Russian troops shelled "the entire front line" in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, the region's governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said. The fiercest fighting took place near the towns of Bakhmut and Avdiivka, he said, adding that Russian forces were also trying to advance near Lyman, which was recaptured by Ukrainian forces in November
Vladimir Putin said "eventually there must be a deal" to end the conflict in Ukraine, but said he was reluctant to do so after the Minsk deal. The Russian president also acknowledged that there are some supply problems for the 300,000 people who have been called up to fight in Ukraine in recent months. Putin also said Russia might cut oil production and would refuse to sell oil to countries that impose G7 price caps on their oil. His comments came after the Group of Seven, the European Union and Australia announced last week that crude oil prices at sea in Russia would be capped at $60 a barrel. Ukraine's National Energy Agency has accused Russian forces of abducting two senior Ukrainian employees at the Russian-occupied Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. Energoatom said the two abducted employees were beaten before being evicted in "unknown directions" on Thursday. It said a third worker who was arrested was in charge of security at the plant.
A Russian court has sentenced opposition politician Ilya Yashin to eight and a half years in prison for spreading false information to discredit the Russian military. The verdict marks the most high-profile case to date of a Russian dissident imprisoned for opposing the invasion of Ukraine. Russia has told Zambia it has pardoned a Zambian student who traveled to Ukraine and fought where he was killed, according to Zambia's foreign minister. Zambia has demanded a response to the death of Lemekhani Nyirenda after Russia announced that he was killed in combat in Ukraine in September. Representatives of Russia and the United States met in Istanbul on Friday to discuss "difficult issues," Russian state media reported. A US embassy spokesman confirmed that a senior State Department official met with Russian interlocutors to discuss "a range of bilateral issues" unrelated to the Ukraine war.
A senior Orthodox cleric has been accused of engaging in anti-Ukrainian activities by supporting Russian politics in social media posts, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said. The SBU's statement comes after a series of raids on properties used by the Ukrainian branch of the Orthodox Church, including the 1,000-year-old Pechersk monastery complex in Kyiv, as part of a crackdown on what it called "subversive activities by Russian special services". Even if the war in Ukraine drags on for another 18 months, Russian athletes have a chance at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The Olympic Council of Asia has previously proposed allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to qualify for 2024 - although they remain banned from most sports.