Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/29/world/here-are-the-latest-developments-in-the-war-in-ukraine.html

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Ukraine, newly armed with Western weapons, is making a desperate attempt to hold its ground as Russian forces are close to capturing Sievierodonetsk, the last Ukrainian-controlled city in the Luhansk region, a province now at the heart of the conflict.

In a war that is increasingly becoming an arms race, Russia has been deploying thermobaric warheads, fearsome explosives that send potentially lethal shock waves into bunkers or trenches. Russia’s defense ministry also claimed to have successfully test-fired a hypersonic Zircon cruise missile from the Barents Sea at a target more than 620 miles away.

Ukraine, for its part, has stepped up its calls for Western nations to provide it with better weaponry. The Biden administration has approved sending long-range multiple-launch rocket systems to Ukraine, a significant transfer that could hugely aid the country’s defense. Ukraine had been asking for the systems, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain agreeing on Friday that they should be supplied.

Both Ukraine and Russia have deployed heavy artillery along the eastern front, with American-made howitzers reaching Ukrainian forces this month.

In other developments:

In his nightly address, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said late Saturday that his country’s forces were holding off the Russian assault on Sievierodonetsk, but acknowledged that they faced “indescribably difficult” conditions.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said in a statement from the Kremlin that he was “open to renewing dialogue with Kyiv,” but Mr. Zelensky has not addressed the offer. The Kremlin statement described a call Mr. Putin had on Saturday with the leaders of France and Germany, talks that came after an Italian proposal for a cease-fire and amid growing debate among Western leaders about what an end to the war might look like.