NATO scrambled fighter jets in Polish and Romanian airspace overnight as Russia carried out massive drone and missile strikes in western Ukraine, killing at least 25 people, three of them children.

Putin's envoy finds himself under the spotlight over a draft peace plan that emerged after he spent days with Steve Witkoff in Miami.

The chief of Russia's general staff told President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that Russian forces had taken control of the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kupiansk, but Ukraine's military denied the city had changed hands.

About $300bn of Russian central bank reserves were frozen at the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion. But the US only controls about $5bn, with most of it sitting in the EU, smaller amounts in Japan, the UK, Switzerland and other jurisdictions.

Ukraine hopes to capitalize on Pope Leo’s calls for peace to coax the Vatican into helping secure the release of children and other prisoners held by Russia.

A Russian glide bomb slammed into a residential district in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, killing five people, officials said Friday, as Moscow’s forces continued to hammer civilian areas of Ukraine.

World leaders on Saturday expressed concern over a US peace plan for Ukraine seen as favoring Russia, saying it needs “additional work” as they scramble a coordinated response to the proposal.