Russia

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Monday said Russia was closely following Finland and Sweden's bids to join the U.S.-led NATO military alliance, and was convinced that their accession would in no way strengthen Europe's security architecture.

Ukrainian border guards repelled an incursion by a Russian sabotage and reconnaissance group in the northeastern region of Sumy on Monday, the governor of the Sumy region said.

KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine said on Monday troops defending the country's second-largest city, Kharkiv, had repelled Russian forces and advanced as far as the border with Russia.

Russia on Monday said its forces had shot down three Ukrainian fighter jets, one near Snake Island in the Black Sea and the others in the Mykolaiv and Kharkiv regions, while its missiles continued to pound targets in the east of the country.

Russia said on Sunday it had pummelled Ukrainian positions in the east with missiles, targeting command centres and arsenals as its forces seek to encircle Ukrainian army units in the battle for Donbas.

One person was wounded when forces in Ukraine fired at a Russian village close to the border, Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the Belgorod region, said in a post on the Telegram messaging app early on Sunday.

(Reuters) -Russian diplomats in Washington are being threatened with violence and U.S. intelligence services try to make contact with them, Tass news agency cited the ambassador as saying on Saturday.

Russia on Saturday dismissed Ukraine's claim it had damaged a modern navy logistics ship in the Black Sea and showed photos of what it said was the vessel with no signs of damage.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto on Saturday that ditching neutrality and joining NATO would be a mistake that could damage relations between their two countries, the Kremlin said.