Russia’s abandonment of the Assad regime to marshal more resources for the fight against Ukraine vividly illustrates that Putin is ready to sacrifice everything for total victory in the war. Although Putin tries to portray himself as a realist, he has become consumed with Ukraine, to the exclusion of almost all other foreign policy imperatives.

Former CNN Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty says that Vladimir Putin spinning Russia’s withdrawal from Syria as a victory could be a preview of how he will frame any possible ceasefire with Ukraine.

The Ursa Major ship went down after an explosion in the engine room, Russia's foreign ministry said.

The transfer marks the end of an era when Russia played an arguably oversized role in determining which countries could operate in Syria’s contested airspace.

With Russia’s diminished influence in Syria, Ukraine calls on Israel to reconsider its stance and provide essential defensive weapons and technology.

Concurrently, marine traffic monitors show a Vladivostok-bound cargo ship, Ursa Major, previously registered as Sparta III and visually matching the picture published by HUR, moving at a very low speed of little over 1 knot in the open sea between Spain and Algeria.

Thirty-four people have been evacuated from Syria in an operation carried out by Ukraine's Defence Intelligence and Foreign Affairs Ministry: 31 Ukrainian citizens and three citizens of Syria who are relatives of Ukrainian citizens.

In abandoning Syria’s Bashar-al Assad, Vladimir Putin showed where his interests really lie, Alexandra Vacroux writes in a guest commentary.

Although Putin tries to portray himself as a realist, he has become consumed with Ukraine, to the exclusion of almost all other foreign policy imperatives,” the publication states. When Putin deployed troops to Syria,

Although Russia has managed to avoid an economic collapse, its war with Ukraine and military involvement in Syria have negatively affected its economy.

Ukraine has claimed to have struck a Russian industrial facility producing fuel for missiles, as Moscow says it has foiled several assassination plots on senior officers.Kyiv said on Thursday that its air force had had carried out a strike in Russia’s Rostov region on a factory which was used to produce solid fuel for ballistic missiles used in attacks on Ukraine.