For now, links to reports from Reuters, the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, and Tass; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. — MCM

–   –   –

Ukraine bolsters defences in east as Russia sends waves of attacks, by Pavel Polityuk and Vladyslav Smilianets | Reuters  * Kyiv describes situation in Soledar as difficult * No visible sign of casualties at barracks Russia says it hit * Zelensky says Russia attacks despite declaring truce | KYIV/KRAMATORSK, Ukraine — Ukraine said it was strengthening its forces around Bakhmut in the eastern Donbas region and repelling constant attacks there by Russian mercenary group Wagner, whose leader has vowed to capture the area’s vast underground mines. Kyiv had sent . . . READ MORE . . .

–   –   –

Ukraine school spurns Russian claim of troops killed there, by Vasilisa Stepanenko | AP  KRAMATORSK, Ukraine — Officials at a vocational school in an eastern Ukraine city dismissed claims by Russia that hundreds of Ukrainian troops were killed in a missile strike there, saying today that a rocket merely blew out windows and damaged classrooms. Russia specifically named the vocational school . . . READ MORE . . .

–   –   –

Western arms ‘prolong suffering’ of Ukrainians: Kremlin. From AFP. The Kremlin today said moves by France and other Western countries to supply Ukraine with weapons — including light tanks — would only make life more difficult for Ukrainians. “Fundamentally, . . READ MORE . . .

–   –   –

Senior security official says Russia isn’t at war with Ukraine. From Tass. MOSCOW — Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev has said in an interview that Moscow isn’t at war with Kiev, but instead, the confrontation is an attempt by the West to use Ukrainians in its standoff with Russia. The conflict is “a military confrontation of NATO, first of all . . . READ MORE . . .

–   –   –

MAY BE CONTINUED