Russia says it has detected a shift from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and his team towards recognising the "realities" on the ground in Ukraine, and sees this as a welcome sign as it prepares to study his plan for ending the war.

For Russia, the return of Donald Trump provides a chance to end western sanctions against it, and provide solace for its appalling war losses.

Despite the Biden administration's $175 billion in aid to Ukraine throughout nearly three years of the war, Trump's stance on future assistance remains unclear. Ukraine has received the first $3 billion tranche of a G7-backed $50 billion loan,

After a battle in Russia's snowy western region of Kursk this week, Ukrainian special forces scoured the bodies of more than a dozen slain North Korean enemy soldiers. Among them, they found one still alive.

A video released last week shows Ukrainian authorities interrogating two North Korean soldiers captured in the Kursk region of Russia. In the video, one of the soldiers expressed a desire to stay in Ukraine;