KYIV: Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Moscow is seeking to advance in multiple regions, and NATO allies promised more weapons for Kyiv and equipment to help restore Ukrainian power and heat.
On Tuesday, air-raid warning sirens caused Ukrainians to flee for bomb shelters, though the country later received the all-clear. Russian forces bombarded Ukrainian targets in the eastern part of the Donetsk region with artillery, mortar, and tank fire.
Zelenskiy claimed that attacks were also being made by the Russian military in the northeastern city of Kharkiv and the eastern city of Luhansk, which Ukraine reclaimed in September.
Zelenskiy says Russian troops are still trying to advance in Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv. Ukraine regained control of Kherson in the south this month after Russian forces retreated. Foreign ministers from NATO meet in Bucharest to seek ways to sustain Kyiv's military through a coming winter campaign.
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev warns NATO against sending missile defence systems to Ukraine. Washington says it will provide $53 million to buy power grid equipment. Jens Stoltenberg says Russia is "trying to use winter as a weapon of war".
U.S. President Joe Biden said providing more military assistance for Ukraine was a priority, but Republicans, who take control of Congress' House of Representatives in January, have talked about pausing the funding, which has surpassed $18 billion.
Power has been restored to half of the city of Kherson in southern Ukraine after days of severe power cuts caused by Russian attacks. Millions in and around the capital Kyiv are still without electricity as temperatures drop below freezing. Russia has been carrying out huge attacks on Ukraine's electricity infrastructure since October.
Ukrainian forces struck a power plant in Russia's Kursk region on Tuesday, causing some electricity outages. Moscow says hurting civilians is not its aim but that their suffering will end only if Kyiv accepts its demands. Although Kyiv says it shoots down most of the incoming missiles, the damage has been accumulating. A senior U.S. military official said Russia was firing unarmed cruise missiles that were designed to carry nuclear warheads at targets in Ukraine.
The worst barrage so far was on Nov. 23, leaving millions of Ukrainians in cold and darkness. Zelenskiy told Ukrainians at the start of this week to expect another soon that would be at least as damaging.
There are no political talks to end the war. Moscow has annexed Ukrainian territory which it says it will never relinquish; Ukraine says it will fight until it recovers all occupied land.
Kyiv said it wants weapons to help it end the war - by winning it.