Ukraine troops ‘holding out’ in key city
Russian troops are trying to gain a foothold in the central part of the city of Sievierodonetsk, the Ukrainian military says.
Russian troops are trying to gain a foothold in the central part of the city of Sievierodonetsk, the Ukrainian military says.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says Ukrainian defenders are fighting for "every metre" of Sievierodonetsk where civilians have been left with just one way out.
The war between Russia and Ukraine is now into its 100th day, with Moscow having been driven back from Kyiv but launching a huge new assault in the east.
Russian forces, 98 days into their invasion of Ukraine, are pounding targets including key infrastructure in other eastern and southern areas.
As the Russian offensive continues across Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, the European Union agreed to ban most imports of Russian oil.
Russia has concentrated its firepower on Sievierodonetsk, the last major population centre still held by Ukrainian forces in the eastern Luhansk province.
Russian forces have hit targets in the east and south of Ukraine and are pushing to defeat the last Ukrainian troops holding out in a steelworks in Mariupol.
Russia is attacking Ukraine's eastern Donbas region but have so far failed to capture three target areas and the conflict goes on.
Having failed in an assault on Kyiv in the north of Ukraine last month, Russia is trying to fully capture two eastern provinces known as the Donbas.
Russia is reporting blasts in the south of the country, in what a top Ukrainian official has described as "payback" and "karma" for Moscow's invasion.
The risks of nuclear war are "considerable" over the Ukraine conflict, Russia's foreign minister says, as he accuses NATO of waging a proxy war through Kyiv.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says there will be no decision on nuclear propelled submarines ahead of the federal election due in May.
The Australian Defence Department has strongly condemned "unsafe military conduct" after an incident involving a defence force aircraft and a Chinese vessel.
A $160 million maintenance facility for high-tech military aircraft will be constructed next to a RAAF base north of Adelaide.