Russia-Ukraine war

A newspaper with the front page of French President Emanuel Macron is seen at a supermarket in London, Thursday, March 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

France’s president pounds a punching bag on camera, and Europe notices

French President Emmanuel Macron is raising eyebrows after photos of him hammering a punching bag were posted to his official photographer’s social media.

A firefighter gestures as he prepares to enter a building at the site after a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 21, 2024. Around 30 cruise and ballistic missiles were shot down over Kyiv on Thursday morning, said Serhii Popko, the head of Kyiv City Administration. The missiles were entering Kyiv simultaneously from various directions in a first missile attack on the capital in 44 days. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Russia fires 31 missiles at Kyiv in the first attack in weeks as people scramble for cover in subway

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, left, shakes hands with the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak, right, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan visits Kyiv as stalemate in Washington holds up aid

FILE - This photo released by Belgorod regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov's Telegram channel on Saturday, March 16, 2024, shows cars damaged by shelling from Ukraine in Belgorod, Russia. The region that borders Ukraine has seen a surge in Ukrainian attacks as Kyiv's forces ramped up strikes as the war drags into a third year. (Belgorod region Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov Telegram channel via AP, File)

Russia’s Belgorod region is under attack again from Ukraine. Why does it keep getting targeted?

Firefighters tackle a blaze at the site of a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

EU leaders to drum up more support for Ukraine amid appeals for a new sense of urgency

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Firefighters tackle a blaze at the site of a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

A Russian border region reels from sustained Ukrainian artillery and drone strikes

A Russian border region being pounded by Ukrainian shelling and drones is expanding its closure of schools and colleges amid a major evacuation plan.

Girls practice in a ballet studio in a bomb shelter in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 18, 2024. In northeast Ukraine, a dance studio that doubles as a bomb shelter is an escape from the horrors of war for about 20 young girls. The Princess Ballet Studio in Kharkiv is a spartan, windowless room, but practicing underground means they can dance through the almost hourly air raid alerts. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

In one Ukrainian city, ballet in a bomb shelter is an escape from the horrors of war

A dance studio that doubles as a bomb shelter is an escape from the horrors of war for about 20 young girls in Ukraine’s city of Kharkiv.

Piotr Korycki, a 34-year-old Polish farmer, stands in a warehouse filled with grain on his farm in Cywiny Wojskie, Poland, on Monday March 18, 2024. Korycki has been organizing protests of farmers in Poland that have been taking place for the past three months in Poland. They are among the Europe-wide protests by farmers angry about imports from Ukraine which they say are driving down prices. They are also angry about EU climate policies which they say will create more administrative work and further financial burdens. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

With unsold grain piled high, a Polish farmer faces an uncertain future as war in Ukraine grinds on

Polish farmer Piotr Korycki says his business has been badly destabilized by Russia’s war against Ukraine and that the European Union is only adding to his problems.

Moldova expels Russian diplomat over presidential polling stations in breakaway Transnistria region

Moldova said Tuesday it has expelled a Russian diplomat after Moscow opened polling stations for its presidential election in Moldova’s pro-Russia breakaway region of Transnistria.

A Ukrainian soldier walks in position on the front-line near Klishchyivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Monday, March 18, 2024. (Iryna Rybakova via AP)

Russia says it will evacuate 9,000 children from a border region being targeted by Ukraine

Officials say Russia plans to evacuate about 9,000 children from a border region because it is being continuously shelled from the Ukrainian side.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, left, flanked by Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, speaks at the beginning of the meeting of the 'Ukraine Defense Contact Group' at Ramstein Air Base in Ramstein, Germany, Tuesday, March 19, 2024. Austin vowed Tuesday that the U.S. will continue to support Ukraine's war effort against Russia, even as the U.S. Congress remains stalled over funding to send additional weapons to the front. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

US defense chief vows continued aid to Ukraine, even as Congress is stalled on funding bill

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin vows the U.S. will continue to support Ukraine’s war effort against Russia, even as the U.S.

Ukrainian and Russian soldiers are depicted in a tug-of-war game on a memorial in Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Sunday, March 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

With the election behind him, Putin says Russia aims to set up a buffer zone inside Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country won’t relent in its invasion of Ukraine and has announced plans for a buffer zone to protect against long-range Ukrainian strikes and cross-border raids.

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shake hands during their meeting at the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region, Russia on Sept. 13, 2023. North Korea has shipped around 7,000 containers filled with munitions and other military equipment to Russia since 2023 to help support its war in Ukraine, South Korea’s defense minister said Monday, March 18, 2024. (Vladimir Smirnov/Sputnik Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

South Korean defense chief says North Korea has supplied 7,000 containers of munitions to Russia

North Korea has shipped around 7,000 containers filled with munitions and other military equipment to Russia since last year to help support its war in Ukraine.

This photo released by Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov's telegram channel on Saturday, March 16, 2024, shows broken and burned cars after shelling from the Ukrainian side, in Belgorod, Russia. A Russian regional governor says two people have been killed in Ukrainian shelling of the city of Belgorod, close to the border with Ukraine. Three others were wounded. (Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov telegram channel via AP)

Russia says Ukraine launched far-ranging drone attacks on final day of Russia’s presidential vote

Russia says Ukraine has launched a new wave of attacks as Russians cast ballots on the final day of a presidential vote set to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule for another six years.

People hold sheets reading "enough" as they protest in downtown Tbilisi, Georgia, Sunday, March 17, 2024. Russians at home and abroad are heading to the polls for a presidential election that is all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin's rule after he clamped down on dissent. (AP Photo/Nicolo Vincenzo Malvestuto)

Putin basks in electoral victory that was never in doubt even as Russians quietly protest

Russian President Vladimir Putin is basking in a victory that was never in doubt, as partial election results showed him easily securing a fifth term after facing only token challengers and harshly suppressing opposition voices.

This photo released by Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov's telegram channel on Saturday, March 16, 2024, shows broken and burned cars after shelling from the Ukrainian side, in Belgorod, Russia. A Russian regional governor says two people have been killed in Ukrainian shelling of the city of Belgorod, close to the border with Ukraine. Three others were wounded. (Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov telegram channel via AP)

Russia says Ukrainian shelling killed 2 in a border city while it thwarted an incursion

A Russian regional governor says two people have been killed in Ukrainian shelling of the city of Belgorod, close to the border with Ukraine. Three others were wounded.

An elderly woman casts a ballot during a presidential election via a mobile election committee, who visit people who cannot physically attend a polling station, in Nikolayevka village outside Siberian city of Omsk, 2236 km (1397 miles) east of Moscow, Russia, on Saturday, March 16, 2024. Voters in Russia are heading to the polls for a presidential election that is all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin's rule after he clamped down on dissent. (AP Photo)

Russians cast ballots in an election preordained to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule

Voters across Russia have cast ballots on the second day of an election set to formalize six more years of power for Vladimir Putin.

FILE - People ride their motorcycle by damaged buildings in the old town of Homs, Syria, Aug. 15, 2018. Syria’s civil war has entered its 14th year on Friday March 15, 2024, a somber anniversary in a long-frozen conflict. The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus government, various opposition groups and Kurdish forces. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits, File)

Violence in Syria is on the rise while aid is flagging as the civil war enters its 14th year

Syria’s civil war has entered its 14th year, a somber anniversary in a long-frozen conflict. The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus government, various opposition groups and Kurdish forces.

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services work at the scene of a Russian attack in Odesa, Ukraine, Friday, March 15, 2024. A Russian missile strike on Odesa in southern Ukraine on Friday killed at least 14 people and injured 46 others, local officials said. A first missile struck houses and when emergency crews arrived at the scene a second missile landed, authorities said. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP Photo)

Russian missiles kill at least 16 people in the latest strike on southern Ukraine’s Odesa

A Russian missile attack blasted homes in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa, followed by a second missile that targeted first responders who arrived at the scene.

Erik Mose, Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, speaks about the Commissioners comprehensive report to Human Rights Council, during a press conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Friday, March 15, 2024. U.N.-backed human rights experts said Friday they have gathered new evidence of “horrific” torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war by their Russian jailers, saying such practices could amount to war crimes. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)

UN-backed human rights experts decry new evidence of torture of Ukrainian POWs by Russia

U.N.-backed human rights experts say they have gathered new evidence of “horrific” torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war by their Russian jailers, saying such practices could amount to war crimes.

42-year-old Vyacheslav Ryabkov, an internally displaced person from Kozachi Laheri in the Kherson region of Ukraine, shows in Kolomyya on Feb. 13, 2024 the scars on his stomach caused by Russian soldiers who cut him with a knife. Russia has successfully imposed its passports on nearly the entire population of occupied Ukraine by making it impossible to survive without them, coercing hundreds of thousands of people into citizenship. (AP Photo/Vasilisa Stepanenko)

Takeaways into AP investigation into Russian system to force its passports on occupied Ukraine

Russia has successfully imposed its passports on nearly the entire population of occupied Ukraine by making it impossible to survive without them, coercing hundreds of thousands of people into citizenship.

50-year-old Natalia Zhyvohliad, an internally displaced person from Nova Petrivka in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, is pictured with her children, daughter-in-law and grandson in their temporary modular house in Kolomyya, Ivano-Frankivsk region on Feb. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Vasilisa Stepanenko)

Russia forces Ukrainians in occupied territories to take its passports – and fight in its army

Russia has successfully imposed its passports on nearly the entire population of occupied Ukraine by making it impossible to survive without them, coercing hundreds of thousands of people into citizenship.

FILE - French President Emmanuel Macron waits on the steps of the Elysee Palace, Monday, March 11, 2024 in Paris. French President Emmanuel Macron is to speak on national television on Thursday March 14, 2024 evening about how to further support Ukraine and the challenges faced by Europe, after saying last month the possibility of sending Western troops in the war-torn country could not be ruled out. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Macron again declines to rule out Western troops in Ukraine, but says they’re not needed now

French President Emmanuel Macron is warning Western powers not to show any weakness to Russia as he reiterates his position that sending Western troops into Ukraine should not be ruled out.

A woman and child walk behind a "I Love Ukraine" sign in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 14, 2024. Ukraine fired at least eight missiles at Russia's Belgorod border region, killing one person and wounding six, local officials said Thursday, as Kyiv's forces apparently kept up their efforts to rattle the Kremlin on the eve of Russia's presidential election, a vote that is taking place amid a ruthless crackdown on dissent. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Russia says Ukraine has fired more missiles at a border region on the eve of election favoring Putin

Russian officials say Ukraine has fired at least eight missiles at the Belgorod border region, killing two people and wounding 12.

CORRECTS SPELLING TO BOOZMAN - Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. CQ Brown, center, tours the HIMARS production line at Lockheed Martin's Camden, Ark. facility Thursday, March 14, 2024, with Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., left. (AP Photo/Tara Copp)

US military chief tours arms plants with GOP lawmakers to show that Ukraine aid boosts jobs at home

Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. CQ Brown is visiting U.S. weapon factories in Oklahoma and Arkansas to address concerns over billions of dollars being sent to Ukraine and other allies when there are so many needs at home.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen speaks during a press conference on strengthening the Armed Forces, at the State Ministry, Christiansborg, in Copenhagen, Wednesday, March 13, 2024. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Wednesday the Danish government wants to increase the number of young Danes doing military service by make conscription mandatory for women and by increasing the length of it from the roughly four months to 11 months for both genders. (Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Denmark plans to expand military draft to women for the first time and extend service terms

Denmark’s government wants to increase the number of Danes doing military service by making conscription mandatory for women and by increasing the time of service to 11 months for both genders.

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during an interview with Rossiya Segodnya International Media Group Director General Dmitry Kiselev, in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, March 12, 2024. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Putin warns again that Russia is ready to use nuclear weapons if its sovereignty is threatened

President Vladimir Putin says that Russia is ready to use nuclear weapons if its sovereignty or independence is threatened.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis speaks at the EPP Congress in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, March 7, 2024. Romania's President Klaus Iohannis announced Tuesday that he will officially enter the race to become the next leader of the NATO military alliance. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Romania’s president announces his bid to become the NATO military alliance’s next leader

Romania’s president says he will enter the race to become the next leader of the 32-nation NATO military alliance, emphasizing his country’s proximity to Ukraine and the threat from Russia.

FILE - Pope Francis greets Vatican Secretary of State Monsignor Pietro Parolin, left, as he arrives to board a plane to Amman, Jordan, for a three-day trip to the Middle East including the West Bank and Israel, at Rome's Fiumicino international airport, Saturday, May 24, 2014. The Vatican secretary of state is trying to defuse Pope Francis' latest diplomatic kerfluffle, insisting in media interviews that a primary condition for negotiations to end the war in Ukraine is an end to Russia’s aggression and that any peace must be a “just peace.” (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca, File)

Vatican diplomats seek to defuse outrage over Pope Francis’ Ukraine ‘white flag’ comments

The Vatican secretary of state is trying to defuse outrage over Pope Francis’ latest diplomatic foray.

FILE - Fighters of Russian Volunteer Corps stand atop on an APC during press conference not far from the Ukraine's border with Russia in Sumy region, Ukraine, on May 24, 2023. Fighters from Ukraine made an attempt to cross into the town of Tetkino, which lies right on the border, the governor of Russia’s Kursk region, Roman Starovoit, said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)

Russia says it killed 234 fighters while thwarting an incursion from Ukraine

Russian officials say Ukrainian long-range drones have smashed into two oil facilities deep inside Russia.

FILE - Poland's President Andrzej Duda gives a statement to the media in Warsaw, Poland, Wednesday Jan. 10, 2024, after the arrest of two politicians convicted of abuse of power who had taken refuge for hours in the presidential palace. Poland’s president is calling on other other members of the NATO alliance to raise their spending on defense to 3% of their GDP as Russia puts its economy on a war footing and pushes forward with its invasion of Ukraine. Duda made his call both in remarks in Warsaw and in a piece published by the Washington Post. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, File)

Poland’s president calls on NATO allies to raise spending on defense to 3% of GDP

Poland’s president is calling on other members of the NATO alliance to raise their spending on defense to 3% of their gross domestic product.

Raney Aronson-Rath, from left, Mstyslav Chernov, and Michelle Mizner pose in the press room with the award for best documentary feature film for "20 Days in Mariupol" at the Oscars on Sunday, March 10, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Ukraine’s first Oscar is hailed as a reminder of war’s horrors as Russian drones strike buildings

Ukraine awoke to another day of war with Russia but also a bit of good news. A journalist had won the country’s first Oscar for a harrowing documentary on the first days of the war.

The NATO flag, left, is raised next to the Swedish flag during a ceremony at the Musko navy base Stockholm, Monday, March 11, 2024. Sweden’s national flag has been raised at NATO headquarters in Brussels, cementing the Nordic country’s place as the 32nd member of the alliance two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine persuaded its reluctant public to seek safety under NATO’s security umbrella. (Fredrik Sandberg/TT News Agency via AP)

Sweden’s flag is raised at NATO headquarters to cement its place as the 32nd member of the alliance

Sweden’s national flag has been raised at NATO headquarters to cement the Nordic country’s place as the 32nd member.

Vladimir Putin, center, attends a Christmas service in Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow, Jan. 8, 2000. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze, File)

On Russian TV ahead of the election, there’s only one program: Putin’s

Russian President Vladimir Putin came to power almost 25 years ago and since then he’s eliminated nearly all independent media — a process he ramped up after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

In this undated photo taken on the front-line, provided by Viktor Biliak, a Ukrainian infantryman with the 110th brigade, poses for a photo, in Avdiivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine. The loss of the city of Avdiivka in February 2024 marked the end of a long, exhausting defense for the Ukrainian military. One brigade had defended the same block of buildings for months without a break. Another unit had been in the city for nearly two years. (Viktor Biliak via AP)

How Ukraine lost Avdiivka to Russia

The loss of the city of Avdiivka last month marked the end of a long, exhausting defense for the Ukrainian military.