Ukraine's neighbour Moldova should be "equipped to Nato standard" to guard it against possible Russian aggression, UK foreign secretary Liz Truss said.

There is a need to ensure that Ukraine is “permanently able to defend itself”, and this also applies to other “vulnerable states” such as Moldova, which is not a Nato member – she added.

Russia “absolutely” poses a security threat to Moldova, she said, as Vladimir Putin “has been clear about his ambitions to create a greater Russia.”She told The Telegraph: “What we’re working on at the moment is a joint commission with Ukraine and Poland on upgrading Ukrainian defences to Nato standard.”

When asked whether she wants to see the West provide weaponry and intelligence to Moldova, Ms Truss said: “I would want to see Moldova equipped to Nato standard. This is a discussion we’re having with our allies.”

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Russia trying to destroy Severodonetsk city, says local offical

08:30 , Lamiat Sabin

Russia has apparently launched a major attack to seize the last remaining Ukrainian-held territory in Luhansk.

Luhansk, in southeastern Ukraine, is one of two provinces – together with Donetsk – that Moscow proclaims as independent states.

Serhiy Gaidai, the governor of the Luhansk region, said in a social media post early this morning that Russia was trying to destroy the city of Severodonetsk and that there has been fighting on the outskirts of the city.

“Shelling continues from morning to the evening and also throughout the night,” he said in a video post on the Telegram messaging app.

Capturing Luhansk and Donetsk provinces would allow Moscow to claim victory after announcing last month that this has been its current objective. Russia changed its plan after it had failed to capture Kyiv.

“This will be the critical next few weeks of the conflict,” said Mathieu Boulegue, an expert at London’s Chatham House think tank. “And it depends on how effective they are at conquering Severodonetsk and the lands across it.”

Russia ‘could be experiencing shortage of drones’ – MoD

08:00 , Lamiat Sabin

Russia is likely experiencing a shortage of appropriate reconnaissance Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.

The drones are used to identify targets to be struck by combat jets or artillery.

The shortage is exacerbated by limitations in its domestic manufacturing capacity resulting from worldwide sanctions imposed in response to its invasion of Ukraine, the MoD’s report said.

If Russia continues to lose UAVs at current rate, Russian forces’ ability to garner intelligence and conduct surveillance reconnaissance will be further degraded, it adds.

Finland cut-off from Russian gas supply, Gazprom confirms

07:30 , Lamiat Sabin

Russia’s Gazprom has confirmed that it had cut-off gas exports to neighbouring Finland.

Earlier, Finnish system operator Gasgrid Finland said: “Gas imports through Imatra entry point have been stopped.”

It came after Gazprom Export has demanded that European countries pay for Russian gas supplies in roubles because of sanctions imposed over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine – which Finland has refused to do so.

Moody's cuts Ukraine's debt rating

06:49 , Sravasti Dasgupta

Moody’s on Friday downgraded Ukraine’s foreign currency sovereign credit rating to “Caa3” from “Caa2”.

The ratings agency cited increased risks to the government’s “debt sustainability” following Russia’s invasion.

“While Ukraine is benefiting from large commitments of international financial support, helping to mitigate immediate liquidity risks, the resulting significant rise in government debt is likely to prove unsustainable over the medium term,” it said in a statement.

It added that it expects the war in Ukraine to be more prolonged than initially assumed and forecasts that the country’s real gross domestic product (GDP) would shrink by about 35 per cent in 2022.

Russia halts gas flow to Finland

06:22 , Sravasti Dasgupta

Russia’s state energy giant Gazprom has stopped exporting natural gas to Finland.

“Gas imports through Imatra entry point have been stopped,” Gasgrid Finland said in a statement.

The Finnish gas system operator said that the latest escalation comes amid an energy payments dispute with Western nations.

Moscow said it took the decision because Finland had refused to pay for gas in roubles, something the Putin regime demanded after western sanctions were imposed.