Ukraine war latest: China 'ready to call' Ukraine for first time since war began; Putin promises vending machines in 'struggle to maintain loyalty'
Chinese president 'ready to call' Zelenskyy for first time since war began
Xi Jinping is ready to call Volodymyr Zelenskyy - but on his own timetable, according to a French diplomatic source.
China is ready to work with France to "push hard" to start negotiations on ending the conflict, the source said, as Emmanuel Macron visits Beijing.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, who is also in Beijing, said she had encouraged Mr Xi to reach out to the Ukrainian president.
This is the first indication of how Mr Xi may respond to the Ukrainian leader's invitation to meet him in Kyiv.
China's president hasn't spoken to Mr Zelenskyy since the outbreak of the war, but flew to Moscow to meet Vladimir Putin last month.
State media has quoted Mr Xi as saying China's policy on Ukraine can be summed up in one sentence: "Promote peace and dialogue."
What is the situation in Bakhmut - the 'fortress' city in Ukraine's east
Bakhmut has been the subject of much talk since the war in Ukraine erupted months ago, and the frontline drew closer to the embattled town.
It has been described as a "post-apocalyptic" wasteland and entirely destroyed, while Wagner Group mercenaries continue to clash with Ukrainian defenders.
Today, the situation remains much unchanged.
Battles continued in the streets on Thursday, with Ukrainian troops insisting they are ready to launch their long-awaited counteroffensive when the weather perks up.
Bakhmut is one of the last standing cities in the Donetsk region, but Wagner fighters are pushing hard to take it.
"The battles for Bakhmut continue," Andriy Yermak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said today.
"They are under way in the streets, enemy attempts to encircle the city are failing. Our command fully control the situation with the defensive 'fortress'."
The leader of Russia's private Wagner militia, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said fighting was continuing in the west of the city.
"It must be said clearly that the enemy is not going anywhere," he said.
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Four killed in strike on eastern Ukraine - reports
At least four civilians have been killed in an artillery strike on the eastern city of Donetsk, a Russian state-owned news agency reported today.
The RIA agency said a car park in the city's Kalininsky district had been hit.
Donetsk has been controlled by Russian proxy forces since 2014, but remains close to the frontline of Russia's war with Ukraine.
It regularly comes under fire from Ukrainian forces, while battles for cities elsewhere in the region rage on.
22:31
In pictures: Russian defence minister inspects military factory
Sergei Shoigu, the Russian defence minister, visited the Arzamas Machine-Building Plant in the Nizhny Novgorod region of Russia this afternoon.
The plant assembles the BTR-80 armoured personnel carrier, the Tigr 4×4 multipurpose all-terrain infantry mobility vehicle and civilian vehicles, which are exported worldwide.
The type of fighter jets donated by Poland yesterday do not fully meet Ukraine's battlefield needs, one of the most senior commanders in its air force has said.
Serhiy Holubtsov said Kyiv was in dire need of F-16 fighter jets, which were "four or five times" more effective.
Poland announced it would send a total of 16 Soviet-era MiG-29 planes, while Western allies in general - and most importantly the US - have resisted calls for F-16s.
"The F-16 is a fighter that has become a multirole aircraft which can fulfil the entire spectrum of airborne tasks. The MiG-29 unfortunately, is from the last century," Mr Holubtsov said on national television.
Washington ruled out sending F-16s to Ukraine, with US officials estimating it would take 18 months to complete training and delivery.
But as we reported earlier, air force general Serhii Holubtsov said his pilots who tested in the US had shown they could master the planes on a "significantly reduced" timetable.
He did not specify how long that revised training time might be.
Ukraine launches app to find allegedly abducted children
Ukraine has launched an app to help find the 19,000 children Kyiv estimates have been allegedly deported to Russia.
Reunite Ukraine, developed with US tech company Find My Parent, aims to connect families separated by the conflict.
Vladimir Putin has been accused of illegally transporting Ukrainian children to Russia by the International Criminal Court, which issued a warrant for his arrest.
Oleksander Fatsevych, deputy head of the Ukrainian national police, said: "If we find even one child in such a way or reunite one family, it will be already a victory, a small one, but with every step we will be able to return children home."
Police intend to check and confirm personal profiles on the app and act as an intermediary between them.
Mr Fatsevych said this would enable police to gather more data from people in Russia, Belarus or occupied territories who wanted to help the Ukrainian children.
The Kremlin denies abducting children, but has not concealed a so-called humanitarian programme to bring thousands of children to Russia from occupied areas.
Its children's commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, who also faces an ICC arrest warrant over similar allegations to Mr Putin, said this week that Russia had taken in more than five million refugees from the eastern Donbas region.
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20:40
Wikipedia fined by Russia over rock song
Wikipedia's owner has been fined by a Russian court for not deleting content related to an alternative rock group designated "extremist" by the country.
The Wikimedia Foundation must pay £8,000 over information about a song by the Russian band Psychea, according to Russian news agencies, bringing the total it has been fined in the past year to more than £88,000.
The case is part of Moscow's drive to crack down on independent publications, with Wikimedia remaining one of the few fact-checked sources of information in Russian.
Wikimedia did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but it has previously said it expects more cases to be brought against it given the number of articles about the war in Ukraine.
Russia has for years sought to launch a home-grown online encyclopaedia, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying it was "absolutely necessary" on Tuesday.
"It would contain truly verified and accurate information, objective information," he said.
"Because we know that Wikipedia has many distortions, very many untruths, very many historical, factual and other mistakes."
While Moscow has restricted access to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, Wikipedia remains freely available.
20:25
Ukrainian special forces near Bakhmut
Members of the Ukrainian special forces and the "Five Separate Assault Brigade" prepare their weapons on a training ground in the region of Bakhmut.
US tests show Kyiv's pilots can master F-16 jets 'significantly' quicker than expected
US tests show Ukrainian pilots could be trained to fly modern F-16 fighter jets on a "significantly reduced" timetable, Ukraine's air force has said.
Ukrainska Pravda reported General Serhii Holubtsov as saying two pilots sent to America scored highly in an assessment of their skills.
The visit was undertaken to provide Ukraine with more information on what its pilots needed to learn to fly the planes, which Kyiv insists are necessary to gain an advantage on the battlefield.
"We believed that our pilots would show their [skill] level, and it really happened," General Holubtsov said, quoted by Pravda.
"Two pilots successfully passed the test in the United States. The assessment given was quite high, and at the end of the report [it was indicated] that a retraining programme for Ukrainian pilots to master F-16 jets could be significantly reduced compared to standard pilot training programmes."
There has been no agreement from the US or other major military allies to send F-16 fighters as requested.
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