'Final act of Putin's reign': Details of chaotic Russian coup emerging

Russian President Vladimir Putin is losing the war in Ukraine and has become "a bit of a pariah around the world," President Joe Biden said Wednesday.

Biden said it is "hard to tell" how much Putin has been weakened by Yevgeny Prigozhin's ambitious but ill-fated coup attempt. Some experts, however, say last week's chaotic insurgency stands as the greatest challenge yet to almost a quarter-century of Putin's authoritarian rule.

"It doesn't matter that Prigozhin and his soldiers did not reach Moscow, and in the long run it doesn't even matter why he stopped short of Moscow," said Mary Kate Schneider, director of global studies at Loyola University Maryland. "What matters is that Putin blinked."

Zelenskyy: Putin's power 'crumbling,' no peace until Crimea liberated

Russia's brief, armed rebellion last month demonstrated President Vladimir Putin's weakness and his fading support among the Russian people, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says.

Zelenskyy, in an interview with CNN recorded Sunday, also reiterated his position that the war won't end until Ukraine has regained all territory seized by Russia − including Crimea, which Russia has occupied since 2014.

Zelenskyy noted that Wagner Group mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin's rebellion was able to seize military installations in two Russian cities, showing "how easy it is to do." He added that Ukraine intelligence reports indicated that half the Russian people supported Prigozhin.

"Putin doesn’t control the situation in the regions," Zelenskyy said.

'No doubt' US will go to war with Russia if Ukraine falls, Pence says; Prigozhin back in Russia?

Providing Ukraine with the military support needed to turn back the Russian invasion is crucial if the U.S. wants to avoid going to war against Russia, former U.S. vice president and current presidential candidate Mike Pence says.

Pence, speaking on the Hugh Hewitt Show, said Russia's military operation in Ukraine "is not just warfare. It’s evil," adding that he believes Russian leader Vladimir Putin is facing sharp divisions inside Russia. Pence promised that, if elected, he would ensure Ukraine received whatever aid was required to win.

"I have no doubt that if Vladimir Putin overran Ukraine, it would not be too long, Hugh, before the Russian military crossed a border where we would have to send our fighting men and women to fight against them," Pence said.

'Our commitment will not weaken': Biden backing Ukraine 'for as long as it takes.'

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy may want more definitive assurances of NATO membership from the alliance leaders gathered in Lithuania, but he can't be too upset with what he got, experts say.

President Biden on Wednesday lauded to the people of Ukraine who "remain unbroken" almost 17 months after Russia's brutal invasion. Biden, speaking before a raucous crowd Wednesday in Vilnius, asserting to cheers that "our commitment to Ukraine will not weaken. We will stand for liberty and freedom today, tomorrow and for as long as it takes."

Moscow blames Ukraine for new attack on bridge linking annexed Crimea to Russia

Officials in Moscow blamed Ukraine for an apparent attack Monday on a key bridge that connects the occupied Crimean Peninsula with southern Russia and has become a symbol of President Vladimir Putin's rule.

It is the second time in less than a year that the 12-mile bridge across the Kerch Strait has come under assault. Russia's Investigative Committee described the incident as a "terrorist attack" and claimed it was carried out by Ukrainian special forces using naval drones. Ukraine has not publicly claimed responsibility, though its security services indirectly hinted in a cryptic message on Telegram of its involvement.

The bridge carries car and train traffic and is an important structure for transporting military equipment and personnel to battlefields in Ukraine. At least two people were killed in the attack.

US general: Ukraine counteroffensive slowed, but 'Russian situation not very good'

The Ukrainian counteroffensive has been slowed by a complex system of defenses erected over several months by Russian troops, U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley told reporters Tuesday.

However, the Russian troops manning those lines are poorly trained and equipped and suffer from poor leadership and morale, Milley said. The brief insurrection in June by Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led the Wagner mercenary group, has complicated the Russian’s muddled chain of command, he said.

“The Russian situation is not very good,” Milley said.

Mine-clearing equipment is the top request by Ukrainian leaders of U.S. and Western allies, Milley said. Ukrainian progress has been slowed by mines in what he termed a bloody and difficult fight. However, the Ukrainians have yet to commit the bulk of their Western-trained and equipped forces, which total 63,000 troops. It's too early to assess the counteroffensive, he said.

“It’s far from a failure, in my view," Milley said.

'Every day we move forward': Ukraine commander admits gains have been slow

The leader of Ukraine's ground forces admitted Thursday that his country's much-anticipated counteroffensive is not gaining back seized Russian territory as quickly as he had hoped it would.

Oleksandr Syrskyi said his forces are moving forward about a half mile daily despite encountering Russian forces that have dug in along the eastern front near Bakhmut and other hotly contested cities and towns.

"The entire large territory is fortified in terms of engineering," Syrskyi said. "There are many strong points. Therefore, all advances are really not going as fast as we would like."

Syrskyi said Russia has an overwhelming advantage in troops and ammunition. But he said his military is successful because they plan their operations very carefully.

Moscow, Crimea hit by drone attacks; Kremlin blames Ukraine

Drone attacks on Moscow and Crimea damaged at least two buildings Monday and drew warnings of "tough retaliatory measures" from the Kremlin.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said no injuries or serious destruction were reported. Russian media said one of the drones fell on the Komsomolsky highway in downtown Moscow, shattering shop windows and damaging the roof of a house 200 yards from the Defense Ministry building.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the attack "was thwarted" by electronic warfare systems that forced the drones to crash." The Ukraine military did not publicly take responsibility for the attack, but a Ukraine defense official who declined to be named told Agence France-Presse the strike was a "special operation" carried out by Kyiv forces.

'Pearl of the Sea' in ruins after Russian assaults on Ukraine city

A ruthless barrage of missiles targeting the Ukraine port city of Odesa has left the "Pearl by the Sea" in ruins and prompted the hurried exit of thousands of residents, including many whom had fled there to avoid fighting in the east.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative had allowed critical grain shipments from Odesa to sail through a Russian blockade bound for ports in Europe, Asia and Africa. But Russia, since pulling out of the deal a week ago, has brutally battered the elegant city known for its history, art, architecture and beaches.

Russia generally refrained from striking civilian infrastructure in Ukraine's southern ports for the year the agreement was in effect, the U.K. Defense Ministry said in its latest assessment of the war.

"Since Russia failed to renew the deal, the Kremlin likely feels less politically constrained, and is attempting to strike targets in Odesa because it believes Ukraine is storing military assets in these areas," the assessment says.

'Will end in a stalemate': Some experts say offensive won't win Ukraine war

The Ukraine military's intensified push to regain territory seized by Russia could jump-start Kyiv's slow-developing counteroffensive, but some experts say this war won't be won on the battlefield anyway.

Western officials said a surge in troops and firepower was underway in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia province, and a Kremlin-installed bureaucrat in the occupied area remarked on social media that "the second wave of the counteroffensive has begun." U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, asked this week about the progress Ukraine has made, stressed that "it's not a stalemate. They're not just frozen. The Ukrainians are moving."

Some experts, however, say a stalemate is the most likely scenario.

Overnight drone attack on Moscow injures 1, temporarily closes airport for traffic

Russian authorities say three Ukrainian drones attacked Moscow in the early hours on Sunday, injuring one person and prompting a temporary closure for traffic at one of four airports around the Russian capital.

It was the fourth such attempt at a strike on the capital region this month and the third this week, fueling concerns about Moscow’s vulnerability to attacks as Russia's war in Ukraine drags into its 18th month.

There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials, who rarely, if ever, take responsibility for attacks on Russian soil.

4 dead, dozens hurt in Russian missile attack

Rescue workers were scrambling through rubble searching for survivors Monday after Russian missiles slammed into the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, killing at least four people and injuring dozens more, regional Gov. Serhii Lysak said.

Lysak said at least 31 people were injured, including some "severe" cases. A nine-story apartment building and a four-story building at a university were severely damaged in the city of more than 600,000 people, authorities said.

"Four people have already died, among them a 10-year-old child," Lysak wrote on Telegram. "There may be people under the rubble. The search operation is ongoing."

Russian missiles and attack drones have routinely blasted residential and commercial buildings across Ukraine since the war began more than 17 months ago.

Russia bombs Ukraine port, driving global food prices higher

Russian rockets and drones severely damaged a Ukraine grain elevator and port facilities that help feed much of the world early Wednesday, as Russia's intensified assault on shipping drove global grain prices higher.

Photos and video from the scene showed officials in "war crimes prosecutor" garb picking through the rubble of devastated buildings, some with wheat tumbling from gashed walls.

The Ukraine military's Southern Command said 11 strike drones were destroyed by anti-aircraft defenses targeting port infrastructure on the Danube River near Izmail.

The river ports have provided alternative shipping points for Ukraine since Russia pulled out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative last month and reinstated its blockade on Odesa ports there. Izmail is about 150 miles southwest of Odesa.

Russia bombs 250-year-old Ukraine church, then firefighters who doused flames

Russian shelling severely damaged a landmark, 18-century Ukraine church Thursday, minutes before a second round of shelling wounded first responders rushing to the scene to douse the flames.

The attack targeting the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson also hit a bus, and three passengers and a bystander were wounded, officials said.

"During the extinguishing of the fire caused by shelling in St. Catherine's Cathedral, another shelling took place," the Ukraine Interior Ministry wrote on Telegram. "Four employees of the State Emergency Service were injured. All of them are hospitalized."

Two days earlier, a physician was killed and five people were wounded when Russia bombed a Kherson hospital.

Commercial Russian port attacked for the first time in the 18-month war, Ukraine says

Ukrainian sea drones attacked a major Russian port on the Black Sea on Friday, damaging a naval ship, according to a Ukrainian official, the latest in a series of strikes inside Russia as Kyiv vowed to bring the fight home to them. Moscow claimed it repelled the attack.

The strike on Novorossiysk marks the first time a commercial Russian port has been targeted in the 18-month war. The port — which hosts a naval base, shipbuilding yards and an oil terminal and is key for exports — lies just across the Black Sea from Crimea, where Russia’s Defense Ministry said it thwarted another attack overnight, taking down 13 drones.

The Security Service of Ukraine and the country's navy carried out the attack on Novorossiysk, according to an official with the security service, and the landing ship, Olenegorsky Gornyak, suffered a serious breach.

Land-for-NATO swap proposal that drew ire in Ukraine was 'a mistake'

A NATO official on Wednesday backed off his suggestion that Ukraine give up land to Russia in exchange for membership in the alliance, a proposal dismissed as "ridiculous" and unacceptable in Ukraine.

Stian Jenssen, chief of staff to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, raised the possibility of such a solution at an event Tuesday in Norway. Jenssen added any peace deal would have to be acceptable to Ukraine, a position the Biden administration also has repeatedly stressed.

On Wednesday, Jennssen told the Norwegian newspaper VG the comment "was part of a larger discussion about possible future scenarios in Ukraine, and I shouldn't have said it that way. It was a mistake."

Wagner chief Prigozhin listed as passenger on plane that crashed

Yevgeny Prigozhin − the wealthy leader of the mercenary Wagner Group who was an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin until leading a failed insurrection in June − was listed among the passengers in the crash of a business jet that killed 10 in Russia on Wednesday. But it wasn’t immediately clear whether he was on board, authorities said.

Unconfirmed media reports said the jet belonged to Prigozhin, who led his forces on a march that came within 120 miles of Moscow before turning around June 24. Prigozhin and the Wagner soldiers were granted asylum in Belarus as part of a deal to end the rebellion, but he was later seen in St. Petersburg.

Wednesday's flight was headed from Moscow to St. Petersburg and Russia’s civilian aviation regulator, Rosaviatsia, said Prigozhin was on the passenger list. It's not certain that he actually boarded the flight, which went down in the Tver region more than 60 miles north of Moscow.

Russia’s state news agency Tass cited emergency officials as saying the plane carried three pilots and seven passengers. The authorities said they were investigating the crash.

Behind the scenes: See how private ammo sales from US are fueling the war in Ukraine

Most of the United States' $44 billion in documented support to Ukraine came in the form of old U.S. military stock, donated directly by the government. In general, commercial sales over $14 million, and sales of military-grade weaponry like mortars or missiles, require U.S. State Department approval and congressional notification.

But other aid comes via private sales.

More than 14,000 U.S. entities are registered to conduct defense trade activities. Their deals are monitored by a variety of agencies. Trade secrecy clauses in federal law mean this flow of gear, weapons and ammunition is almost never revealed to the public.

It's part of a shadowy system of brokers, exporters, arms dealers and country-to-country transfers that has become one part of the race to meet demand on distant battlefields.

For continuing updates on the war in Ukraine, visit ukraine.usatoday.com.