Denmark has transferred a second batch of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, further bolstering the country’s air defence capabilities, president Volodymyr Zelensky announced.

The American-made fighter jet has been the front-line combat plane of choice for the NATO alliance and numerous air forces around the world for 50 years.

Although new to Ukraine, the F-16s are older jets which have been donated by Western allies of Ukraine. Zelensky added that the first batch of Danish-provided F-16 jets has already been deployed, and the second one will improve Ukraine’s air defence capabilities against ongoing Russian missile strikes.

“Denmark’s decisive leadership in defending lives stands out,” he wrote in a social media post, adding: “With this additional reinforcement, our air shield is stronger than ever.”

He thanked Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, her team, and the Danish people for their support.

France’s acting Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Monday that Ukraine should decide when it’s ready to negotiate with Russia on ending the war and Kyiv should do so from a position of strength.

Asked about comments by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump called on the weekend who called for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations between the two countries, Barrot told franceinfo radio a strong Ukraine was also in the United State’s interest.

Devastating human and material losses continue to mount, leaving Ukraine more vulnerable than at any time since the early days of the war.

As of 31 August, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine had documented at least 11,743 civilians killed and 24,614 wounded in Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Ukrainian prosecutors have said 589 Ukrainian children had been killed by 15 November.

Western countries believe Russia has suffered far worse casualties than Ukraine, sometimes losing more than 1,000 soldiers killed per day during periods of intense fighting in the east.

But it is Ukraine, with around a third of Russia’s population, that is likely to be facing the more severe manpower shortages arising from battles of attrition.

Russia now occupies and claims to have annexed around a fifth of Ukraine, an area around the size of Greece.

The draft 2025 budget envisages that about 26% of Ukraine’s GDP, or 2.2 trillion hryvnias ($53.3 billion), would go on defence. Ukraine has already received more than $100 billion from its Western partners in financial aid.

The silent black-and-white surveillance camera video of the Russian missile attack in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro was brief but chilling: Six huge fireballs pierced the darkness and slammed into the ground at astonishing speed.

Within hours of the 21 November attack on the military facility, Vladimir Putin took the rare step of speaking on national TV to boast about the new, hypersonic missile. He warned the West that its next use could be against Ukraine’s Nato allies who allowed Kyiv to use their longer-range missiles to strike inside Russia.

Mr Putin said the missile was called the “Oreshnik” — Russian for “hazelnut tree.”

Around 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in Russia’s full-scale invasion since February 2022, Volodymyr Zelensky saidin a first rare update on the war casualties.

The Ukrainian president said 370,000 injuries had been reported in a post on his social media and said that this tally included soldiers who had been hurt more than once and some of the injuries were said to be minor.

Additionally, around 198,000 Russian soldiers had been killed and a further 550,000 wounded.

Russia and Ukraine have not shared the total military losses in the continuing war and treat the number as a state secret. The latest information from Mr Zelensky comes as a rare admission at a time the incoming US president Donald Trump called for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to end “the madness”

Russian air defence units destroyed 13 Ukrainian drones over three western Russia regions, the Russian defence ministry said this morning on the Telegram channel.

It was not immediately clear how many drones were fired and if the debris from downed drones caused any damage.

Ousted Syrian leader Bashar Assad fled to Moscow and received asylum from his longtime ally, Russian media said yesterday, hours after a stunning rebel advance seized control of Damascus and ended his family’s 50 years of iron rule.

The arrival of Assad and his family in Moscow was reported by Russian agencies Tass and RIA, citing an unidentified source at the Kremlin. A spokesman there didn’t immediately respond to questions. RIA also said Syrian insurgents had guaranteed the security of Russian military bases and diplomatic posts in Syria.

Earlier, Russia said Assad left Syria after negotiations with rebel groups and that he had given instructions to transfer power peacefully.

Thousands of Syrians poured into streets echoing with celebratory gunfire and waved the revolutionary flag in scenes that recalled the early days of the Arab Spring uprising, before a brutal crackdown and the rise of an insurgency plunged the country into a nearly 14-year civil war.

The swiftly moving events raised questions about the future of the country and the wider region.