TOP HEADLINES

· Ukraine says Russian troops are trying to break through its positions in the country's east and have intensified its artillery bombardments after Western allies pledged to send Kyiv game-changing heavy battle tanks. READ MORE BELOW

· President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the situation at the front line was "extremely acute," especially in the eastern Donetsk region. The leader said fierce fighting was taking place around Donetsk's regional capital in the cities of Vuhledar and Bakhmut, the latter of which has been largely destroyed.

· Ukraine has been promised more than 320 heavy tanks by several countries, according to its ambassador in France. Poland will send an additional 60 tanks to Ukraine, on top of the 14 German-made Leopard 2 tanks it has already pledged.

· The U.N.'s refugee agency chief has accused Russia of violating the "fundamental principles of child protection" in wartime by giving Ukrainian children Russian passports and putting them up for adoption.

· Three people were killed and at least two others injured after Russian forces hit a residential neighborhood in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka, according to the regional governor.

· Ukraine is set to launch an international campaign to block Russian athletes from competing in the 2024 Olympics, Zelenskyy said after his sports minister refused to say whether his country would boycott the Paris Games if Russian and Belarusian athletes participated.

· Japan has added new sanctions against Russia, adding more goods to its export ban list and freezing the assets. Moscow said Japan's sanctions were not concerning, adding that it was adapting to life under such restrictions.

· Kyiv is set to summon Hungary's ambassador over "completely unacceptable" remarks from Prime Minister Viktor Orban about Ukraine, after the Hungarian leader said the war-stricken country was a no man's land and compared it to Afghanistan.

· A 74-year-old Spanish man has been arrested in relation to a series of letter bombs sent to institutions including the Spanish prime minister and the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid in 2022. An investigating magistrate said he was trying to pressure his country's authorities into dropping support for Ukraine.

· DPRK has hit out at U.S. plans to send battle tanks to Ukraine, claiming Washington was "further crossing the red line" to win hegemony by proxy war.

· Zelenskyy on Friday took part in a commemoration ceremony in Kyiv for Holocaust victims in Ukraine's Babyn Yar, where one of the biggest single massacres of Jews took place during World War Two.

IN DETAIL

Russia pushes forward ahead of Western tank deliveries

Ukraine has said Russian troops are trying to pierce its lines in the east and upping artillery bombardments after Western allies promised to send Kyiv game-changing heavy battle tanks.

Kyiv said fighting had intensified a day after at least 11 people were killed in missile and drone strikes, seen in Ukraine as a response to the promises by important allies to send it tanks.

After weeks of disagreement, Germany and the U.S. this week said they would send Ukraine dozens of modern battle tanks, giving the green-light for other countries to do so.

Ukraine has been promised a total of 321 heavy tanks, Ukraine's ambassador to France, Vadym Omelchenko, said on BFM television on Friday.

Ukraine has also asked for U.S. F16 fighter jets. The White House said the government was aware of the request, but did not comment on whether it was considering the demand.

Both sides in the war are expected to launch spring offensives, though Washington has said Ukraine should wait until Western weapons deliveries arrive and its soldiers are trained to use them, which could take several months.

Moscow accused U.S. President Joe Biden of drawing out the war by arming Kyiv. Ukraine says the only way to end the conflict is for it to win with the assistance of Western weapons. 

President Zelenskyy on Friday said the situation at the frontline remained extremely acute, particularly in the eastern Donetsk region, adding that Russian forces were not just attacking Ukrainian positions but also destroying the towns and villages around them.

Vuhledar, near Donetsk's capital, came under heavy shelling in the past 24 hours, with seven buildings and two schools damaged.

"They constantly use artillery fire, aviation. There is no single quiet minute here," said Yevhen Nazarenko, spokesman for the Ukraine army's 68th brigade.

Oleh Synehubov, governor of the northeastern region of Kharkiv, said fierce fighting was continuing along the front lines there but Ukrainian forces were holding out.