Volodymyr Zelensky has asked his European allies to increase and speed up their supply of weapons, as he called on them for long-range missiles, ammunition and modern aircraft after making battlefield visits in Luhansk, Kherson and Bakhmut.

He warned that any delay will give Russia time to regroup and strike harder.

“Let each meeting, each discussion, each day of our work together bring the return of peace closer – bring closer the liberation of our land and all of Europe from Russian evil. If Europe hesitates, evil may have time to regroup and prepare itself for years of war. It is in your power not to allow this to happen,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly address yesterday.

Russia’s former president Dmitry Medvedev has said that the country’s forces may have to advance as far as Kyiv or Lviv in Ukraine.

“Nothing can be ruled out here. If you need to get to Kyiv, then you need to go to Kyiv, if to Lviv, then you need to go to Lviv in order to destroy this infection,” Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted Mr Medvedev as saying today.

“What you mean laundry shared?” 27-year-old Dima asked me in his clipped Slavic accent over Zoom.

“Washing machines in apartments are not common in New York,” I told him.

Dima scowled and muttered, “Not sanitary,” in Russian under his breath. I remembered how odd I had thought it was to have a washing machine in place of an oven in my previous apartment in Kyiv. Back then, I was an American experiencing culture shock. Now, Claire Cannon was preparing two refugees to do it all the other way round.

Authorities in Hungary would not arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin if he were to enter the country despite him being the subject of an international warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, a Hungarian official said Thursday.

Gergely Gulyas, chief of staff to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, said during a news conference in Budapest that arresting Putin would contravene Hungarian law because the country has not promulgated the statute of the International Criminal Court into its legal system.

The court, which is based in The Hague, Netherlands, last week issued an arrest warrant for Putin that accused him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine.

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With the war frontlines frozen since November and most battle seen concentrated in the eastern sector’s Bakhmut, analysts are witnessing a likely slowdown in the Russian offensive on the symbolic salt-mining city.

This could mean that Russia is diverting its troops and resources to other areas.

Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov agreed with the British assessment that Russia had made further gains in the north and hit the pause button on Bakhmut’s grinding battle.

The attacks on Bakhmut were decreasing, and Russia was shifting its efforts south to the town of Avdiivka, the military analyst said.

“Russia’s forces have become more active in areas to the north in the Kharkiv and Luhansk regions as well as central Zaporizhzhia and southern Kherson regions,” he said.

Britain said on Thursday that Russian troops had made gains further north this month, partially regaining control over the approaches to the town of Kreminna. Intense battles were also under way further south.

Any shift in momentum in Bakhmut, if confirmed, will be deemed remarkable and a step back by Russia for capturing the city.

A Ukrainian top ground forces commander Oleksandr Syrskyi has said Russia’s Wagner mercenaries “are losing considerable strength and are running out of steam”.

“Very soon, we will take advantage of this opportunity, as we did in the past near Kyiv, Kharkiv, Balakliya and Kupiansk,” the commander said, listing Ukrainian counteroffensives last year that recaptured swathes of land.

Russia’s private mercenary group Wagner has positioned its troops at the front line of Moscow’s assault on eastern and southern Ukraine.

The Ukrainian commander added that his forces are set to begin a counter offensive soon after withstanding Russia’s brutal winter campaign.

Moscow or Wagner have not commented on reports that the Russian fighters in Bakhmut region are losing momentum.

The King has spoken of his desire to visit Ukraine after being presented with a painting of the country’s golden fields and blue sky.

Charles admired the artwork by 16-year-old Ukrainian Sofia Franchuk during a visit to open the global headquarters of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) which has invested heavily in Ukraine.

Hundreds of Ukrainian children have begun painting as part of the Kids and Art for Ukraine project, which provides humanitarian and educational support, and its organisers put on a display of some of their work for the King.