Intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces was taking place around two towns in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, Bakhmut and Soledar, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday.

Referendums in Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia. Seen as paving the way for Russian escalation of war. West and Ukraine denounce the votes as a sham. Kyiv says residents forced to vote in sealed-off towns. Zelenskiy says people in occupied areas should resist Russian mobilisation.