Ukraine is a step closer to winning approval for German-made modern battle tanks to confront invading Russian forces and has secured a pledge of more Patriot defence missiles as its allies appear ready to rally for the next phase of the war.

* Russia said it would make “major changes” to its armed forces from 2023 to 2026, after months of setbacks on Ukraine’s battlefields.

* More than 9,000 civilians, including 453 children, have been killed since the war began last February, a senior Ukrainian presidential aide said. The civilian toll is more than 7,000, according to the United Nations human rights agency.

* A senior Ukrainian official blamed Russia for carrying out the bulk of more than 2,000 cyberattacks in 2022, speaking at a news conference he said was itself delayed because of a cyberattack. There was no immediate comment from Moscow.

* Ukrainian authorities called off the search for survivors in the ruins of an apartment building destroyed during Russian missile attacks on Saturday on the central city of Dnipro.

* 45 people were confirmed killed and 20 remain unaccounted for; 79 were wounded and 39 rescued from the rubble.

* Ukraine’s allies must intensify their military support to Kyiv to help them break a hardening of the front lines and avoid a devastating, prolonged, World War One-style battle of attrition, Britain’s foreign minister said.

* Germany’s government named Boris Pistorius as the new defence minister; allies ramped up pressure on Chancellor Scholz to allow the supply of German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine. Allied defence ministers are meeting in Germany on Friday.

* The Netherlands will send a Patriot missile defence system to Ukraine, Prime Minister Rutte said.

* The training of Ukrainian officers to operate the Patriot advanced long-range air defence system will last 10 weeks, Ukraine’s Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said.

* Ukraine’s top general outlined the “urgent needs” of his armed forces at a first personal meeting with top U.S. General Mark Milley in Poland, the Ukrainian armed forces chief said.

* Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska urged delegates at the World Economic Forum to do more to help end the war, adding she would deliver a letter from her husband to the Chinese delegation setting out Ukraine’s proposed peace formula.

* Russia expects Western sanctions to have a significant impact on its oil product exports and therefore its production, but that will likely leave more crude oil to sell, a senior Russian source with detailed knowledge of the outlook said.

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