The Russian economy is in an increasingly precarious state as a result of a shift to a war mode and of Western sanctions over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, a report by the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) said on Tuesday.

A CNN investigation found that residents of Mariupol, including schoolchildren, are being trained in new media programs and “blogger schools” with ties to the Russian state.

The United Nations aviation agency has ruled that Russia was responsible for shooting down a Malaysian Airlines flight over Ukraine in 2014 that killed all 298 people on board.

A Ukrainian military spokesperson said the deployment signals that Russian forces are facing some trouble in Chasiv Yar.

Moscow has hit back at Europe 's 30-day ceasefire ultimatum as “unacceptable” and “unsuitable” following Western threats of sanctions. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said it was wrong to “use such language with Russia ” as Europe ’s deadline for Russia to agree to a truce with Ukraine got closer.