“Massive” Russian bombardment of the strategic eastern city of Lysychansk and key city Severodonetsk has been “hell” for soldiers there, Kyiv said, while insisting that defenders would hold “as long as necessary”.

Russian forces pounded Ukraine's second largest city Kharkiv and surrounding countryside with rockets, killing at least 20 people in what Kyiv called a bid to force it to pull resources from the main battlefield to protect civilians from attack.

Bangladesh is trying to secure wheat supplies from Russia in a government-to-government deal after its biggest supplier India restricted exports of the grain last month to contain local prices, government and trade officials told Reuters on Wednesday.

Moscow yesterday warned Lithuania of “serious” consequences over its restriction of rail traffic to Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave, as Kremlin forces made gains in Ukraine’s strategic Donbas region.

Germany faces certain recession if already faltering Russian gas supplies completely stop, an industry body warned on Tuesday, as Italy said it would consider offering financial backing to help companies refill gas storage to avoid a deeper crisis in winter.

Russian forces have stepped up their shelling in Ukraine’s Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, Kyiv said yesterday, after President Volodymyr Zelensky warned to expect greater hostilities ahead of a historic EU decision on Ukraine’s bid for candidate status.

What’s the price of peace?

The war in Ukraine could last for years, the head of Nato said yesterday, calling for steadfast support from Ukraine’s allies as President Zelensky vowed that his forces “will not give away the south to anyone” after visit to the southern frontline.

With a blessing for its EU ambitions and a pledge of unwavering support from Britain, Ukraine vowed on Saturday to prevail against Moscow as it battled Russian assaults near a key eastern city and multiple locations came under shell and missile attack.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky yesterday visited the war-damaged southern city of Mykolaiv for the first time since the Russian invasion as “fierce battles” raged again in the eastern Donbas region.

Europe sent a powerful symbol of solidarity with Ukraine yesterday, when Brussels backed Kyiv’s bid for EU candidate status, even as Russia shelled frontline Ukrainian cities and cut back gas supplies to the West.

The Kremlin yesterday warned against new Western weapons supplies to Ukraine as leaders of Germany, France and Italy visited Kyiv in a display of solidarity with a country pleading for weapons to fend off Russia’s invasion.

The White House on Wednesday urged Americans not to travel to Ukraine after reports emerged that two Americans had been captured by Russian forces.

Russia said yesterday its forces destroyed a depot containing Nato-supplied arms in western Ukraine as Kyiv showed no signs of obeying a Russian ultimatum to surrender the eastern city of Severodonetsk.

The White House is expected to announce around $1 billion worth of new weapons aid for Ukraine, including anti-ship rocket systems, artillery rockets, and rounds for howitzers.

Russian forces yesterday stepped up efforts to cut off Ukrainian troops in the key industrial city of Severodonetsk in the east of the country despite Ukrainians insisting they were holding on.

Russia has banned dozens of British journalists, media representatives and defence figures from entering the country, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

The Wikimedia Foundation, which owns Wikipedia, has filed an appeal against a Moscow court decision demanding that it remove information related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, arguing that people have a right to know the facts of the war.

Ukraine said yesterday its forces have been pushed back from the centre of the eastern city of Severodonetsk, where fighting with Russia has raged for weeks.

Russia earned 93 billion euros ($98 billion) from fossil fuel exports during the first 100 days of its war in Ukraine, with most sent to the European Union, according to research published Monday.