Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

Russian forces pressed on with their offensive across several Ukrainian regions, while President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned of the potential for more serious attacks ahead of Ukraine’s 31st anniversary of independence from Soviet rule.

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Fighting

• In the eastern Bakhmut region, Russian forces inflicted damage from artillery and multiple rocket launcher systems in the areas of Soledar, Zaytseve and Bilogorivka settlements, Ukraine’s General Staff said in its daily update.

• Russia said its Kalibr missiles had destroyed an ammunition depot containing missiles for US-made HIMARS rocket in Ukraine’s southeastern Odesa region, while Kyiv said a granary had been hit.

• Dnipropetrovsk governor wrote on Telegram that Nikopol, which lies across the Dnipro river from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, was shelled on five different occasions. He said 25 artillery shells hit the city, causing a large fire at an industrial premises and cutting power to 3,000 inhabitants.

• The southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv was hit with multiple S-300 missiles, regional governor said on Telegram.

• Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield reports.

Car bomb death

• The daughter of an ultra-nationalist Russian ideologue who advocates Russia absorbing Ukraine was killed in a suspected car bomb attack outside Moscow on Saturday evening, Russian state investigators said.

Diplomacy, economy

• President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said if Russia went ahead with plans to try captured Ukrainian defenders in Mariupol, then it would have violated international rules and cut itself off from negotiations.

• Germany has a good chance of getting through the coming winter without taking drastic measures but nonetheless faces a difficult time and must prepare for Russia to tighten gas supplies further, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said.

• The leaders of Britain, the United States, France and Germany stressed during a joint call the importance of ensuring the safety of nuclear sites in Ukraine, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office said.

• Albania said it was investigating why two Russians and a Ukrainian had tried to enter a military factory.