Donetsk

Moscow to rehearse deployment of nuclear weapons in response to ‘provocations and threats’ by Western officials.

Fresh Western aid allocations will only ‘lead to new victims on the Ukrainian side,’ Moscow says after US Senate greenlights $60 billion aid package for Kyiv.

Withdrawals coincide with unverified claims that a U.S.-supplied Abrams tank was destroyed—for the first time—near the Russian-held town of Avdiivka.

Emmanuel Macron makes suggestion at hastily arranged meeting of EU leaders in Paris.

Officials in Kyiv and Washington blame the fall of Avdiivka on the continued delay of U.S. assistance earmarked for Ukraine’s struggling war effort.

Town’s reported capture brings Moscow one step closer to exerting control over entire Donbas region, a longstanding Russian objective.

Kyiv sends reinforcements to contested town, which remains besieged on three sides by Russian armored divisions.

Ukraine claims to have captured another village in Donetsk, although Russian sources dispute the assertion. Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu says Kyiv’s military is ‘almost exhausted,’ and a NATO official floats the idea of making Ukraine an alliance member in exchange for ceding territory to Russia.