The Times interviewed Russian soldiers who said they face a brutal fight to dislodge determined Ukrainian forces from a sliver of Russian land. Trapped civilians fear catastrophe.

At least 14 people were killed in Poltava, Ukrainian officials said, blaming Russia. Four died in Sudzha, a Russian town held by Ukraine, in a strike each country blamed on the other.

Soldiers and civilians alike say that after so much loss, the new U.S. president must push for a just settlement, not peace at any cost.

Ukrainian soldiers are describing fierce clashes as Russian forces try to retake territory in the Kursk region that could be key in eventual cease-fire talks.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the soldiers were captured in the western Kursk region, where Ukraine has been fighting to hold on to territory it seized last summer.

Ukrainian forces’ assault was in the Russian region where they made a surprise incursion last summer.

The North Korean losses amount to almost 10 percent of the country’s deployment to Russia, the Biden administration said.

North Korean troops have now entered Russia’s war with Ukraine in a major way, and some have been killed, Western officials say.