"Kremlin Warns of Conflict with NATO Over Potential European Ground Troops in Ukraine"

The Kremlin warned that sending European NATO-member troops to Ukraine would make a Russia-NATO conflict inevitable, while Russia's Defense Ministry claimed its forces were stopping Ukrainian forces from crossing the Dnieper river. Meanwhile, veteran human rights activist Oleg Orlov was sentenced to prison in a trial condemned as politically motivated, and North Korea reportedly sent thousands of containers of munitions to Russia. Additionally, the UK expects Russia to continue using energy as a coercive instrument, French President Macron said sending Western troops to Ukraine has not been ruled out, and Ukraine's President Zelenskyy expressed concern about defending a Black Sea grain corridor without new U.S. military aid.