A fire has erupted at a key Russian oil depot and a second military site near the Ukrainian border, Russian authorities said early Monday.

Social media accounts based in Russia’s Bryansk region shared footage of what they described as explosions and a fire at the Transneft-Druzhba depot. The state-run oil export company’s subsidiary runs one of the

Russian President Vladimir Putin has dropped plans for a peace deal and appears set on capturing more Ukrainian territory after failing to secure a quick victory in the first phase of the war, the Financial Times reported Sunday, citing three sources briefed on conversations with him.

"There was hope for a deal. Putin was going back and forth," one

Russia's ambassador in the United States has accused Washington of "blockading" Russian diplomatic missions amid increasingly strained relations over Moscow's invasion of pro-Western Ukraine.

"In effect, the embassy is under a blockade by U.S. government agencies," Ambassador Anatoly Antonov told Russian state television.

Antonov said the Russian

The United States' top diplomat and defense chief were in Kyiv Sunday, Ukraine's presidency said, making the first high-level visit by U.S. officials since Russia invaded its neighbor two months ago, as fierce fighting cast a shadow over Orthodox Easter.

The trip by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin comes as the