Prisoners of war return to Kyiv after Istanbul peace talks ‘end in less than an hour’ - Zelensky promises to revise legislation in response to angry protests at curbs on anti-corruption agencies

Tensions between Russia and the neighbouring Caucasus republic of Azerbaijan are escalating against the backdrop of Moscow's war in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned Baku not to jeopardize relations between the two countries because of the war.

The US returns as a seller of critical anti-ballistic systems, but remains neutral, with no ideological standpoint.

Russian forces, meanwhile, pounded four Ukrainian cities in nighttime attacks that officials said killed a child.

Russia now controls more than two-thirds of Ukraine’s Donetsk region — the main theater of the ground war. Russian forces have carved out a 10-mile-deep pocket around the Ukrainian troops defending the crucial city of Kostiantynivka, partly surrounding them from the east, south and west.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has expressed hope that US President Donald Trump's "reasonable" position on the Ukrainian conflict will influence the European Union's stance on the matter, RT reported on Tuesday.

Two Russian soldiers in need of medical care were handed over by Ukrainian authorities on Tuesday to be returned home, the Russian Defence Ministry said.

Between September 2022 and August 2023, Russia launched around 2,000 Iranian-designed Shahed drones into Ukraine, according to the conflict monitor Airwars. That figure has surged in 2025. In June alone, Russia launched a record 5,337 Shahed-type drones, comprising both attack and decoy variants.