Moldovan president approves withdrawing from Russian-led bloc

In a separate incident, a Russian frigate has escorted two sanctioned tankers through the English Channel, defying British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s pledge to detain vessels linked to Moscow’s shadow fleet.

The move is part of Moldova's efforts to drift away from Russia's orbit and join the European Union.

"I said this publicly. Did we hear a reaction from the U.S. to Russia that they have to stop it?" President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview. "The problem is they trust Putin."

Ukraine has returned the bodies of 41 fallen Russian soldiers in exchange, the Kremlin-controlled TASS news agency reported on April 9, citing its source.

Russia's Unmanned Systems Forces currently stand at 101,000, Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said, citing Ukraine's intelligence data.

Russian forces launched 119 drones against Ukraine overnight, of which almost 70 were Shahed-type drones, the Air Force said.

The number includes 1,040 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

An oil pumping station in Krymsk, Krasnodar Krai, was struck by Ukrainian drones overnight on April 9, independent Telegram channel Astra reported.

"This was a meeting between friends," Rutte said after the meeting, praising Trump's leadership. The administration is reportedly weighing a proposal to pull U.S. troops out of NATO member countries that did not support the war in Iran.

Decarlos Brown, the North Carolina man charged with the murder of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska last summer, has been found incompetent to stand trial, according to court documents filed April 7. A key hearing in his case has been delayed to allow additional competency proceedings.

Moscow views Japanese firm Terra Drone's investment in the Ukrainian drone industry as "hostile," the Russian Foreign Ministry said on April 8.

"Sometimes good-willed direct blackmailing is the best option," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov tells his Hungarian counterpart in one call as the EU convened to open accession negotiations for Ukraine.