Russia-Ukraine War News LIVE Updates: Russia reinforces defensive positions in occupied southern Ukraine, UK military says

"We are coming to the end of Western political and economic dominance," Blair said in a lecture entitled "After Ukraine, What Lessons Now for Western Leadership?" according to a text of the speech to a forum supporting the alliance between the United States and Europe at Ditchley Park west of London.

The Ukraine war shows that the West's dominance is coming to an end as China rises to superpower status in partnership with Russia at one of the most significant inflection points in centuries, former British prime minister Tony Blair said. (Reuters)

An application to supply gas via the Sokhranovka entry point was rejected by Ukraine, Gazprom said.

Russian gas producer Gazprom said its supply of gas to Europe through Ukraine via the Sudzha entry point was seen at 41.0 million cubic metres (mcm) on Sunday, compared to 41.6 mcm a day earlier. (Reuters)

The reinforcements include movement of manpower and equipment, defensive stores between Mariupol and Zaporizhzhia, and in Kherson, while Russian forces in Melitopol are also increasing security measures, theBritish defence ministry wrote on Twitter in a regular bulletin.

UK Military Intelligence: Russia is reinforcing its defensive positions across the occupied areas of the south of Ukraine (Reuters)

Describing "a deluge of fire", regional governor Valentyn Reznichenko on Saturday said Grad missiles had pounded residential areas. "Rescuers found two dead people under the ruins" in the riverside city of Nikopol, he said.

The situation at the captured Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant is "extremely tense", Ukraine's atomic energy agency chief Petro Kotin said, adding that the Russians had installed missile launchers and used the facility to shell the Dnipro region.

The European Union will discuss tightening sanctions against Russia on Monday, as Moscow is accused of using the continent's largest nuclear power plant to store weapons and launch missiles on the surrounding regions of southern Ukraine. (AFP)

Russia preparing for next stage of offensive, Ukraine says

Petro Kotin, president of Ukrainian nuclear agency Energoatom, called the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant "extremely tense" with up to 500 Russian soldiers controlling the plant.

More than 20 weeks since Russia invaded its neighbour, leading to thousands of deaths and millions of displaced Ukrainians, the war-ravaged nation's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed Moscow for seeking to cause maximum damage, but pledged that Ukraine will "endure" in the conflict.

Ukraine's atomic energy agency accused Russia of using Europe's largest nuclear power plant to store weapons and shell the surrounding regions of Nikopol and Dnipro that were hit Saturday. (AFP)

Cargo plane operated by Ukraine carrier crashes in Greece, reports AP

Russia says it destroyed Ukrainian factory producing Tochka-U missile parts.

Renewed Russian attacks strike several areas of Ukraine

According to the post, Shoigu on Saturday inspected some of the Russian units that have served in Ukraine, handing out awards for bravery.

Haidai said that Russia had been attempting to capture the main road link between the cities of Lysychansk and Bakhmut “for more than two months.”

Seven civilians were killed and 14 more received injuries over in the most recent 24 hours in cities in Ukraine’s embattled eastern Donetsk region, its governor said Saturday morning.

“The bodies of three people were found under the rubble. Three more were injured. The victims are civilians,” Bolvinov added.