Here is the situation on Sunday, December 15: Russia has begun using North Korean troops in significant numbers for the first time to conduct assaults on Ukrainian forces battling to hold an enclave in the country’s Kursk region, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Russia's focus on subjugating Ukraine was one of the factors that led to the abrupt demise of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Moscow’s main client in the region. Here's how Moscow’s big Middle East setback could affect Russia's war against Ukraine.

Russia on Sunday said its forces had captured villages in two key frontline areas of eastern Ukraine as they advance towards the supply hub of Pokrovsk and the industrial town of Kurakhove. The defense ministry said in a daily briefing that troops had "liberated" the village of Vesely Gai south of Kurakhove and the village of Pushkine south of