Top security officials say China and North Korea’s support for Russia in its war against Ukraine has exposed how lines between regions have blurred, and the need for a global approach toward defense.

Aiming to create a "buffer zone," Russian forces have seized villages near Sumy, Ukraine’s northern regional capital. As 50,000 Russian troops accumulate on Ukraine’s border, the Sumy region prepares for a renewed large-scale offensive. More than 200 settlements are under evacuation orders after Russia advanced deeper into Ukrainian territory.

Efforts at a settlement gained the courtesy and endorsement of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), but the end product, the Minsk Accords, which were never ratified by either parliament, would later become the centrepiece of much violations.

While world leaders bicker over the prospects for peace, the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two is heating up fast.

Could Ukraine produce a nuclear bomb and transborder missiles to halt Russia’s invasion? A global expert on atomic arms war-games this puzzle and its consequences.

The attack involved nearly 370 missiles and drones, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. At least 12 people were killed.

The dead included three children in the northern region of Zhytomyr, local officials said. Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on the U.S. to speak out.

Ilia’s mother died in the siege of Mariupol and officials in Russia put him up for adoption — until his grandmother traveled into Russia to bring him home.