Ukraine and Russia: what you need to know

Ukraine has battled Russian troops trying to pierce its lines in the east and northeast before Kyiv takes delivery of tanks from its Western allies, saying the fighting showed it needed more weapons to repel the invaders.

FIGHTING

* President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described the situation at the front as “extremely acute”, particularly in the eastern Donetsk region where Russia is stepping up an offensive.

* Zelenskiy reported major battles for Vuhledar, to the southwest of Donetsk’s regional capital, and Bakhmut, to the northeast. Bakhmut has largely been pulverised by repeated Russian attacks.

* Local Ukrainian officials reported heavy shelling in the north, northeast and east.

* A 74-year-old Spanish man arrested earlier this week over a spate of letter bombs sent to institutions including the Spanish Prime Minister and the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid in late 2022 sought to pressure his country’s authorities to drop support for Ukraine, an investigating magistrate said.

* A Russian graveyard reveals Wagner’s prisoner army. There were around 200 graves at the site on the outskirts of Bakinskaya village in Krasnodar region when Reuters visited in late January.

WEAPONRY

* A total of 321 heavy tanks have been promised to Ukraine by several countries, Ukraine’s ambassador to France said on BFM television on Friday.

* Poland will send an additional 60 tanks to Ukraine on top of the 14 German-made Leopard 2 tanks it has already pledged, the Polish prime minister said in an interview with Canadian television on Thursday.

* Canada will send four Leopard 2 battle tanks, the Canadian defence minister said, after Germany this week allowed other countries to re-export the German-built tank.

* France and Italy are close to finalising the technical details to supply an SAMP/T air defence system, two diplomatic sources said.

* The Kremlin said it saw the promised delivery of Western tanks as evidence of growing “direct involvement” of the United States and Europe in the 11-month-old war, something both deny.

SANCTIONS AND DIPLOMACY

* Japan tightened sanctions against Russia following its latest wave of missile attacks in Ukraine, adding goods to an export ban list and freezing the assets of Russian officials and entities. Russia said Japan’s sanctions were nothing to worry about and that it was adapting to life under such restrictions.

* The Ukrainian foreign ministry will summon Hungary’s ambassador to complain about “completely unacceptable” remarks Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban made about Ukraine, Kyiv said on Friday. Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko, writing on Facebook, said Orban had told reporters that Ukraine was a no man’s land and compared it to Afghanistan.