Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has visited Ukraine and heard tales of massacres and devastations since the Russian invasion began in February.
Powerful explosions have rocked the Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, a day after authorities said at least 21 people were killed when Russian missiles struck an apartment building near the Black Sea port of Odessa.
NATO has branded Russia the biggest "direct threat" to Western security after its invasion of Ukraine and agreed plans to modernise Kyiv's beleaguered armed forces, saying it stood fully behind Ukrainians' "heroic defence of their country".
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has hailed the European Union's expected offer of candidate status for his battle-weary nation, as Russian forces continue to pound Ukraine's second-biggest city Kharkiv and the eastern Donbas region.
The war in Ukraine could last for years, the head of NATO says, as Russia stepped up its assaults after the European Union recommended that Kyiv become a candidate to join the bloc.
With the war in Ukraine's east raging on, Kyiv has received a major boost with the European Union recommending it becomes a candidate to join the bloc, in what would be a dramatic geopolitical shift following Russia's invasion.
The Russian government says it is sanctioning a further 121 Australian citizens, including a state premier, business people, army officials and journalists.
Ukrainian forces claim to have pushed forward in intense street fighting in the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk but say their only hope to turn the tide is more artillery to offset Russia's massive firepower.
Two Britons and a Moroccan who were captured while fighting for Ukraine have been sentenced to death by a court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, one of Russia's proxies in eastern Ukraine, Russian news agencies report.
Ukraine's ambassador to Australia is seeking to meet with Albanese government ministers to discuss trade and aid opportunities after returning from the war-torn country.
Russia has struck Ukraine's capital Kyiv with missiles for the first time in more than a month, while Ukrainian officials say a counterattack on the main battlefield in the east had retaken half of the city of Sievierodonetsk.
Ukraine claims to have recaptured a large chunk of territory in the devastated eastern city of Sievierodonetsk and foiled an attempted advance by Russian troops on the 100th day of Moscow's invasion.
Anthony Albanese says the government will look at every available option to keep a lid on rising gas prices, but a failure of energy policy and global pressures are making the task harder.
Ukrainian forces are resisting a Russian assault on Sievierodonetsk, the largest city they still hold in the eastern Donbas region, but are weathering heavy artillery barrages.
