Russian forces fired cruise missiles to destroy a large depot containing US and European weapons in western Ukraine’s Ternopil region, Interfax reported yesterday, as street fighting raged in the eastern city of Severodonetsk.

Ukraine is running out of ammunition, officials said yesterday appealing for more arms, as fighting raged in the east and south of the country.

Russian President Vladimir Putin paid tribute on Thursday to Tsar Peter the Great on the 350th anniversary of his birth, drawing a parallel between what he portrayed as their twin historic quests to win back Russian lands.

Ukraine sought more help from the West on Friday, pleading for faster deliveries of weapons to hold off better-armed Russian forces and for humanitarian support to combat deadly diseases.

Ukraine said yesterday it had launched new air strikes on Russian positions in the captured southern region of Kherson as President Volodymyr Zelensky insisted Kyiv’s forces were “holding on” in the east of the country.

Two Britons and a Moroccan who were captured while fighting for Ukraine were sentenced to death on Thursday by a court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), one of Russia's proxies in eastern Ukraine, Russian news agencies reported.

Ukrainian forces yesterday claimed to have pushed forward in intense street fighting in the eastern city of Severodonetsk, but said their only hope to turn the tide was more artillery to offset Russia’s massive firepower.

Ukrainian troops holding out in the ruins of Severodonetsk yesterday came under renewed heavy assault from Russian forces who see the capture of the industrial city as key to control of the surrounding Luhansk region.

Ukraine’s ambassador is urging Israel to sell its Iron Dome rocket interception system and provide anti-tank missiles to defend civilians against Russia’s invasion.

Russia yesterday reported its forces had taken full control of residential neighbourhoods in Ukraine’s flashpoint city of Severodonetsk, after Kyiv said its troops were fighting on in the eastern hub despite being outnumbered.

The end of end of the war and restoration of peace in Ukraine can only take place at the negotiation table, and not by focusing on the military gains, said international relations analysts and diplomats today.

The Russian parliament has passed a set of laws allowing Moscow not to comply with the top European human rights court’s rulings.

Ukrainian and Russian troops fought street-by-street to win control of the industrial city of Severodonetsk yesterday in the pivotal battle of the Kremlin’s eastern Ukraine offensive.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned yesterday that Moscow will hit new targets if the West supplies Ukraine with long-range missiles, hours after several explosions rocked the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.

Russia struck Ukraine's capital Kyiv with missiles early on Sunday for the first time in more than a month, while Ukrainian officials said a counter-attack on the main battlefield in the east had retaken half of the city of Sievierodonetsk.

Ukraine yesterday said its forces were managing to push back against Russian troops in fierce fighting in Severodonetsk despite Russia “throwing all its power” into capturing the strategic eastern city.

Two Reuters journalists were injured and a driver killed on Friday after the vehicle they were in came under fire while heading to the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk, the latest battle line in Russia's assault on its neighbour.

The United Nations said yesterday there would be no victor from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as the conflict entered its 100th day and Moscow’s forces pressed deeper into the eastern Donbas region.

The European Union on Thursday gave its final approval to new sanctions on Russian oil and top bank Sberbank, after much wrangling with Hungary, as punishment for Russian President Vladimir Putin's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.

Russian troops fought to take complete control of the eastern industrial city of Sievierodonetsk on Wednesday as the United States said it will provide Ukraine with advanced rockets to help it force Moscow to negotiate an end to the war.