Trump and Putin speak on call following U.S. pause of weapons shipments to Ukraine. Russia continues escalating attacks on Ukrainian cities.

As Russia ramps up missile attacks, US halts promised air defense shipments to Ukraine North Korea to send up to 30,000 more troops to aid Russia's war against Ukraine, CNN reports Ukraine denies another Russian claim of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast breakthrough,

Are Russia's most advanced fighter-bombers actually safe, even hundreds of miles from the combat zone? The recent Ukrainian drone attack on Marinovka airfield reopened controversy over Russia's much-touted Su-34 fleet vulnerability and the revamping balance of air power in Eastern Europe.

Maj. Gen. Mikhail Gudkov, promoted to deputy head of the Russian Navy just a few months earlier, died in an apparent Ukrainian strike.

Ukrainian media outlets had earlier reported the major general's death in a HIMARS strike, citing pro-Russian military bloggers. Now, Russia's Ministry of Defense and the Governor of Primorye Oleg Kozhemyako have confirmed the loss of Gudkov.

Russia's military announced Thursday that Major Gen. Mikhail Gudkov was killed "during combat operations in one of the border areas of the Kursk region."

The Kremlin says U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed Iran, Ukraine and other issues by phone, their sixth publicly disclosed chat since Trump returned to the White House.