrainian military said, adding it was assessing the scale of damage there.

On 14 January, Australia summoned Russian ambassador Alexey Pavlovsky to answer questions about Mr Jenkins’s status. “The Russian Federation is obligated to treat all prisoners of war in accordance with international humanitarian law,” a spokesperson said in a statement at the time.

A new school textbook that likens Russia's war in Ukraine to the Soviet struggle against the Nazis and says Russia was "forced" to send troops into Ukraine was presented in Moscow on Monday.

Billions of dollars of investment may be needed to rebuild Ukraine's power systems, brought to the brink of total decimation after relentless attacks by Russia.

These developments have led some analysts to believe Russia’s influence and ability to project power in the Sahel is waning, or that the Kremlin no longer considers the Sahel and other friendly states in Africa a priority.

The Kremlin is trying to cripple YouTube in Russia, internet experts say, pushing some people to state-controlled domestic alternatives. But many Russians have found workarounds.