Tom Balmforth

Russia has unleashed its largest wave of air strikes on Ukraine in almost three months, firing 120 missiles and 90 drones in a sweeping attack that

Ukraine has marked 1000 days since Russia's full-scale invasion, with weary troops battling on numerous fronts, Kyiv besieged by drone and missile

The return of Donald Trump, who has criticized the scale of U.S. aid, calls into question the united Western front against Putin, but also raises the prospect of talks to end the fighting

Ukraine hits Russia with US missiles for first time on war's 1,000th day

Russian president Vladimir Putin has lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike in response to a broader range of conventional attacks just days after the White House reportedly allowed Ukraine to fire American missiles deep into Russia.

The United States shut its embassy in Kyiv on Wednesday due to "specific information of a potential significant air attack" and told its citizens in Ukraine to be ready to swiftly seek shelter.

The US decision to authorise long-range Ukrainian strikes could help Kyiv defend the foothold in Russia's Kursk region that it seized as leverage in any war talks, but may come too late to change the course of the war, analysts said.

The launch was the latest sign of rapidly mounting tensions in the 33-month-old war.

The war in Ukraine “has acquired elements of a global character,” the Russian leader said in an address to the nation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said use of the new missile amounted to “a clear and severe escalation” in the war and called for strong worldwide condemnation.