Russia claims advances in eastern Ukraine as Zelenskyy urges for more arms

Russia has said it had seized another village in eastern Ukraine, where Moscow's troops are continuing to advance.

The defence ministry said on Saturday that Russian forces "have liberated the village of Kalynove" in the Donetsk region, which lies around 25 kilometres (16 miles) southeast of the key logistics hub of Pokrovsk, held by Kiev's forces.

Russian troops have been advancing on Pokrovsk for months and Ukraine has ordered the mandatory evacuation of children from the city.

Moscow has claimed to have captured a string of villages in the area, even as it struggles to fight off a major Ukrainian counter-attack into its own western Kursk region.

Meanwhile, three people were killed and three others wounded by Russian artillery shelling of the town of Kostyantynivka in eastern Ukraine, Donetsk region governor Vadym Filashkin said.

Three men aged between 24 and 69 were killed and a multi-storey block, administrative building and a shop were damaged, Filashkin said in a post on the Telegram social media platform.

Zelenskyy's Italy visit

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday, her office said, as he presses allies for more weapons in his country's fight against Russia.

The pair met in Cernobbio, northern Italy, on the margins of the European House-Ambrosetti forum, where Zelenskyy spoke on Friday and Meloni was due to speak on Saturday.

Italy has strongly supported Ukraine and has sent weapons to help it defend itself against Russian forces, while insisting that these must only be used on Ukrainian soil.

Before heading to Italy, Zelenskyy had on Friday pressed his case to allies meeting at the US Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where Washington unveiled $250 million in new military aid for Ukraine.

He also met German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The gatherings came as Moscow's forces advance in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas.

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared on Thursday that capturing the region was his "primary objective" in the conflict, which has dragged on for two and a half years.