Ukraine and Russia: what you need to know

Russian forces are relentless in their attempts to capture the bombed-out eastern Ukrainian towns of Bakhmut and Avdiivka but are not making progress, Ukraine’s military said, but a pro-Moscow official said the Russians are advancing.

DIPLOMACY, NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND MILITARY AID

* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has extended an invitation to Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit, the Associated Press reported.

* Russia has begun exercises with the Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system and several thousand of troops, its defence ministry said, in what is likely to be seen as another attempt by Moscow to show off its nuclear strength.

* The United States has not seen any indications that Vladimir Putin is getting closer to using tactical nuclear weapons in his war on Ukraine, just days after the Russian leader said he was moving such weapons into Belarus.

* Belarus confirmed it will host Russian tactical nuclear weapons, saying the decision was a response to years of Western pressure.

* The United States has informed Russia it will not exchange data on its nuclear forces, describing the change as a response to Russia’s decision to suspend participation in the New START nuclear arms treaty. The US would be willing to share some data if Russia were to come into compliance with New START.

* Electronic billboards in Moscow tell the public what to pack for a nuclear emergency, and Putin periodically warns that Russia is ready to use its ultimate deterrent, but Muscovites seem to be taking it all in their stride.

BATTLEFIELD AND MILITARY AID

* Russian forces are moving forward in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut despite fierce resistance and have almost taken full control of a metals plant there, the Russian-installed leader in the region said.

* Russian forces trying to encircle the town of Avdiivka in recent days have made only marginal gains despite heavy losses in armoured vehicles, including a tank regiment that has likely lost a large proportion of its tanks, Britain’s Ministry of Defence said in an intelligence update.

* Reuters could not verify battlefield reports.

PEOPLE

* Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk urged Russians not to adopt children who she said were “stolen” in Ukraine and deported to Russia.

* A Russian who was investigated by police after his daughter drew an anti-war pictureat school was sentenced to two years in a penal colony on charges of discrediting the armed forces but the whereabouts of the man were unclear.

QUOTE

“No, those warnings don’t scare me and don’t change my attitude towards the world, people and our president,” said Yulia Gorodnyanskaya, 38, a Moscow resident unfazed by Putin’s rising nuclear rhetoric.