Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Ryznikov said on Thursday that "hopes are high" for the counterattack that his country's troops will launch against the Russian army in the spring. One person was killed and more than 10 wounded in a Russian missile attack on the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv in the early hours of Thursday morning, officials said.
The leader of Russia's Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said he was joking when he said his men would suspend artillery shelling in the city of Bakhamut.