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

Ukraine's military reportedly struck and damaged Russia's Volgograd oil refinery overnight on Nov. 6, Russian Telegram media channels reported, as explosions rocked several Russian energy sites.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he may be working on a plan to denuclearize with China and Russia, without providing details. "We redid our nuclear - we're the number one nuclear power,

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.