Russia-Ukraine war update: what we know on day 133 of the invasion
Russian forces hit targets across Ukraine's eastern Donetsk province; governor urges 350,000 civilians to evacuate
At least two people have been killed and seven injured after massive shelling" pummelled the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk, officials say. City mayor, Vadim Lyakh, called on residents to evacuate after Russian forces struck a market and a residential area.
The governor of the Donetsk region has also urged 350,000 civilians to evacuate in light of an imminent Russian offensive. Pavlo Kyrylenko said that getting people out is necessary to save lives and to enable the Ukrainian army to better defend towns from the Russian advance.
Ukraine's governor of Luhansk said on Wednesday that fighting continues in the villages around Lysychansk. Serhai Haidai said some settlements have already been under one or another control twice". He repeated that up to 15,000 civilians remain in Lysychansk and 8,000 in Sievierodonetsk, adding today's videos from Lysychansk are painful to watch".
The battle for Sloviansk is likely to be the next key contest in the struggle for Donbas as Russian forces approach within 16km of the Donetsk town, the UK Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday. Russian forces from the eastern and western groups of forces are likely now around 16km north of Sloviansk as central and southern groups of forces also pose a threat to the town, according to the latest British intelligence report.
Russia's defence ministry has claimed its forces destroyed two advanced US-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) rocket systems and ammunition depots in eastern Ukraine. It also said Russian forces destroyed two ammunition depots storing rockets for the HIMARS near the frontline in a village south of Kramatorsk in Ukraine's Donetsk region. These claims have not been independently verified.
The premises of a higher educational institution in the Kyiv region of Kharkiv have been destroyed by Russian fire, according to the governor of the region, Oleh Synyehubov
The first rotation of Ukrainian soldiers has arrived in the UK for training, according to the defence secretary, Ben Wallace. The training is part of a programme that aims to train up to 10,000 new Ukrainian recruits alongside a 2.3bn military aid package.
Ireland's Taoiseach Micheal Martin is in Ukraine today, and has visited the Borodyanka area on the outskirts of the capital Kyiv. The Irish prime minister said: The people of Ireland stand with Ukraine and its people in the face of Russia's immoral and unprovoked war of terror. The bombardment and attacks on civilians are nothing short of war crimes."
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