Russia warned the West and Ukraine on Friday of "disastrous consequences" if Kyiv moved against close Russian ally Belarus, making clear it would intervene to defend a country where it has deployed tactical nuclear weapons.

A close ally of President Vladimir Putin warned Western governments on Thursday that a nuclear war would ensue if they gave the green light for Ukraine to use long-range Western weapons to strike targets deep inside Russia.

There is an air of desperation around Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky these days as he tries to convince his Western allies, the United States in particular, that he has a realistic plan to force Russian President Vladimir Putin to give up his maximalist goals and sue for peace.

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia was ramping up drone production by around ten times to nearly 1.4 million this year in a bid to ensure the Russian armed forces win in Ukraine. Since Russia sent tens of thousands of soldiers into Ukraine in February 2022,

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the Russian military received around 140,000 drones in 2023 and that Moscow plans to increase this number tenfold in 2024.

In 2023, the Russian army received about 140,000 drones of different types, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin. This year, Moscow is planning to produce 1.4 million, he claimed.