International economic sanctions on Russia and efforts to isolate Moscow diplomatically haven’t stopped the invasion.

In December 2023, Finland closed its 1,340 km (832 mile) border with Russia— the longest frontier with Russia of any EU or NATO country—after more than 1,300 migrants arrived there without visas. Helsinki accused Moscow of weaponizing asylum seekers by sending them to the frontier to destabilize the Nordic country—accusations the Kremlin denied.

Two people have been killed after Russian drones struck a border crossing between Ukraine and Moldova, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

BERLIN, Sept 9 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Wednesday that an attempted drone attack at Leipzig/Halle airport had been prepared in Russia over an extended period and that a disaster was only narrowly averted.

Russia posted its biggest monthly budget surplus in a year in August after major state companies paid dividends on last year’s profits.

Russia agreed not to bomb Ukraine’s capital during Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner’s visit there. The respite was short-lived.

At the end of August, Russia launched a week of nighttime and daylight attacks on Kyiv in its heaviest sustained bombardment of the Ukrainian capital since its full-scale invasion began more than four years ago.

MOSCOW, Sept 7 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Monday that it did not rule out the resumption of peace talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States, but said it was too early to say when and where such talks might take place.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is criticizing the international community for not taking a tougher stance against Russia's attacks on civilian areas.

It echoes Operation Spiderweb, the audacious June 2025 operation in which Ukraine smuggled attack drones inside Russia itself, hidden in trucks parked near air bases, and used them to strike 41 bombers in a day, the most dramatic single blow to Russian strategic aviation of the war so far.