Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Five people were killed and 46 wounded in a Ukrainian attack on the southwestern Russian city of Belgorod, according to local authorities quoted by Reuters. The governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, stated that many of those injured in the attack were hospitalized.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has stated that Ukraine's invasion of the Russian Kursk region is legally justified due to Kyiv's right to self-defense. In an interview with the German newspaper Die Welt am Sonntag, Stoltenberg emphasized that this right extends beyond Ukraine's borders under international law.

Ukraine was fully within its rights to launch its surprise offensive into Russia's Kursk border region as an act of self-defense, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told German newspaper Die Welt.

The barrage of airstrikes that Russia launched against Ukraine over the past two days, with hundreds of drones and missiles, provided punishing evidence of Moscow's enduring military might.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed Mykola Oleschuk, the head of the Ukrainian Air Force, according to Reuters. The announcement came shortly after the Ukrainian military reported the crash of one of its newly acquired F-16 fighter jets, resulting in the death of the pilot.

A 14-year-old girl lost her life following a Russian strike on a playground in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. According to the BBC, at least five others were killed, and dozens were injured when the attacks also struck a residential building near the Russian border.

Josep Borrell, the head of European diplomacy, has urged Ukraine's allies to remove restrictions on the use of weapons provided to Kyiv for attacks on Russian targets. Borrell's call comes as the EU foreign ministers convene in Brussels, reported the Associated Press.

Russia and Ukraine are locked in a war of attrition and destruction following Kyiv’s surprise attack, historically and symbolically significant, that led to the first occupation of Russian territory since 1941, in the Kursk region. But can this major development on the frontlines decide the war’s outcome, or does it push the West’s confrontation with Russia closer to a breaking point?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the ongoing war with Russia will eventually be resolved through dialogue, emphasizing that Ukraine must maintain a strong stance. He mentioned plans to present a proposal to end the war to US President Joe Biden and his potential successors.

Modi’s visit to Kyiv, the first by an Indian prime minister in Ukraine’s modern history, occurred at a pivotal moment in the war that began in February 2022. Moscow, a longstanding arms supplier to India since the Soviet era, faces increasing international pressure amid the ongoing conflict.