Kiev

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.

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Brussels on the sidelines of the NATO summit, diplomatic sources said Thursday.

Fidan and Blinken met during the second day of the NATO Foreign Ministers Meeting in Brussels.

NATO on Thursday marks 75 years since its founding with the Western alliance confronted by the urgent need to do more to help Ukraine win a war currently roiling Europe.

Foreign ministers from NATO's 32 countries will hold a ceremony at its Brussels headquarters to fete the organisation that bills itself as the "most powerful and successful alliance in history".

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that alliance members must guarantee long-term weapon deliveries for Ukraine, as ministers discussed a proposal for a 100-billion-euro, five-year fund.

Russian officials said Friday they had arrested three people plotting an attack in the country's south, a week after the assault on a Moscow concert hall killed at least 144 people.

The FSB security agency said it had "put an end to the terrorist activities of three nationals from a Central Asian country", Russian news agencies reported.

Ukraine said Friday that it had imposed emergency blackouts on several regions after Russia fired dozens of missiles and drones at its power stations overnight.

Moscow has stepped up its aerial bombardment of Ukraine in recent weeks, targeting energy infrastructure in response to deadly Ukrainian assaults on Russia's border regions.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has warned of the "real" threat of conflict in Europe, saying that for the first time since the end of World War II the continent has entered a "pre-war era".