Russia attacked a five-storey apartment block in Zaporizhzhia overnight, killing two people, acting city mayor Anatoly Kurtev said.

The building was “almost completely destroyed”, Mr Kurtev said, and rescuers are searching for survivors under the rubble. Among the people evacuated from the apartment block was a pregnant woman, photographs show.

Ukrainian forces hung on to their positions in the ruined eastern city of Bakhmut early on Thursday under constant attack from Russian troops seeking to claim their first big victory for more than half a year.

The Ukrainian military may decide to withdraw its forces from Bakhmut, an economic adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said. “Our military is obviously going to weigh all of the options. So far, they’ve held the city, but if need be, they will strategically pull back,” said Alexander Rodnyansky on CNN. “We’re not going to sacrifice all of our people just for nothing.”

Ukraine war: two die in missile attack on Zaporizhzhia apartment block

---

The Ukrainians just stared blankly at each other with a weight of grief in every face

---

The Irish Times view on Russia opting out of the nuclear arms deal with the US: another dangerous sign

---

Ukraine says army preparing for offensive despite ‘insane’ Russian attacks in east

---

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary force, said Ukrainian forces were putting up “furious resistance” against Moscow’s attempt to seize Bakhmut and that he had so far seen no signs of a Ukrainian withdrawal.

The battle for Bakhmut, in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance as defenders hold out against relentless shelling and repel waves of Russian troops who have been carrying out a months-long campaign to capture it.

“I believe that sooner or later, we will probably have to leave Bakhmut. There is no sense in holding it at any cost,” Ukrainian member of parliament Serhiy Rakhmanin said on NV radio late on Wednesday. “But for the moment, Bakhmut will be defended with several aims – firstly, to inflict as many Russian losses as possible and make Russia use its ammunition and resources.”

Ukrainians survived the past winter thanks to government efforts to ensure energy and heat, but Russia still poses a threat to the generating system, Mr Zelenskiy has said.

“Winter is over. It was a very difficult one and every Ukrainian, without exaggeration, felt the difficulties,” the Ukrainian president said in a video message delivered after a meeting on energy issues.

“But we managed to provide Ukraine with energy and heat. The threat to the energy system remains.”

Russia has lost at least 130 tanks and armoured personnel carriers in a three-week battle at the town of Vuhledar in southern Ukraine, according to Ukrainian officials. They said the “epic” fight on a plain near Vuhledar produced the biggest tank battle of the war so far and a stinging setback for the Russians, the New York Times reported.

The United States is sounding out close allies about the possibility of imposing new sanctions on China if Beijing provides military support to Russia for its war in Ukraine, according to four US officials and other sources. – Guardian