No travel warning declared, however, as Jerusalem continues to tread lightly; IDF soldiers with Russian citizenship reportedly barred from traveling there

Russian leader signs treaties after referendum derided in West as sham, says residents of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia are its 'citizens forever'

Maksym Subkh, Kyiv's new special representative, says PM changed tune once he assumed premiership, but lauds humanitarian aid and hints at expanded cooperation against Tehran

Strike in Zaporizhzhia takes place just hours before Moscow plans to annex more areas of Ukraine in an escalation of the seven-month war

Putin to lead ceremony in Kremlin that will formally incorporate Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia areas into Russian territory, spokesperson says

Russia denies it was behind the explosions, as does the US, which says Moscow's suggestion it would damage pipeline was 'ridiculous'

Eli Rosenbaum tells Senate Judiciary Committee that Russian war criminals should not be able to find safe refuge in America as did many Nazi offenders

State, Treasury departments tell Senate Foreign Relations Committee that response to possible Moscow annexation of Ukrainian territory should focus on oil revenue, arms supplies

'The mobilization is a first sign that something worse might happen,' says Oleg, a bar owner from Moscow; around 17,000 Russians have left to Finland over the weekend

The Russian president has threatened to use battlefield nukes in Ukraine, but such a move would achieve little and could set in motion unstoppable full-scale nuclear war with West