At least 20 dead and fate of 40 remains unknown with scores left homeless says governor

• What we know on day 326 of the invasion

From doctors to cocktail bar staff, in this article by Guardian journalists Emma Graham-Harrison and Artem Mazhulin, the people of the Ukrainian capital speak of their everyday acts of resistance and determination to do much more than simply survive.

Images of the rescue efforts at the destroyed block of flats in Dnipro are filtering through.

Donetsk governor says 559 civilians could not be evacuated, while Ukraine claims troops are ‘holding on’ to city

• Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updates

Hundreds of civilians remain trapped in Soledar, Ukraine has said, as bloody fighting continues over control of the largely destroyed salt mining town in eastern Ukraine.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of Donetsk, told Ukrainian state TV that 559 civilians remained in Soledar, including 15 children, and could not be evacuated.

Valery Gerasimov to replace Sergei Surovikin, who was appointed in October, as Zelenskiy mocks claims of Russian victory in Soledar

Russia has appointed Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff, as its overall commander for the war in Ukraine, in the latest of several major shake-ups of Moscow’s military leadership during the stumbling invasion of its neighbour.

In a statement on Wednesday, the defence ministry said that Gerasimov’s appointment constituted a “raising of the status of the leadership” of the military force in Ukraine and was implemented to “improve the quality … and effectiveness of the management of Russian forces”.

Russia’s mercenary firm Wagner claims it has taken control of eastern salt mining town of Soledar

Bakhmut and Soledar under intense attack after Russian forces regroup and change tactics, Ukraine deputy defence minister says. This live blog is now closed

• What we know on day 320 of the invasion

Here are the latest photos to come out of Ukraine:

This OpEd ran in the Washington Post over the weekend. Condoleezza Rice – former secretary of state and Robert M Gates, former secretary of defense, write:

Both of us have dealt with Putin on a number of occasions, and we are convinced he believes time is on his side: that he can wear down the Ukrainians and that U.S. and European unity and support for Ukraine will eventually erode and fracture. To be sure, the Russian economy and people will suffer as the war continues, but Russians have endured far worse.

Under current circumstances, any negotiated cease-fire would leave Russian forces in a strong position to resume their invasion whenever they are ready. That is unacceptable

The only way to avoid such a scenario is for the United States and its allies to urgently provide Ukraine with a dramatic increase in military supplies and capability — sufficient to deter a renewed Russian offensive and to enable Ukraine to push back Russian forces in the east and south.

Russian attacks reported in at least seven Ukraine regions despite Putin’s ceasefire pledge; shelling reportedly damages power plants in Moscow-controlled region

• What we know on day 319 of the invasion

One person was killed as a result of the attack on the Starobesheve power plant in Novyi Svit, Russia’s state Tass news agency said on Sunday.

The thermal power plant was one of two in part of Ukraine’s Donetsk region that is controlled by Russian forces that were damaged in a rocket attack by the Ukrainian army, Moscow-installed officials said.

The body of one dead woman was extracted from under the rubble at the plant.

The tasks set by the president (Putin) for the special military operation will still be fulfilled.

And there definitely will be a victory.

Reports of strikes on Ukraine’s frontline after Vladimir Putin ordered a truce to observe Russian Orthodox Christmas

• What we know on day 318 of the invasion

Ukraine has updated the number of Russian troops it believes it has killed to 110,740.

The general staff of the armed forces said in its early morning update on Saturday that a further 490 troops were killed on Friday.

Ukrainian shelling that killed 89 recruits aided by mobiles switched on near frontlines, claims Russia defence ministry

• Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updates

Russia’s defence ministry on Wednesday blamed the use of mobile phones by its soldiers for a deadly Ukrainian missile strike that killed dozens of conscripts, sparking anger among relatives of the soldiers.

Commenting on the deadliest single incident Moscow has acknowledged since the start of the war that it said killed 89 servicemen, Lt Gen Sergei Sevryukov said in a video statement that a commission was working to investigate the circumstances of what had happened.

Ukraine president says his only wish for 2023 is victory. This blog is now closed

• Russia launches fresh strikes on Ukraine as Zelenskiy delivers new year message of hope
• What we know on day 312 of Russia’s invasion

The Ukrainian ministry of foreign affairs has posted a video illustrating how new year was celebrated under curfew in Kyiv last night.

Stefania, Ukraine’s Eurovision song contest winning entry, featured in London’s new year fireworks display last night, as did the colours of the Ukrainian national flag as England expressed solidarity with those under bombardment.

President says country ready to fight for return to normal life as Moscow launches latest wave of attacks

• Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updates

Ukraine was targeted by a fresh wave of strikes overnight as Russia’s attack on the country continued into a second year and the embattled President Zelenskiy said in a new year’s message that he hoped for victory.

Blasts were heard in Kyiv after midnight as people celebrated the new year indoors, but the destruction appears to have been limited to two cases of rocket debris falling on the city, damaging a car in the city centre.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy pledges to fight for freedom in 2023; Putin says Moscow will ‘never give in’ to west

• See all our Russia-Ukraine war coverage

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that his only wish for Ukrainians for 2023 was victory and he resolved to stay the course. “I want to wish all of us one thing – victory,” he said in a video message shortly before midnight as Ukrainians marked their first new year since the invasion. Zelenskiy reiterated that he would stay with his people while they were fighting for freedom. “We were told to surrender. We chose a counterattack,” he said. “We are ready to fight for it [freedom]. That’s why each of us is here. I’m here, we are here, you are here, everyone is here. We are all Ukraine.”

Russia has claimed its strikes against Ukraine on New Year’s Eve that killed three people were targeting its neighbour’s drone production. A children’s hospital was among the buildings said to have been hit by Russian shelling. Ukrainian officials claim Russia is deliberately targeting civilians to sow fear.

Russian leaders issued a series of defiant messages ahead of new year. President Vladimir Putin said Russia would “never give in” to the west, and was fighting for its “motherland, truth and justice … so that Russia’s security can be guaranteed”. It was his longest new year’s address in his two decades in charge.

Russia launched more than 20 cruise missiles at Ukrainian targets on Saturday, killing at least one person in Kyiv, the capital, and injuring another 20 people in what one Ukrainian official described as “terror on New Year’s Eve”. Fourteen of the injured were taken to hospital and at least one was in critical condition after Moscow’s second major missile attack in three days.

Ukrainian air defence forces destroyed 45 Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), including 32 during attacks on Kyiv as its citizens attempted to welcome in the new year, Ukrainian command said.

Ukraine’s defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, said Russia may be preparing a new mobilisation order and could close its border to men eligible to fight within a week.

Russia and Ukraine have exchanged more than 200 captured soldiers, the latest prisoner swap between the two sides.

The US is concerned by China’s alignment with Russia as Moscow continues its invasion of Ukraine, the US said after the presidents of Russia and China, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, held a video meeting on Friday.

Russian authorities have announced that soldiers and state employees deployed in Ukraine will be exempt from income tax, in the latest effort to encourage support for its military operation there.

Ukrainian minister tells Russians that Putin is set to begin a new round of troop mobilisations. This blog is now closed

The governor of the Mykolaiv region, Vitalii Kim, has said there is an incoming missile attack on Ukraine.

Posting on his Telegram account, he said it applied to “all regions”.