• Russia's diplomats were once a key part of President Putin's foreign policy strategy. But that has all changed. 
• In the years leading up to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, diplomats lost their authority, their role reduced to echoing the Kremlin's aggressive rhetoric. 
• BBC Russian asks former Western diplomats, as well as ex-Kremlin and White House insiders, how Russian diplomacy broke down.

Membership will only be possible when the country's borders are “stable,” a Czech official has said

In Ukraine's north-east, Russia has recently deployed an estimated 100,000 troops in renewed attacks. But Quentin Sommerville, who spent the past month with Ukrainian brigades in the area, discovers it is the increasingly sophisticated drone attacks that are particularly feared.

Hundreds of people in Kyiv have paid their respects to one of Ukraine's most celebrated fighter pilots, who was killed in a mid-air crash last week.

Western efforts to arm Kiev and break the Russian economy are getting nowhere, Giuseppe Conte has said 

Ex-presidential candidate Mitt Romney has claimed that sending weapons to Kiev is Washington’s best defense investment in history

The most critical internal threat Putin has faced in years is gone. His rival and former ally’s reported death likely means the end for the Wagner Group but ushers in a new phase of fear and anxiety in Russia

The death of a renowned fighter jet pilot marks a “terrible” day for Ukraine as it tries to tip the balance against Russia.

Remarks by Nicolas Sarkozy have raised fears that Europe’s pro-Putin chorus may grow louder as Ukraine’s plodding counteroffensive puts pressure on Western resolve.

President Vladimir Putin has called on all employees of Wagner and other Russian private military contractors to take an oath of allegiance to the Russian state.

The very public death of Putin henchman Yevgeny Prigozhin highlights the evolution of Russia into a mafia state held together by violence and incapable of global leadership.

The Kremlin appears to be sending the signal that no degree of effectiveness can protect someone from punishment for disloyalty.

The West should stop talking about sending arms to Kiev and engage diplomatically with Moscow, the ex-French president has said

One of Russia's leading military figures, Gen Sergei Surovikin, has reportedly lost his job as air force chief after weeks of speculation about his disappearance from public view.

A Russian missile strike on Ukraine's northern city of Chernihiv on Saturday killed seven people and wounded more than 100 others on Saturday, Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said. 

According to a recent Google Flights search, there were no direct or connecting flights from Minsk to the United States.

Putin won't attend BRICS summit this week because he could face arrest over alleged war crimes in Ukraine

Authorities say they can no longer guarantee the safety of those who stay in Kupyansk amid Russian shelling. Some 2,000 residents have signed releases saying they won’t hold officials responsible.
 

Without more advanced weapons slated to bolster the front line or fully committing forces still being held in reserve, it is unlikely that Ukraine will be able to secure a breakthrough in the counteroffensive, according to analysts.