Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

Ukraine has set its sights on freeing all territory occupied by invading Russian forces after driving them back in a speedy counteroffensive in the northeast and there are indications of more US military aid on the way to back Ukraine’s mission.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine had recaptured about 8,000km², apparently all in the northeastern region of Kharkiv. About half that area had been made secure and “stabilisation measures are still ongoing” in the other half, he said.

Russia has largely ceded its gains near Kharkiv and many of the withdrawing Russian soldiers have exited Ukraine, a senior US military official said.

The US is likely to announce a new military aid package for Ukraine in the coming days, the White House said.

The Ukrainian deputy defence minister visited the town of Balakliia and said 150,000 people had been freed from Russian rule in recent days.

Ukraine expects the number of Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure to increase, a presidential aide said.

Meanwhile, repair crews have restored the two main power lines supplying Kharkiv city and its surrounds, power firm Ukrenergo said after Russian shelling caused blackouts.

The governor of Luhansk region said the town of Lyman had been captured and that he expected an offensive to recapture more of the region, which Russia seized earlier in the war. (Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield reports.)

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call to find a diplomatic solution as soon as possible, based on a ceasefire, complete withdrawal of Russian troops and respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, a German government spokesperson said.

Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba accused Germany of ignoring Kyiv’s pleas for Leopard tanks and Marder infantry fighting vehicles, saying Berlin offered only “abstract fears and excuses” for not providing them.

A group of St Petersburg politicians who called for Putin to be sacked over the war faces the likely dissolution of their district council following a judge's ruling, one of the deputies said.

All three of the backup power lines at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine have been restored, the UN nuclear watchdog said. The lines had been brought down by shelling around the plant.