City of Kherson suffers worst toll as Volodymyr Zelenskiy condemns killing ‘for intimidation and pleasure’

• Russian-Ukraine war: latest updates

Russia launched artillery barrages in southern and eastern Ukraine on Saturday, killing at least eight people and injuring dozens more.

The worst civilian toll was in the southern city of Kherson, which was liberated last month from Russian occupying forces. The office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general confirmed that eight people had been killed.

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In early 2022, the Ukrainian photojournalist Evgeny Maloletka was covering violence in Kazakhstan when his attention turned back home: there were several reports signalling that Russia was preparing an invasion.

He didn’t have to think twice: he knew he had to be back in his home country. By mid-January, he was already working on assignment for the Associated Press in the city of Kharkiv and the Donbas region, in eastern Ukraine, where there was a growing tension among Russian proxies.

US announces fresh sanctions; North Korea denies supplying weapons to Russia; Moscow-installed official in Kherson reportedly killed in car blast

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US intelligence official tells Reuters news agency Russian mercenary group received arms shipment from North Korea

A Christmas tree at Sofia Square in Kyiv, Ukraine, on 21 December.

In homes and schools around Bosnia, young people this December have been preparing gift boxes they hope will put a smile on the faces of their peers living through war in Ukraine – as such presents did for many of their parents a generation ago.

Responding to an appeal launched by a small Sarajevo museum, hundreds of Bosnian children have been filling small boxes with warm clothes, toys, candies and other simple gifts to be delivered to the children of Ukraine in time for the New Year.

For parents and educators who are helping them select what to send, the experience has awakened rare happy memories from the time when they were on the receiving end of the kindness of strangers while growing up in constant fear of death.

Ukrainian president is meeting with president Joe Biden and Congressional leaders on Wednesday evening

• Russia-Ukraine war at a glance

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has undertaken a surprise trip to Beijing and held talks with the Chinese president Xi Jinping during which he said they discussed the Ukraine conflict.

Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s security council, posted a video on his Telegram channel showing him meeting Xi, smiling for photos and a meeting between Chinese and Russian officials.

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The Biden administration has crossed a new line in its support for Ukraine, by indicating its willingness to send Patriot air and missile defence systems to aid in the war against Russia.

The system – which includes powerful missile interceptors and radar – is likely to prove highly effective for Ukraine, and marks a significant step forward in the scope and complexity of the US’s support. But the gift of such prestige systems will present longer-term challenges for Nato.