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Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskiy has now arrived in Singapore for the annual Shangri-La security summit, where he will address delegates tomorrow.

He is expected to hold talks with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and other leaders attending the conference, seeking support for a “peace summit” this month in Switzerland.

Lloyd Austin, speaking at the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, praises troops’ courage in ‘hard and dangerous fight’. This live blog has closed

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, held a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana, the Russian state news Tass agency reported on Monday.

It said the ministers were meeting to discuss the implementation of Russian-Chinese agreements reached during Vladimir Putin’s state visit to China last week, and events in Iran, whose president and foreign minister were killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday.

Ukraine’s president says air defences must quadruple to halt Russian advance as morale falls among troops

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said he expects Russia to step up its offensive in the north-east and warned Kyiv has only a quarter of the air defences it needs to hold the front line.

Russian forces, which had made only moderate advances in recent months, launched a surprise assault in Kharkiv region on 10 May that has resulted in their biggest territorial gains in a year-and-a-half.

The country’s foreign ministry said the supply of long range weapons to Ukraine by the UK and US had led to an escalation in the conflict

A long-range Ukrainian strike on the Moscow-controlled Belbek airbase in occupied Crimea destroyed three Russian warplanes and a fuel facility near its main runway this week, US commercial satellite company Maxar said.

The company cited satellite imagery taken on Thursday as showing that two MiG-31 fighter jets and an Su-27 fighter jet had been destroyed. It said one MiG-29 fighter aircraft also appeared to have been damaged.

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Russian forces have advanced one kilometre (0.62 mile) into Ukraine’s northeast Kharkiv region near Vovchansk, a high-ranking Ukrainian military source said on Friday.

According to Reuters, the source said the Russian military was aiming to advance as much as 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) into the region in an effort to establish a buffer zone. Ukrainian forces were fighting to hold back Moscow’s advance.

At approximately 5 am, there was an attempt by the enemy to break through our defensive line under the cover of armoured vehicles.

As of now, these attacks have been repulsed; battles of varying intensity continue.

Move comes after deputy prime minister and agriculture minister dismissed by government

South Korea’s position remains it will not supply lethal weapons to any country, president Yoon Suk Yeol said on Thursday, when asked if Seoul was prepared to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia.

Yoon also said his government intended to continue managing relations with Moscow to “pursue economic cooperation and mutual benefits” even though the two countries’ ties have become “uncomfortable” since the start of the war in Ukraine.

Several Russian diplomatic premises that UK believes have been used by Russian intelligence also closed. This live blog is closed

The Kremlin also said that it valued its relations with North Korea, when asked about a report that Russia has been shipping refined petroleum to North Korea at levels that appear to breach a cap set by the United Nations Security Council.

“We value our bilateral relations with North Korea and intend to further develop them in all possible areas,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Regional armed forces admit ‘difficult situation’ as Kyiv awaits western military aid

Russian forces have made significant advances in a narrow corridor in eastern Ukraine as an offensive by Moscow to take territory before western military aid arrives appears to be gathering pace.

Footage posted by Kremlin military bloggers shows a Russian tricolour flying above the shattered village of Ocheretyne. Russian troops reportedly entered the territory on Sunday, north-west of the town of Avdiivka, after advancing about 5km in 10 days.