* Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: "I would like to remind you of the (Russian) president's words that the Russian Armed Forces do not work with civilian targets."

* Russians have been shelling the eastern city of Lysychansk from different directions, the regional governor said. They have captured an oil refinery, one report said, citing Russia's defence ministry.

* Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov inspected divisions of Russian troops involved in Moscow's "special military operation" in Ukraine, Russia's defence ministry said, although it was unclear whether Gerasimov had visited the war zone.

DIPLOMACY AND ECONOMY

* In the event of an acute gas shortage, the city of Hamburg will ration hot water for private households and limit the maximum heating temperature, its environment senator said, as Germany braces for possible outages of Russian gas imports.

* The United States is sending Ukraine two surface-to-air missile systems, four additional counter-artillery radars and up to 150,000 rounds of 155mm artillery ammunition as part of its latest weapons packages for Ukraine.

* Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree that seizes full control of the Sakhalin-2 gas and oil project in Russia's far east, a move that could force out Western investors including Shell.

* US basketball star Brittney Griner went on trial in Moscow on drug charges that could see her face up to 10 years in prison.

* Two Britons were charged with "mercenary activities" in the Russian-backed separatist region of Donetsk, Russian agency TASS reported. Last month, another two Britons accused of the same charge were sentenced to death.

* Russia's ambassador to Bulgaria said she would ask Moscow to close its embassy in Sofia after 70 Russian diplomatic staff were expelled.

* Ukraine's nuclear power operator said it had re-established its connection to surveillance systems at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe's largest, which is occupied by Russian forces.

QUOTES

* "There are powerful explosions in the city! Stay in shelters!" Oleksandr Senkevich, mayor of the eastern city of Mykolaiv, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

* "Almost all the city infrastructure is destroyed. We are living without gas, electricity, and water since May," Sergei Oleinik, 65, resident of Russian-occupied Sievierodonetsk, told Reuters.

Australian Associated Press