(Reuters) – Ukraine on Friday battled Russian troops attempting to pierce its strains within the east and northeast earlier than Kyiv takes supply of tanks from its Western allies, saying the preventing confirmed it wanted extra weapons to repel the invaders.

FIGHTING

* Three folks have been killed and no less than two others wounded after Russian forces struck a residential neighbourhood within the jap Ukrainian metropolis of Kostiantynivka, the regional governor stated on Saturday.

* On Friday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described the state of affairs on the entrance as “extraordinarily acute”, notably within the jap Donetsk area the place Russia is stepping up an offensive.

* Zelenskiy reported main battles for Vuhledar, to the southwest of Donetsk’s regional capital, and Bakhmut, to the northeast. Bakhmut has largely been pulverised by repeated Russian assaults.

ARMS

* Ukraine has been promised 321 heavy tanks by a number of international locations, Kyiv’s ambassador to France stated on Friday.

* Poland will ship an extra 60 tanks to Ukraine on prime of the 14 German-made Leopard 2 tanks it has already pledged, the Polish prime minister stated in an interview with Canadian tv on Thursday.

DIPLOMACY

* Russia’s deputy international minister Sergei Ryabkov will maintain a gathering with Lynne Tracy, the brand new U.S. ambassador to Moscow, early subsequent week, the RIA information company reported on Saturday.

* A senior Ukrainian presidential aide slammed the Worldwide Olympic Committee for siding with Russia days after it stated the Olympic Council of Asia had provided Russian and Belarusian athletes an opportunity to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

* Ukraine will launch a world marketing campaign to stop Russian athletes from being allowed to compete within the 2024 Olympics, Zelenskiy stated on Friday.

* Ukraine it will summon Hungary’s ambassador to complain about “utterly unacceptable” remarks Prime Minister Viktor Orban made about Ukraine, Kyiv stated on Friday. Ukrainian international ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko, writing on Fb (NASDAQ:), stated Orban had advised reporters that Ukraine was a no man’s land and in contrast it to Afghanistan.

CHILDREN IN WAR

* Russia is violating the “basic rules of kid safety” in wartime by giving Ukrainian kids Russian passports and placing them up for adoption, the U.N. refugee company chief advised Reuters.

SANCTIONS

* The U.S. Treasury Division’s prime sanctions official on a visit to Turkey and the Center East subsequent week will warn international locations and companies that they might lose U.S. market entry in the event that they do enterprise with entities topic to U.S. curbs as Washington cracks down on Russian makes an attempt to evade sanctions.

* Japan tightened sanctions in opposition to Russia on Friday following its newest wave of missile assaults in Ukraine, including items to an export ban listing and freezing the belongings of Russian officers and entities. Russia stated Japan’s sanctions have been nothing to fret about and that it was adapting to life beneath such restrictions.