Here is the situation on Saturday, March 1:

Fighting

• One person was killed and another injured after a drone attack triggered fires in a private home and a business facility in the Black Sea port of Odesa, which is a frequent Russian target in southern Ukraine.

• Ukraine’s air defences destroyed 103 of 154 drones launched by Russia in an overnight strike, Kyiv’s air force said. The other 51 drones were “locationally lost”, it said, likely as a result of electronic jamming.

• Russian drones struck a medical facility and other targets in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, injuring at least seven people, officials said.
• Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said civilian areas in three central districts of the city were hit and at least 50 people were forced to evacuate from a medical facility that was hit in the strike.

• Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces had taken control of the settlements of Burlatske and Skudne in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, state-run news agency TASS reported.

• Russian infantry are storming the Ukrainian border from the Russian region of Kursk, near areas of the region that are controlled by Ukrainian forces, Kyiv said. For the moment the offensive has been contained, it added.

Politics and diplomacy

• An Oval Office meeting between United States President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy devolved into a shouting match on Friday, as Trump threatened Zelenskyy, telling him: “You’re either going to make a deal or we’re out.”
• World leaders overwhelmingly expressed their support for Zelenskyy after his meeting with Trump in Washington, DC, ended abruptly with the two engaging in a heated exchange over Russia’s war against Kyiv.
• US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called on Zelenskyy to apologise for clashing with Trump, and “for wasting our time for a meeting that was going to end the way it did”.
• Zelenskyy said his relations with the US can still be repaired, after Trump shouted at him at the White House and accused him of refusing to make peace with Russia.
• Trump said Zelenskyy “overplayed his hand” during their extraordinary Oval Office clash, accusing his visitor of wanting to drag out conflict with Russia. Trump added that he wants “a ceasefire now”.
• Russia has announced it is sending a new ambassador, Alexander Darchiyev, to Washington, the latest sign of a thaw between the two countries as they try to mend their damaged relations and seek an end to the war in Ukraine.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with senior North Korean official Ri Hi Yong in Moscow and expressed his gratitude for Pyongyang’s active support of Kremlin, North Korea’s state news agency reported. The development comes amid reports that North Korea reportedly deployed at least 1,000 more troops to fight in Ukraine, on top of the 12,000 deployed last year.

• The International Monetary Fund and Ukraine reached a deal on a loan programme review that will unlock about $400m in much-needed funds more than three years after Russia’s invasion.
• Preparations are under way for United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s meeting with a dozen European leaders on Sunday to “drive forward” action on Ukraine and security. Zelenskyy is among those expected to attend the meeting.