Fierce battles are raging in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region as Russia intensifies pressure before the first anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Heavy fighting was underway in the northern parts of the frontline hotspot Bakhmut yesterday, while Russian missile strikes on Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv wounded five people.

Western allies pledged precision rockets and missile systems to Ukraine on Friday, after President Volodymyr Zelensky called for sophisticated weapons to help retain control of the embattled eastern city of Bakhmut.

The EU yesterday pledged to support Ukraine “every step of the way” in its quest for bloc membership as top officials gathered in Kyiv for a highly symbolic summit.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky yesterday urged EU leaders during talks in Kyiv to slap more sanctions on Russia, as Moscow’s forces pressed their offensive in eastern Ukraine and fired missiles into the city of Kramatorsk near the front line.

President Joe Biden said the United States would not provide F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine as demanded by Kyiv, which insists it needs those to be better able to drive Russian forces from occupied territories.

Ukraine’s military yesterday said its forces repelled an attack in the area of Blahodatne in the eastern part of the Donetsk region, while Russia’s Wagner private military group said it took control of the village.

Russia's defence ministry on Saturday accused the Ukrainian army of striking a hospital in the eastern Lugansk region, leaving 14 dead and injuring 24 others.

Ukraine yesterday battled Russian troops trying to pierce its lines in the east and northeast before Kyiv takes delivery of tanks from its Western allies, saying the fighting showed it needed more weapons to repel the invaders.

Teacher Oleksandr Pogoryelov occasionally strolls up the sloping road to the school in his village in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine where he taught for more than two decades.

A blistering wave of Russian strikes targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure killed 11 people yesterday, a day after Germany and the United States pledged heavy tanks for Kyiv.

Ukraine will now push for Western fourth generation fighter jets such as the US F-16 after securing supplies of main battle tanks, an adviser to Ukraine’s defence minister said.

The United States and Germany yesterday announced deliveries of top-of-the-line tanks to Ukraine, sweeping aside their longstanding misgivings and signaling a new surge of Western support for an expected counter-offensive against Russian invasion.

Germany yesterday cleared the way for Europe to send scores of battle tanks to Ukraine while the US prepared to make a similar announcement -- moves hailed by Kyiv as a potential turning point in the war, and condemned by Moscow as escalation.

Germany cleared the way on Wednesday for Europe to send scores of battle tanks to Ukraine, and Washington was poised make a similar announcement - moves hailed by Kyiv as a potential turning point in the war and condemned by Moscow as escalation.

Germany yesterday said it would decide “shortly” whether to authorise the export of powerful German-made Leopard battle tanks long sought by Kyiv and encouraged allies to start training Ukrainian forces to use them.

Russia’s foreign intelligence service (SVR) yesterday accused Ukraine of storing Western-supplied arms at nuclear power stations across the country.

Germany yesterday faced a strong backlash from allies over its refusal to supply Ukraine with its vaunted Leopard tanks to bolster its fighting capacity in the nearly year-long war with Russia.

Fighting has “sharply increased” in the southern Ukraine region of Zaporizhzhia, where the front has been largely stagnant for months, a senior Moscow-installed official in the area said yesterday.

The Kremlin yesterday warned of escalation in Ukraine if the West gives the pro-Western country more weapons capable of striking Russia, as Kyiv intensified pressure on Western allies to provide heavier weapons to step up fight against Moscow.