FRONTLINE WEST OF KHERSON, Ukraine/KYIV, Nov 5: Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly endorsed the evacuation of civilians from parts of Ukraine's southern Kherson region on Friday, the latest sign of Russia's retreat in one of the most bitterly contested areas in Ukraine.

ASTANA, Oct 15: Russia should be finished calling up reservists in two weeks, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday, promising an end to a divisive mobilization that has seen hundreds of thousands of men summoned to fight in Ukraine and huge numbers flee the country.

POKROVSK, Ukraine, May 21: Russia claimed to have captured Mariupol on Friday in what would be its biggest victory yet in its war with Ukraine, after a nearly three-month siege that reduced much of the strategic port city to a smoking ruin, with over 20,000 civilians feared dead.

KYIV, Ukraine, April 17: Russian forces accelerated scattered attacks on Kyiv, western Ukraine and beyond Saturday in an explosive reminder to Ukrainians and their Western supporters that the whole country remains under threat despite Moscow’s pivot toward mounting a new offensive in the east.

KYIV, Ukraine, April 16: The bodies of more than 900 civilians have been discovered in the region surrounding the Ukrainian capital following Russia’s withdrawal — most of them fatally shot, police said Friday, an indication that many people were “simply executed.

KYIV, Ukraine, April 15: The flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, a guided-missile cruiser that became a potent target of Ukrainian defiance in the opening days of the war, sank Thursday after it was heavily damaged in the latest setback for Moscow’s invasion.

LONDON, April 2: Europe vowed to stay united against Russia's demand that they pay for its gas in roubles, as the threat of an imminent supply halt eased on Friday.

BUCHA/LVIV, Ukraine, March 26: Moscow signalled on Friday it was scaling back its ambitions in Ukraine to focus on territory claimed by Russian-backed separatists in the East as Ukrainian forces went on the offensive to recapture towns outside the capital Kyiv.

LVIV, Ukraine, March 15: The United States warned China against providing military or financial help to Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine, as sanctions on Russian political and business leaders mounted and civilians sought to flee intense fighting on the ground.

MARIUPOL, Ukraine, March 14: A pregnant woman and her baby have died after Russia bombed the maternity hospital where she was meant to give birth, The Associated Press has learned. Images of the woman being rushed to an ambulance on a stretcher had circled the world, epitomizing the horror of an attack on humanity’s most innocent.

LVIV, Ukraine, March 12: Ukraine was at a turning point in the war with Russian forces appearing to be regroup for a possible assault on Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, as the United States imposed new sanctions on senior Kremlin officials and Russian oligarchs.

LVIV, Ukraine, March 12: Russia widened its offensive in Ukraine on Friday, striking airfields in the west and a major industrial city in the east, while the huge armored column that had been stalled for over a week outside Kyiv appeared to have spread out near the capital.

MARIUPOL, Ukraine, March 11: Russian strikes hit near airports Friday in the western Ukrainian cities of Ivano-Frankiivsk and Lutsk, far from Russia’s main offensive, possibly indicating a new direction in the war.

LVIV/KYIV, Ukraine, March 5: Russia said its forces had stopped firing near two Ukrainian cities on Saturday to allow safe passage to civilians fleeing fighting, but was continuing its broad offensive in Ukraine, where the capital Kyiv came under renewed assault.

March 5: Russia said it would block Facebook for excluding state media and CNN said it would stop broadcasting in Russia after a new law punishing "fake news" raised the stakes in Moscow's fight with foreign corporation.

LVIV, Ukraine/KYIV, March 5: Russia blocked Facebook and some other websites on Friday and passed a law that gave Moscow much stronger powers to crack down on independent journalism, prompting the BBC, Bloomberg and other foreign media to suspend reporting in the country.

KATHMANDU, March 2: US Secretary of State Anthony J Blinken has called on Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to discuss Russia's invasion against Ukraine ahead of the scheduled debate and voting in the special UNGA session on the Ukraine crisis.

Feb 26: As Russian forces moved deeper into Ukraine on Friday, sports bodies moved quickly to strip Russia of events, with St Petersburg losing the Champions League final while the Formula One Grand Prix will not be held in Sochi.

LONDON, Jan 30:  Britain is considering making a major NATO deployment as part of a plan to strengthen Europe's borders in response to Russia massing troops on the border with Ukraine, the government said on Saturday.