The White House seized a rare chance to undermine Russia and build up regional allies as it built a coalition to support the Ukrainians.

More than 850 tonnes (850,000kg) of donated humanitarian aid has been sent to Ukraine by a Lancashire charity since the the Russian invasion. Chorley-based International Aid Trust, said it had sent more than 30 emergency vehicles to the country since February 2022, as well as lorries full of clothes, food, medical supplies and generators.

Russia has launched more than 51,000 guided aerial bombs against Ukraine since the start of its full-blown invasion nearly three years ago, the Ukrainian air force said on Thursday.

Ukrainian drones struck deep inside Russia in an overnight attack targeting an oil facility serving a military airfield in the city of Engels, nearly 400 miles from the border, Ukraine’s military said Wednesday.

If Ukraine falls, it will be hard to spin as anything but a debacle for the United States, and for its president.

The U.S. is set to provide Ukraine an additional $500 million in weapons quickly pulled from its existing stockpiles as the Biden administration works to get Kyiv in a stronger negotiating position before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

The Ukrainian military says it struck a fuel storage depot deep inside Russia. The strike caused a huge blaze at the facility that supplies an important Russian air base.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that some 38,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded fighting in Russia's western Kursk region since August.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is said to have blocked a proposal for an additional €3 billion aid package for weapons to Ukraine, according to a local media report.

Ahead of Trump's inauguration on January 20, the President-elect has said he is planning a meeting with Russia's leader, which the Kremlin has denied.