The strikes occurred in a strategic maritime corridor, raising concerns about energy security and navigational safety.

Ukraine’s chief negotiator, in an exclusive interview, says conceding sovereign territory is off-limits in peace talks.

"If this is true, then we have a major problem, Houston," wrote Estonian lawmaker Marko Mihkelson, in response to the report.

In a series of hardline statements -- his most extensive comments on the latest U.S.-proposed peace plan to date -- Putin repeated some of Russia's most hardline demands, including that Ukrainian troops must withdraw from territory Moscow claims. Putin ruled out signing any ceasefire deal before Ukrainian troops withdraw.

Diplomats and amateur sleuths are chasing questions of means and motive, including who had the capacity to eavesdrop on a call between top officials and who would benefit the most from leaking the conversation?

Even if a peace can be reached, it won’t be easy to solve the problem of Ukrainian civilians languishing in Russian jails. This is one prisoner’s story.

Russia's state communications watchdog threatened on Friday to block WhatsApp entirely if it fails to comply with Russian law, news agencies reported.