Russia-Ukraine war Live updates | ‘Heavy fighting continues in Soledar’, says Ukrainian minister

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky greeted Polish President Andrzej Duda and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. Poland has announced that they are willing to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine during a joint press conference with the three presidents. 

Warsaw is willing to deliver the tanks "within the framework of an international coalition," the EU member's head of state said after meeting his Ukrainian and Lithuanian counterparts.

Russia will lose revenues up to $280 million a day from February 5, when the G-7 price cap gets extended to refined crude products from the country, a report by Finland's Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air claimed.

As stated by the interior ministry, the biggest exodus of individuals from Europe since World War Two in 2022 included around eight out of every ten persons seeking shelter in Germany coming from Ukraine. It said that the majority of those who emigrated from Ukraine during Russia's incursion in mid-February were women and children, totaling 1,045,185.

Russian forces are reportedly attempting but failing to breach defences in order to conquer Soledar as heavy battle continues, according to the deputy defence minister of Ukraine.

Tobias Billstrom, the foreign minister of Sweden, stated that the EU is ready for a prolonged conflict and would stand behind Kiev for as long it takes.

“Despite Russia’s continued attempts to divide us, unity within the EU and across the Atlantic has been strong. The EU is prepared for a long war and will continue to stand by Ukraine’s side with political, economic, military and humanitarian support for as long as it takes”, Billstrom told a news conference.

In reaction to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the EU and NATO signed a joint statement promising to strengthen their collaboration. Russia claims that this action has turned the EU into a vassal of NATO.

Putin says that the situation in the areas of Ukraine that Russia annexed was “difficult in places”. Putin said that Russia has all the resources necessary to improve living conditions in the four Ukrainian areas it claimed to have annexed in a "referendum" that Kyiv and its allies have branded illegal and a "sham." 

"Everything that is happening today in the direction of Bakhmut or Soledar is the bloodiest scenario of this war," says Mykhaylo Podolyak, adviser to the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, in an exclusive interview with AFP

NATO and the EU on Wednesday announced a "joint taskforce" aimed at bolstering the protection of critical infrastructure in the face of threats from Russia. 

The move comes after a sabotage attack on the underwater Nord Stream gas pipelines last year and as the two organisations seek to bolster cooperation in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the taskforce would bring together EU and NATO experts to study vulnerabilities of key infrastructure and recommend ways to better protect it. 

A Ukrainian soldier has told CNN that the situation in the eastern town of Soledar is “criticial”, and that the death toll is so high that “no one counts the dead”.

Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova said on Wednesday that Ukraine and Russia had agreed on an exchange of 40 prisoners of war after meeting her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Lubinets, reports Reuters news agency.

The meeting took place at a hotel in the Turkish capital Ankara on the sidelines of an international ombudsman conference.

The Kremlin said Wednesday it was important not to "rush" to declare victory in Soledar, hours after Russia's mercenary group Wagner claimed it had seized control of the town in east Ukraine.

"Let's not rush. Let's wait for official announcements," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that there was a "positive dynamic in advances" in Soledar and saluted the "heroism of our fighters." 

"Tactical successes, of course, are very important," he added.