Azov

Ukraine said Friday it had shot down an A-50U Russian spy plane over the Sea of Azov, and shared a map appearing to show it had crashed over southern Russia.

Details about the weapons used to allegedly shoot down the plane have not yet emerged.

Ukraine confirmed on Monday it had driven Russian forces from an eighth village in its two-week-old counteroffensive in a heavily fortified part of the front line on the most direct route to the country's Azov Sea coast.

Russia's Supreme Court on Tuesday designated the Azov regiment -- a former volunteer battalion that was incorporated into Ukraine's army -- a "terrorist" organisation, allowing for lengthy jail terms for its members.

The bodies of scores of Ukrainian fighters killed during the siege of the Azovstal steelworks in the southern city of Mariupol are still awaiting retrieval, the former commander of Ukraine's Azov National Guard regiment said on Sunday.

The bodies of some Ukrainian fighters killed defending the city of Mariupol from Russian forces at a vast steel works have been handed over to Kyiv, the families of Ukraine's Azov unit of the national guard said.

A Russian lawmaker taking part in peace talks with Kyiv said on Tuesday that Russia should consider the death penalty for what he called nationalist fighters from Ukraine's Azov regiment.

Over 560 soldiers from Ukraine's National Guard, a force which includes the Azov regiment currently holed up in Mariupol's steelworks, have been killed since the war with Russia began, its leader said Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for Russia's foreign ministry on Wednesday claimed Israeli mercenaries were fighting alongside the far-right Azov Regiment in Ukraine, further fuelling tensions with Israel after Russia suggested Adolf Hitler had "Jewish blood".

Russia told Ukrainian forces fighting in the besieged southern port of Mariupol to lay down their arms starting 6 a.m. Moscow time (0300 GMT) on Sunday to save their lives.

The Sea of Azov port of Mariupol, reduced to a wasteland by seven weeks of siege and bombardment that Ukraine says killed tens of thousands of civilians, could become the first big city captured by Russia since its invasion.

Some 400,000 people have been trapped in the strategic port city on the Sea of Azov for more than two weeks, with little if any access to water, food, heating or electricity, local authorities say.

Russian troops and pro-Moscow rebels have linked up in a key region along the Azov Sea coast in eastern Ukraine, a defence ministry spokesman said Tuesday, on the sixth day of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Electricity has been cut off in the key south eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol on the Azov Sea following attacks from advancing Russian forces, the head of the region Pavlo Kyrylenko said Tuesday.

Nestled in Europe's southeast corner is the world's shallowest sea: the Azov. It is no more than 50 feet deep and smaller than Lake Michigan.

Ukraine said Friday it had shot down an A-50U Russian spy plane over the Sea of Azov, and shared a map appearing to show it had crashed over southern Russia.

Details about the weapons used to allegedly shoot down the plane have not yet emerged.

Ukraine confirmed on Monday it had driven Russian forces from an eighth village in its two-week-old counteroffensive in a heavily fortified part of the front line on the most direct route to the country's Azov Sea coast.

Russia's Supreme Court on Tuesday designated the Azov regiment -- a former volunteer battalion that was incorporated into Ukraine's army -- a "terrorist" organisation, allowing for lengthy jail terms for its members.

The bodies of scores of Ukrainian fighters killed during the siege of the Azovstal steelworks in the southern city of Mariupol are still awaiting retrieval, the former commander of Ukraine's Azov National Guard regiment said on Sunday.

The bodies of some Ukrainian fighters killed defending the city of Mariupol from Russian forces at a vast steel works have been handed over to Kyiv, the families of Ukraine's Azov unit of the national guard said.

A Russian lawmaker taking part in peace talks with Kyiv said on Tuesday that Russia should consider the death penalty for what he called nationalist fighters from Ukraine's Azov regiment.

Over 560 soldiers from Ukraine's National Guard, a force which includes the Azov regiment currently holed up in Mariupol's steelworks, have been killed since the war with Russia began, its leader said Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for Russia's foreign ministry on Wednesday claimed Israeli mercenaries were fighting alongside the far-right Azov Regiment in Ukraine, further fuelling tensions with Israel after Russia suggested Adolf Hitler had "Jewish blood".

Russia told Ukrainian forces fighting in the besieged southern port of Mariupol to lay down their arms starting 6 a.m. Moscow time (0300 GMT) on Sunday to save their lives.

The Sea of Azov port of Mariupol, reduced to a wasteland by seven weeks of siege and bombardment that Ukraine says killed tens of thousands of civilians, could become the first big city captured by Russia since its invasion.

Some 400,000 people have been trapped in the strategic port city on the Sea of Azov for more than two weeks, with little if any access to water, food, heating or electricity, local authorities say.

Russian troops and pro-Moscow rebels have linked up in a key region along the Azov Sea coast in eastern Ukraine, a defence ministry spokesman said Tuesday, on the sixth day of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Electricity has been cut off in the key south eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol on the Azov Sea following attacks from advancing Russian forces, the head of the region Pavlo Kyrylenko said Tuesday.

Nestled in Europe's southeast corner is the world's shallowest sea: the Azov. It is no more than 50 feet deep and smaller than Lake Michigan.