As the war enters its 607th day, these are the main developments.

Fighting

• Russian forces kept sustained pressure on Avdiivka in Ukraine’s east with the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces saying that Ukraine’s troops had repelled nearly 20 Russian attacks around the largely ruined town. Russian air attacks also hit nearby villages, it said.
• Speaking in his nightly video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the situation in Avdiivka and the nearby town of Marinka was “particularly tough. Numerous Russian attacks. But our positions are being held”.
• Russia’s defence ministry said it foiled several attempts by Ukrainian units to cross the Dnipro River in the southern Kherson region. The ministry said Ukrainian “sabotage and reconnaissance” teams were stopped while trying to cross the river near the villages of Pridniprovske, Tiahynka and Krynky.
• Also in Kherson, regional Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said several villages were struck by Russian shelling. Transport and food factories were also hit in Kherson City, he added.
• Ukraine’s Air Force said air defence systems destroyed six Russia-launched attack drones and a cruise missile overnight.
• Vladimir Saldo, the Moscow-installed governor of the occupied areas of Ukraine’s Kherson region, said Russia brought down three Ukrainian missiles heading for targets in Crimea, which was annexed by Moscow in 2014.

Politics and diplomacy

• Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is due in the Iranian capital Tehran on Monday where he is expected to hold talks with regional foreign ministers over issues including the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Russia turned to Iran for military and economic support since it began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering a raft of Western sanctions.