Ukraine war latest: Russia says it is considering nuclear shift - and tells West it is 'playing with fire'; US leads drills after North Korea warhead test (2024)

We're pausing our live coverage of the war in Ukraine for this evening.

Scroll through below to catch up on the latest developments.

Two people have been killed and two more are wounded as a result of Russian shelling in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, an official has said.

Vadym Filashkin, head of the regional military administration, said Russian forces struck the centre of Kurakhove city, killing a woman and a 40-year-old man.

Two injured people were taken to hospital, he said.

He added that the extent of the damage in the attack was being assessed.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban had a seemingly lively chat ahead of a meeting of European leaders in Brussels today.

It's not known what that the two men discussed - but relations between Budapest and Kyiv have become more strained since the Russian invasion in 2022.

Hungary is Russia's closest ally in the EU and Mr Orban has maintained a friendship with Vladimir Putin while criticising the EU's strategy on Ukraine.

In December, Mr Orban blocked a €50bn aid package for Ukraine in a move that frustrated other EU leaders. He lifted the veto several months later.

Two people have been injured in a Russian drone attack on southern Ukraine, an official has said.

The Kherson regional administration said Russian forces launched an attack on the village of Novodmytrivka, leaving a 66-year-old man and 71-year-old woman hurt.

Both have blast injuries and have been taken to hospital for treatment, it said on Telegram.

The US, Israel and Ukraine are all in talks to provide Ukraine with up to eight Patriot air defence systems, according to the Financial Times.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly called for NATO members to send his country the US-made Patriot systems as it battles intensifying Russian attacks.

The FT said the deal would likely involve Israel first sending the systems it plans to retire to the US, before they are handed over to Kyiv.

Sources with knowledge of the negotiations told the paper the outlines of the deal have been discussed between ministers and senior officials from each of the three countries.

Mr Zelenskyy said in May that Kyiv urgently needed at least seven more Patriot missile systems to ward off Russian strikes against its power grid, civilian areas and military targets.

Pictures have emerged this evening of the aftermath of Russia's latest airstrike on the northeastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv.

Emergency services said earlier that five people were injured and buildings were damaged in the attack (see 17.55 post).

Russian forces launched an assault on a new front in Kharkiv in May, after months of fighting focused on the east.

Ukrainian troops have repelled Russian forces from a neighbourhood in the frontline town of Chasiv Yar, a Ukrainian military official has said.

Nazar Voloshin, a spokesman for the Khortytsia operational-strategic group, told the Interfax-Ukraine news agency that Russian forces had been pushed out of the Kanal neighborhood in the east of the town.

Mr Voloshin claimed Moscow's forces were not slowing down in their push to break through in Chasiv Yar, and said two assault operations were ongoing.

"Ukrainian defenders reliably hold the defence in this area and give a decent rebuff to the Russian aggressor," he told the agency.

For context: Chasiv Yar, a strategically-important town in the eastern Donetsk region, has long been a Russian target.

It has been pummelled by Russian air, artillery and drone strikes for months now, as Moscow views the town as a gateway to launch direct offensives against several Ukrainian "fortress cities".

Chasiv Yar had a pre-war population of more than 12,000, but now only a few hundred residents remain.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged EU leaders to make good on their promises to provide his country with military aid after the bloc signed a security agreement underlining its support for Kyiv in the long term.

"Fulfilment of every promise is important, not only in terms of protecting lives but also to destroy the Russian illusion that they will achieve something by war," he said at the summit in Brussels today.

The Ukrainian president thanked countries that have so far promised equipment and arms aid, but pointed out that they were "needed urgently on the battlefield".

He also urged more help on "the urgent things - air defence, that is one".

The EU-Ukraine security agreement entrenches the EU's commitment to help Ukraine in nine areas of security and defence policy - including arms deliveries, military training, defence industry cooperation and demining,

In essence, it encapsulates what the 27-nation bloc has been doing for the country since the start of the war.

But the EU has made a specific commitment to the "predictable, efficient, sustainable and long-term provision of military equipment" for Ukraine.

Kyiv in return has promised to uphold European values and continue on its reform path in preparation to join the EU.

Five people have been injured in Russian airstrikes in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region, according to emergency services.

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine said the strikes hit a residential area of the region, partially destroying one building and damaging others - including a school - as well as cars.

Crews at the scene said five people were hurt.

The windows and gates of the local fire station were also damaged, the emergency service said.

While the apparent gains made by Russia during its spring offensive in Kharkiv were the focus of much of the news coverage of the way in May, a new report indicates any progress made by Vladimir Putin's troops came at a significant cost.

According toUKand other Western intelligence agency sources cited by the New York Times, more than 1,000 Russian soldiers were injured or killed each day last month.

However, the newspaper also cites US officials as saying Moscow is continuing to recruit between 25,000 and 30,000 new soldiers a month - roughly as many as it is losing from the battlefield.

American officials told the outlet that Russia achieved a critical objective of Mr Putin in creating a buffer zone along the border to make it more difficult for the Ukrainians to strike into the country.

But, the Western officials said, this did not threaten Kharkiv and was ultimately stopped by Ukrainian forces.