President Joe Biden's administration is urging Ukraine to quickly increase the size of its military by drafting more troops and revamping its mobilization laws to allow for the conscription of those as young as 18.

Ukraine has taken steps to broaden the pool of draft-eligible men, but the efforts have only scratched the surface against a much larger Russian military.

The Biden administration is urging Ukraine to lower its draft age from 25 to 18 in an effort to increase troop numbers, the Associated Press reported on Nov. 27, citing an unnamed senior Biden administration official.

President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Keith Kellogg, a former national security adviser and retired lieutenant general in the US military, to be special envoy to Ukraine and Russia in his second administration. Kellogg is likely to be at the centre of negotiations to end the ongoing war in Ukraine, should Russia and Ukraine agree to take part.

Ukraine's military says that Russia has sustained more than 735,000 casualties in its war effort since February 2022.

Russia launched overnight what officials in Kyiv have described as the biggest drone raid on Ukrainian territory since the start of the conflict. Only hours later, Moscow said it was preparing “retaliatory actions” after Ukraine again used U.