Ukraine’s top military commander Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky called on President Trump to provide long-range missiles capable of attacking deep into Russia to cripple Moscow’s war machine.

Moscow's lead negotiator on Wednesday in Istanbul said the Ukrainian and Russian positions on ending the war were still far apart, more than three years into Russia's invasion. The two sides held their third round of peace talks after two earlier meetings in May and June that failed to reach a breakthrough.

The long-range Russian drones come in swarms each night, buzzing over Ukraine by the hundreds, terrorizing the population and attacking targets from the industrial east to areas near its western border with Poland.

New waves of deadly Russian missiles pounded Ukraine overnight Sunday while long range drone attacks by Kyiv sparked travel chaos at Moscow’s airports.

Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR's international team shares moments from their lives and work around the world.

Russia and Ukraine discussed further prisoner swaps on Wednesday at a brief session of peace talks in Istanbul, but the sides remained far apart on ceasefire terms and a possible meeting of their leaders.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is stalling over a ceasefire. Meanwhile, Trump has changed his mind about sending weapons to Ukraine.

Vasily Astrov, expert on the Russian economy at the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, told Newsweek that "inflation has really subsided markedly over the past few months. The outcome of this policy has been a marked cooling of domestic demand, with the welcome side effect of rapid disinflation.

Here’s one survey result I find revealing: Since the invasion began, around half of Russians have consistently told the independent pollster Levada they are paying little or no attention to the war in Ukraine.

Rising summer temperatures drove Saudi Arabia to become Russia's largest seaborne fuel oil customer in June, allowing the kingdom to export more of its crude oil at higher prices.