Russia ordered its top general on Wednesday to take charge of its faltering invasion of Ukraine in the biggest shake-up yet of its malfunctioning military command structure.
FIGHTING
* Russian forces struggled to cement their control of the small east Ukrainian salt town of Soledar after taking heavy casualties, a day after the leader of the Wagner contract militia said the town was under Russian control.
* Soledar has symbolic, military and commercial value for Russia and if its forces capture the town and its huge salt mines, it would be Moscow's most substantial gain since a series of retreats throughout much of the second half of 2022.
* Russia's defence ministry said airborne units had cut off Soledar from the north and south, and the Wagner contract militia published pictures of its chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, with fighters inside what appeared to be Soledar's mines.
* Ukraine's military denied Russian forces had taken control of Soledar, and said the intensity of battles in the area could be compared to fighting in World War Two.
* Russian forces shelled 13 settlements in and around Kharkiv region largely returned to Ukrainian hands in September and October, the Ukrainian military said.
* Reuters could not verify the battlefield reports.
POLITICS/DIPLOMACY/AID
* Poland has decided to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine as part of an international coalition, the Polish president said on Wednesday, as Warsaw seeks to play a leading role in reaching a consensus among Western allies on such support.
* President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged NATO on Wednesday to do more than just promise Ukraine its door is open at a July summit, saying Kyiv needs "powerful steps" as it tries to join the military alliance.
* The crackle of gunfire and roar of armoured vehicles reverberated around sleepy west Ukrainian towns near the Belarusian border on Wednesday as Kyiv's forces trained for the threat of a fresh assault across a new front in the north.
* Greece and Malta lag behind their European Union peers in freezing Russian assets sanctioned over Moscow's war against Ukraine, according to an EU official and an internal document, as the bloc considers using the assets to help Kyiv.
* Canada will buy a U.S.-made National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) for Ukraine, a statement from Prime Minister Trudeau's office said.
* Ukraine introduced emergency power cuts in eastern and southeastern regions as low temperatures and difficult weather conditions stretched its crippled energy system.
* Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said a joint declaration on Tuesday by the European Union and the NATO defence alliance "confirms the complete subordination of the European Union to the tasks of the North Atlantic bloc, which is an instrument to guarantee U.S. interests by force".
* The European Union is prepared for a long war in Ukraine and will support Kyiv against Russia's aggression as long as it takes, Sweden's Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom, whose country holds the EU's presidency, said on Wednesday.
* Russia and Ukraine have agreed on an exchange of 40 prisoners of war each, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said after meeting her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Lubinets in Turkey.
ECONOMY
* Russia said it would resume foreign currency interventions with the sale of yuan, underscoring the growing importance of China's currency in Moscow's efforts to ensure economic stability amid Western sanctions.
* The Kremlin said it had not yet seen any cases of the price caps on Russian oil imposed by the West last month.
* President Vladimir Putin said the Russian economy, financial and banking system were stable and would remain so this year.
* Moldova's annual consumer price inflation hit 30% last month as the tiny country bordering Ukraine felt the economic impact of Russia's war.
QUOTE
"The whole land near Soledar is covered with the corpses of the occupiers ... This is what madness looks like." - Ukrainian President Zelenskiy.
(Compiled by Kevin Liffey, William Maclean)
