TOP HEADLINES

• Russian forces fired 33 rockets at civilian targets in Kherson in the 24 hours to early Wednesday, said the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces. Russia denies targeting civilians. READ MORE BELOW

• President Vladimir Putin said Russia would ban oil sales to countries which abide by the cap on oil prices, as imposed by Western countries on December 5. Russia is the world's second largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia. READ MORE BELOW

• Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a meeting of his military command had "established the steps to be taken in the near future… This will be a decisive year. We understand the risks of winter. We understand what needs to be done in the spring."

• Air raid sirens sounded across all Ukraine's regions on Wednesday, officials said. Ukrainian social media reports said the nationwide alert may have been declared after Russian jets stationed in Belarus took off.

• Ship insurers said they are cancelling war risk cover across Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, following an exit from the region by reinsurers in the face of steep losses.

• One of Vladimir Putin's most powerful Kremlin aides has visited the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in a part of southern Ukraine Russia says it has annexed, a Moscow-installed official in the region said.

• Russia's government should "balance the interests" of domestic and foreign airlines to support the domestic aviation sector, said the head of Russia's state-controlled airline Aeroflot. Russian airlines have stopped flying to most overseas destinations since Western sanctions were imposed.

• Italy's defense minister was cautious over supplying Ukraine with air defense systems, as requested by Zelenskyy. Guido Crosetto said systems would be provided "if possible" but "we must take them from our stocks and we have to do that without depleting them."

• The rouble weakened on Wednesday, sliding past the 71 mark against the dollar, as sanctions on Russian oil and their probable impact on export revenues put pressure on the Russian currency. The rouble lost about 8 percent against the dollar last week and is on course for a hefty monthly decline.

• Russian troops who have been part of a mobilization drive for military operations in Ukraine will have the right to get their sperm frozen for free in cryobanks, the state TASS agency reported, citing Igor Trunov, president of the Russian Union of Lawyers.

IN DETAIL

Ukraine claims Russia targeting civilians

Russian forces fired 33 rockets at civilian targets in the Ukrainian city of Kherson in the 24 hours to early Wednesday, Ukraine's military said, as fighting intensified with Russia deploying more tanks and armored vehicles on front lines.

The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said in its morning report that Russia forces were attacking populated areas on the right bank of the Dnipro River near Kherson with mortars and artillery.

Russia denies targeting civilians. Reuters was unable to immediately verify the reports.

Russian forces abandoned Kherson last month in one of Ukraine's most significant gains in the 11-month war, but fighting has entered a slow, grinding phase as bitter winter weather has set in.

"There has been very little change in terms of the front line but pressure from the enemy has intensified, both in terms of the numbers of men and the type and quantity of equipment," said Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov, who added that fighting had intensified with Russia deploying armored vehicles and tanks.

The heaviest fighting has been around the eastern city of Bakhmut, a bombed-out ghost town, which Russia has been trying for months to storm at huge cost in lives, and further north in the cities of Svatove and Kreminna, where Ukraine is trying to break Russian defensive lines.

READ MORE Why Russia and Ukraine have fought for five months over Bakhmut

In Bakhmut, home to 70,000 people before the conflict and now in ruins, Reuters reporters saw fires burning in a large residential building. Debris littered the streets and the windows of most buildings were blown out.

"Our building is destroyed. There was a shop in our building, now it's not there anymore," said Oleksandr, 85, adding he was the only remaining resident there.

Nearby, 73-year-old Pilaheia said she had long got used to the "constant explosions."

Russia retaliates over oil price cap

Russian President Vladimir Putin retaliated on Tuesday against a price cap on its oil imposed by Western countries, saying Russia would ban oil sales to countries that abide by the cap imposed on December 5.

The cap, unseen even in the times of the Cold War between the West and the Soviet Union, is aimed at crippling Russia's military efforts in Ukraine - without upsetting markets by actually blocking its supply of oil.

Under the cap, oil traders who want to retain access to Western financing for such crucial aspects of global shipping as insurance must promise not to pay more than $60 per barrel for Russian seaborne oil.

That is close to the current price for Russian oil, but far below the prices at which Russia was able to sell it for much of the past year, when windfall energy profits helped it offset the impact of financial sanctions.

The oil ban decree from Putin was presented as a direct response to "actions that are unfriendly and contradictory to international law by the United States and foreign states and international organizations joining them."

The ban would halt crude oil sales to countries participating in the price cap from February 1 to July 1, 2023. A separate ban on refined oil products such as gasoline and diesel would take effect on a date to be set by the government. Putin would have authority to overrule the measures in special cases.

Russia is the world's second largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia, and any actual disruption to its sales would have far-reaching consequences for global energy supplies.