Kiev

Russia said Thursday that fresh U.S. aid for Ukraine will not change the dynamics on the battlefield, as Washington gears up for a crucial weekend vote on long-stalled military funding for Kiev.

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday he would advance a $61 billion package of funding for Ukraine, stalled since last year amid political infighting in the Republican Party.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed Thursday the "urgent" need for the U.S. Congress to pass a new military aid package for Kiev as he met Ukraine's foreign minister.

Blinken held talks with Dmytro Kuleba during a meeting of ministers from the Group of Seven countries — Italy, France, Germany, the UK, the U.S., Japan and Canada — in the Italian island of Capri.

Three Russian missiles crashed into Ukraine's historic city of Chernigiv on Wednesday, killing 18 people as officials pleaded for more air defence systems from allies.

Pools of blood gathered on the street at the scene of one strike, where rescuers searched for survivors in the rubble and carried away the wounded on stretchers, official images showed.

A Russian strike on the northern Ukrainian city of Chernigiv Wednesday killed  at least 11 people and 20 wounded more, as Kiev again sounded the alarm over shortages in its air defense capabilities.

First responders searched for survivors in rubble, carrying away the wounded on stretchers as a pool of blood formed on the ground near the scene of the strikes, official images showed.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed into law a controversial mobilisation bill aimed at boosting troop numbers, parliament said Tuesday.

The parliament's website said the bill had been "returned with the signature of the President" on April 16, after receiving final approval from lawmakers last week.

Russia was able to destroy a key power plant serving Kiev because Ukraine ran out of defensive missiles, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday.

For three-and-a-half weeks, Russia has launched near continuous strikes on Ukraine's power grid, leaving over a million people without electricity.

Civilians continue to die across Ukraine as analysts warned that delays in U.S. military assistance would see Kiev struggle to fight off Russian offensives.

Russian shelling killed four people in the eastern Ukraine region of Donetsk, authorities said yesterday, as Moscow's forces aim to push deeper into the war-battered industrial region.

The EU's financing body has said it would open up lending to more technologies that can be used by militaries as Europe pushes to rearm in the face of Russia's war on Ukraine.

The European Union has been clambering to produce more weapons in a bid to continue the flow of arms and ammunition to Kiev and keep Europe's own stocks in good health.

Türkiye has announced the abolishment of visa exemption for citizens of Tajikistan, following recent security concerns linked to international incidents involving Tajik nationals.

Ukraine said Friday it had destroyed at least six Russian military planes at an airbase in the southern Rostov region in a barrage of overnight drone attacks.

Kiev launched once of its largest overnight attacks in weeks, firing more than 50 drones at Russian territory, according to Russia's defence ministry.