TOP HEADLINES

· Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the situation on the front lines in eastern Ukraine "has become tougher" as Russian forces push for gains ahead of the the first anniversary of the conflict's start.

· At least three people were killed and 20 injured after a Russian missile strike that hit an apartment building and damaged seven more in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, local officials said.

· Russian forces are trying to encircle the eastern Donetsk city of Bakhmut, where some of the fiercest fighting of the conflict is taking place. 

· Ukraine's defense minister Oleksii Reznikov has said a fresh Russian offensive could begin around the symbolically important date of February 24, the anniversary of the beginning of the war.

· President Vladimir Putin said his military must stop Ukrainian shelling in Russian regions, which he said had left many people homeless or without power. Russia's top diploma Sergei Lavrov added that Russian forces would respond to the delivery of longer-range Western weapons to Kyiv by trying to push Ukrainian forces further away from its borders.

· At least eight people have died in the Crimean city of Sevastopol after an overnight fire in construction workers' temporary accommodation, according to local officials. 

· Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would not allow pro-Ukrainian events arranged by Western and allied countries around the world to mark the anniversary of the conflict to be "the only ones to gain the world's attention." He did not provide extra details.

· Ukrainian authorities have raided a billionaire's home as part of Zelenskyy's fresh anti-corruption drive. Separate raids took place at the home of a former interior minister and at the country's Tax Office, just days before Kyiv hosts a summit with the European Union where it hopes to present a significant crack down on corruption.

· More than a dozen top European Union officials are arriving in Kyiv with promises of more military, financial and political aid.

· Germany will have to order new Leopard tanks to replace those being sent to Ukraine, according to the country's defense minister, who added that they did not care where the money came from.

· EU countries are set to try and thrash out an agreement on a European Commission proposal to set price caps on Russian oil products despite opposition from within the bloc.

· Olympic officials are attempting to quell opposition to plans for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete at the Paris Olympics amid the Ukraine crisis.

IN DETAIL

President Zelenskyy has given another bleak assessment of the battlefield situation as Russian forces continued to make gains in the east of the country ahead of the first anniversary of Moscow sending its troops into Ukraine. 

Russia, reportedly set on making progress ahead of February 24 and before Kyiv receives newly promised Western battle tanks and armored vehicles, has announced advances north and south of Bakhmut, which has been hit by Russian shelling for months.

"Definite increase has been noted in the offensive operations of the occupiers on the front in the east of our country. The situation has become tougher," Zelenskyy said in his evening video broadcast.

"The enemy is trying to achieve at least something now to show that Russia has some chances on the anniversary of the invasion," he added.

Bakhmut and 10 nearby towns and villages came under Russian fire, the Ukrainian military said late on Wednesday.

Avdiivka, another key Russian target, the nearby town of Maryinka and some neighboring settlements were also hit.

Moscow is pushing from both the north and south to encircle Bakhmut, using their superior troop numbers to try to cut it off from re-supply, Ukrainian military analyst Yevhen Dikiy said.

"This for us is the most difficult scenario," Dikiy told Espreso TV.

"The enemy is able to use its sole resource, which it has in excess, its men," he said.

The push also precedes Ukraine securing pledges of weapons from the West, which is expected to include rockets from the U.S. that would nearly double the range of Ukrainian forces.

"We're focused on providing Ukraine the capability that it needs to be effective in its upcoming anticipated counter- offensive in the spring," U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said during a visit to the Philippines on Thursday.

The new weapons mean all of Russia's supply lines in eastern Ukraine would be within range of Ukrainian forces.

Moscow says the rockets will escalate the war but not change its course.