Ukraine documents 43,778 new Covid- cases on Feb. 3, surpassing previous daily record.

Oil prices were dragged down by production hikes by Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries.

"Today we will clarify the tasks of the troop groups in the directions for the autumn period," Valery Gerasimov said.

VOA was established during World War 2 in an effort to counter Nazi propaganda.

The number includes 810 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

The positions previously allowed Russian troops to control the road leading into Kupiansk, approximately 104 kilometers (65 miles) east of Kharkiv, the regional capital.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV described China-Russia relations as at their "best in history," calling them "the most stable, mature and strategically significant among major countries."

Kyrylo Budanov said that upcoming joint exercises, set to begin in two weeks, will pose challenges for both Ukraine and European countries, particularly through what he described as "cognitive influence."

The 1st Azov Corps said the victim was clearly in civilian clothes and unarmed, calling the incident a direct violation of the Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians.

The bloc has frozen some 210 billion euros ($245.85 billion) in Russian assets under sanctions imposed over Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Russian forces have been surrounded by Ukraine's military near Dobropillia in the Pokrovsk district in Donetsk — currently the hottest sector of the front line — military spokesperson Viktor Trehubov announced on Aug. 30.

Andrii Parubii, a Ukrainian politician who previously served as the parliament speaker and played a prominent role in the EuroMaidan Revolution, was shot dead in Lviv on Aug. 30.

Russia launched a missile and drone attack targeting various Ukrainian regions overnight on Aug. 30, killing at least one person and injuring 34 others, officials reported.

U.S. officials have grown increasingly impatient with European leaders, whom they allege are pushing Ukraine to hold out for a "better deal," Axios reported in an exclusive scoop on Aug. 30.

The focus for such U.S. contractors appears to be on helping to build new defenses and securing U.S. business interests in Ukraine, the Telegraph reported.

The so-called "dragon teeth" — pyramid-shaped concrete anti-tank obstacles — were set up as part of the Baltic Defense Line, a planned string of defenses along the Baltic countries' borders with Russia and Belarus.