Facing stiff resistance in Ukraine and crippling economic sanctions at home, Russian President Vladimir Putin is using language that recalls the rhetoric from Josef Stalin's show trials of the 1930s.

The State Department confirmed on Thursday that an American citizen was killed in a Russian attack on the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv.

Merefa (Ukraine): Twenty-one people have been killed by Russian artillery that destroyed a school and a community center in Merefa, near the northeast city of Kharkiv, officials said.

Tokyo: A powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake shook off the coast of Fukushima in northern Japan on Wednesday evening, triggering a tsunami advisory.

A North Korean missile fired from its capital region exploded in mid-air in an apparent failed launch on Wednesday, South Korea's military said, amid speculation that the North could soon launch its biggest long-range missile in its most significant provocation in years.

The US Senate unanimously approved a resolution seeking investigations of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his regime for war crimes over the invasion of Ukraine.

India taking up Russia's offer of discounted crude oil would not be a violation of American sanctions, the White House has said.