Russia-Ukraine war live: Fleet of drones targets Russian fuel refineries, cutting power supplies

Fuel facilities in Oryol and Nizhny Novgorod regions on fire after drone attacks

Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine.

A fleet of Ukrainian drones has targeted Russia, causing explosions and fires at fuel refineries, cutting electricity supplies and reaching Moscow and beyond, according to reports from Russian authorities.

The international Red Cross movement is under pressure to take action against the Russian Red Cross (RRC) over close links between the group and the Kremlin’s war and propaganda machine.

Russian troops’ advance in Ukraine “has been stopped”, according to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, with the situation along the front at its best in three months. Zelenskiy, in an interview with France’s BFM television, said Ukraine had improved its strategic position despite shortages of weaponry, but suggested the situation could change without new supplies.

It comes after Russia captured Avdiivka and then advanced into nearby villages. In the past week, Ukraine’s military has been saying that Russian forces are no longer advancing and Ukrainian troops have improved their position. Zelenskiy noted Ukrainian shootdowns of Russian warplanes and sinking of targets in the Black Sea. “We have recovered in our situation in the east.”

The EU is pushing to fast-track to Ukraine €2bn-€3bn this year in profits from frozen Russian assets, the Financial Times has reported.

China is providing economic and security assistance to the Vladimir Putin’s war effort by supporting Russia’s industrial base, according to an annual assessment by US intelligence agencies.

Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, has called for Europe to boost its defence production. CNN has reported that Russia is producing about 250,000 artillery shells a month, or about 3 million a year, in contrast to the US and Europe, which together can generate about 1.2m annually for Ukraine, according to a senior European intelligence official.

Ukraine summoned the Vatican’s envoy to Kyiv after Pope Francis suggested Ukraine should consider raising “the white flag” against Russia. “Due to the statements of Pope Francis the Apostolic Nuncio was invited to the ministry of foreign affairs of Ukraine,” the ministry said, adding the envoy, Visvaldas Kulbodas, was told Kyiv was “disappointed with the words of the pontiff regarding the ‘white flag’.”