Ukrainian forces fighting around Velyka Novosilka claim its Russian takeover will amount to nothing more than a flag-raising exercise

A new school textbook that likens Russia's war in Ukraine to the Soviet struggle against the Nazis and says Russia was "forced" to send troops into Ukraine was presented in Moscow on Monday. President Vladimir Putin casts the war,

Russia has lost about twice as many men to death and serious injury as Ukraine. But the trends favor the Kremlin.