Russian forces are continuing their efforts to take full control of Bakhmut and Avdiyivka, two towns devastated by fighting and shelling in eastern Ukraine, but are making no progress, Ukrainian military officials said, but a Russian-appointed official says otherwise.

The latest on the war in Ukraine, day 399, LIVETEXT:

07:31 Volodymyr Zelenskyi invited the President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping to visit Ukraine, according to an interview published on Wednesday by the Associated Press.

“We are ready to receive him here,” the Ukrainian leader told AP.

07:27 Russia has begun training with the Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system and several thousand troops, probably a new attempt by Moscow to demonstrate its nuclear power.

“A total of more than 3,000 servicemen and about 300 pieces of equipment are involved in these exercises,” the Russian Ministry of Defense reported on Telegram. (Reuters).

06:36Half of Bulgarians do not want to defend their NATO allies / Russia is perceived unfavorably

01:49NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Joane: The attempt to overthrow the elected democratic regime is an active operation in the Republic of Moldova

A brief summary of recent events:

• Russian troops are advancing towards Bakhmut, despite strong resistance, and have almost completely taken control of the steel plant, Russia’s leader in the region said. Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Russian forces trying to encircle the town of Avdiyivka in recent days had not made much progress despite heavy armor losses, including a tank regiment that may have lost most of its armor.
• ​Russia is reducing the intensity of its attacks in the south of Ukraine, Ukrainian troops have destroyed a significant part of their warehouses and ammunition stocks in this area, said the spokeswoman of the Southern Operational Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
• ​Members of Russia’s cultural and political elite reportedly turned gloomy when Dmitry Peskov hinted at a party that the Kremlin’s war with the West would last “a very, very long time” and “things will get a lot more complicated.” “.
• The United States has told Russia it will not share data about its nuclear forces, citing the change as a response to Moscow’s decision to suspend participation in the New Nuclear Weapons Treaty. The United States would be willing to share some data if Russia complied with the New SNO.
• 18 Leopard 2 battle tanks promised to Kyiv by Germany have arrived in Ukraine, a source in the special services reported.
• Russia has said it has shot down a US-provided GLSDB smart bomb launched by Ukrainian forces, and for the first time Moscow claims to have intercepted one of the weapons, which is said to have twice the range of what has been used so far.
• Ukrainian forces killed two civilians when they bombed a residential building in the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, Russian-appointed officials said.
• Soldiers of the Russian airborne assault unit, who complained that their commanders called them “criminals” and forced them into suicidal combat situations, are now being interrogated by military prosecutors.
• The United States for the first time provided a clear argument for a special court to consider Russian “aggression” against Ukraine
• The International Olympic Committee said on Tuesday it would recommend that Russian and Belarusian athletes be reinstated in international competition under a neutral flag and as individuals, unless they supported the war in Ukraine and were not closely linked to the Russian military or services.
• If they wanted to, China could put enormous pressure on Russia. At the same time, war fatigue is spreading in the US. The two great rivals could work together for peace, writes Deutsche Welle.
• Russian Oleksiy Moskalev, sentenced to 2 years in prison for the fact that his 12-year-old daughter drew an anti-war cartoon, managed to escape from custody before the sentencing.
• One of Europe’s biggest munitions makers says its efforts to meet rising demand fueled by the war in Ukraine are being hampered by TikTok’s new data center.

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• Tuesday’s events related to Russian aggression were broadcast LIVE on HotNews.ro