The Kremlin is focusing its fire on Pokrovsk, a gateway to the Donetsk region, which Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, has long coveted.

By Sarah Marsh BERLIN (Reuters) -Two lawmakers from the far-right Alternative for Germany travel next week to Russia while under fire from opponents for the party's ties to the Kremlin and accusations - strongly denied - that it could be passing on sensitive military information.

Former CIA operative warns China and Russia deploy 'sex spies' using honeypot tactics to steal U.S. technology and state secrets from American targets.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday that Ukrainian troops should surrender to save themselves in Pokrovsk, a transport and supply hub seen as a gateway to bigger nearby cities.

Ukrainian soldiers said the use of medium-range drones has become more common as key targets move farther back.

Russia's defence ministry said on Thursday that its forces had advanced in the battered Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk and were fighting house-to-house battles in a bid to eject Ukrainian forces from the city.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has "ordered an investigation into the circumstances that led to the recruitment of these young men into these seemingly mercenary activities," a government spokesman said. The statement did not say which side of the conflict the South Africans were fighting for.

Andrey Belousov, Russia's defense minister, made the announcement after President Donald Trump said the US would start nuclear tests.

South Africa’s government said on Thursday it will investigate how 17 of its citizens joined mercenary forces in the Russia-Ukraine conflict after the men sent distress calls for help to return home.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed fresh sanctions against Russia that are aligned with the European Union's 19th package and imposed new restrictions on Russian companies operating in the Arctic.