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       Ukraine fired at least eight missiles at Russia’s Belgorod border region, killing two people and wounding 12, local officials said on Thursday.

       Russia also said it repelled cross-border incursions by Ukrainian forces in the same area and neighbouring Kursk.

       Moscow claims its troops killed 195 Ukrainian soldiers, destroyed five tanks and four armoured infantry vehicles - just two days after saying it killed 234 Ukrainian troops in another border assault.

       It is not possible to independently verify these claims.

       Cross-border attacks in the area have occurred sporadically since the war began and have been the subject of claims and counterclaims, as well as disinformation and propaganda.

       The attacks come as Kyiv attempts to rattle the Kremlin ahead of Russia’s presidential elections.

       Vladimir Putin is all but guaranteed to win the vote, amid a ruthless crackdown on dissent in the country.

       FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking at a news conference following a meeting of the State Council at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia on Dec. 22, 2022 Sergey Guneyev/Sputnik

       Putin has sought to persuade Russians to keep him in power against a backdrop of what he says are foreign threats to Russia, with the Ukraine war stretching into its third year.

       In a video address, he said participation in the polls was a “manifestation of patriotic feeling” and that the polls were “a step into the future”.

       Analysts say the Kremlin fears low turnout during the three days of voting that finish Sunday. It needs citizens to participate to give legitimacy to Putin.

       The country’s exiled opposition is calling on Russians to protest against the election by gathering at polling stations at noon on Sunday in a signal that they do not support Putin.

       But Putin is almost certain to win another six-year term which will see him remain in office until 2030.

       Since coming to power almost 25 years ago, he has eliminated nearly all independent media and opposition voices in Russia, particularly since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

       While the war did not go well for Russia initially, the country’s economy has been surprisingly resilient despite wide-ranging Western sanctions.

       And as Western aid to Kyiv peters out, Moscow has significantly expanded its weapons production, which analysts warn does not bode well for Ukraine.

       NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday warned that delays in arms and ammunition deliveries to Ukraine are costing lives.

       “The Ukrainians are not running out of courage, they are running out of ammunition,” he told reporters in Brussels.

       Experts say Russia is gaining momentum in the war and that the coming months will be critical to the outcome of the conflict.

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       Russian political activist, Yuri Alekseyev, moved to a remote region of Armenia in May 2022, shortly after Russia launched its so-called "special operation" in Ukraine.

       "As soon as the war started, I hung a 'No to War' banner near my house. I was immediately arrested. They gave me 15 days in jail. I served my time,” he said.

       Occasionally, the lawyer and programmer by profession leave his hut in the mountains to travel some 200 kilometres to the Armenian capital, Yerevan, where he protests against Vladimir Putin outside the Russian embassy.

       Watch the full report in the player above.

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       NATO member states need to urgently step up the delivery of ammunition and weapons to Ukraine, the US-led alliance’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said on Thursday.

       “The Ukrainians are not running out of courage, they are running out of ammunition. Together, we have the capacity to provide Ukraine what it needs, now we need to show the political will to do so,” he said.

       Presenting the annual report at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Stoltenberg added that all the alliance’s allies needed “to dig deep and deliver quickly.”

       “Every day of delay has real consequences on the battlefield in Ukraine. So this is a critical moment, and it would be a great historic mistake to allow Putin to prevail," he said.

       More than two years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s military has been grappling recently with significantly reduced weapon supplies from the West.

       In February, the Institute for the Study of War said delays in Western assistance were "likely helping" Russia's offensive, adding that "critical shortages" of ammo and equipment had allowed Moscow to launch offensive operations.

       “We have the capacity, the economies, to be able to provide Ukraine what they need. This is a question of political will. To take the decisions and to prioritise support for Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said.

       The United States earlier this week announced a new €276 million weapons package for Ukraine, but a further €55 billion in funding remains stalled by Republicans in Congress.

       On Wednesday, European Union countries agreed to provide €5 billion for military aid to Ukraine as part of a revamp of an EU-run assistance fund.

       Reacting to the upcoming elections in Russia, Stoltenberg said the vote would not bring any change in the Kremlin.

       "Free and fair elections are core to any democracy, and elections in Russia will not be free and fair. Because we know already that opposition politicians are in jail, some are killed and many are in exile,” he said.

       Stoltenberg added that any elections held in occupied regions of Ukraine were “completely illegal, violating international law.”

       Russians go to the polls from Friday through to Sunday, but voting has already begun in the occupied Ukrainian regions.