Ukraine

KYIV, Feb 19 (Reuters) - A group of lawmakers and foreign media visiting the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine came under fire and had to be evacuated to a shelter, the spokeswoman for President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's party said on Saturday.

She did not provide further details.

KYIV, Feb 19 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday said Ukraine would not respond to provocations in the eastern Donbass region and would strive to establish peace through diplomacy.

Zelenskiy flew to Germany to attend a security conference as his country is bracing for a possible military attack from Russia, which has massed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine's borders. Russia denies plans to attack.

"We do not respond to provocations and strive to establish peace exclusively through diplomacy," Zelenskiy wrote on his Instagram.

DONETSK, Ukraine/MOSCOW, Feb 19 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin launched exercises by Russia's strategic nuclear missile forces on Saturday and Washington said Russian troops massed near Ukraine's border were moving forward and "poised to strike".

With Western nations fearing what could be one of the worst conflicts since the Cold War, U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said Russian forces were beginning to "uncoil and move closer" to the border with its former Soviet neighbour.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — U.S. President Joe Biden says he is now “convinced” Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to invade Ukraine and assault the capital, an ominous assessment that emerged as the country’s war-torn east saw more attacks that the West said could be designed to establish a pretext for an attack.

After weeks of saying the U.S. was not sure if Putin had made the final decision, Biden said Friday that his judgment had changed, citing American intelligence.

LUGANSK, February 18. /TASS/: The Armed Forces of Ukraine shelled the territory of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) using grenade launchers and machine guns three times in an hour, the LPR mission to the Joint Center to Control and Coordination (JCCC) said on Friday.

DONETSK, February 18. /TASS/: The car that exploded near a government building in downtown Donetsk belongs to Denis Sinenkov, the chief of a department at the militia of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, the Donetsk News Agency reported on Friday.

"That was Sinenkov’s car," the report cited a source as saying. The car’s owner wasn’t injured, according to the news service.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Spiking tensions in eastern Ukraine on Friday aggravated Western fears of a Russian invasion and a new war in Europe, with a humanitarian convoy hit by shelling and pro-Russian rebels evacuating civilians from the conflict zone. A strong explosion hit the eastern city of Donetsk.

18 Feb 2022; MEMO: The Ukrainian foreign ministry yesterday summoned the Israeli Ambassador in Kiev, Michael Brodsky, over the crisis with Russia.

Hebrew Channel 7 reported that the call came after Israel asked for Moscow's help in evacuating citizens in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The U.S. issued some of its starkest, most detailed warnings yet about how a Russian invasion of Ukraine might unfold, and its Western allies went on high alert for any attempts by the Kremlin to create a false pretext for a new war in Europe.

U.S. President Joe Biden sounded unusually dire Thursday, as he warned that Washington saw no signs of a promised Russian withdrawal — but instead saw more troops moving toward the border with Ukraine, indicating Moscow could invade within days.

DONETSK, February 17. /TASS/: The forces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) had to open retaliatory fire to suppress the Ukrainian army’s weapons and protect civilians, spokesman for the DPR people’s militia Oleg Nikitin said in a statement on Thursday.

"In order to protect civilians, our defenders had to open retaliatory fire to suppress the enemy’s weapons," the spokesman said.