Ukraine war: Turkey pleads for 'localised' ceasefire, Soledar latest, UK sends Challenger tanks

The death toll from a Russian strike in Dnipro, eastern Ukraine, on Saturday has risen to 21, according to the head of the regional military administration. 

"Twenty innocent victims", said Valentyn Reznichenko on Telegram today, detailing that 73 people had been injured in the strike on a residential building. "Rescue operations are continuing. The fate of more than 40 people remains unknown," he added.

On Saturday morning, air raid sirens sounded out across much of Ukraine as the country was battered by Russian missile attacks. Missiles hit around lunchtime in Kyiv and the Kharkiv and Lviv regions. 

In Dnipro, five people were initially reported dead when the Russian missile toppled a block of flats.15 people were pulled from the rubble alive.  

This was the first strike on the Ukrainian capital since New Year's Eve. Kyiv's critical infrastructure was once again targeted. In the wider Kyiv region, a residential building in the village of Kopyliv was hit, and the windows of the houses nearby were blown out.

Fierce fighting continues in the small eastern Ukrainian town of Soledar, near Bakhmut, with tanks on the outskirts firing from the roadside and explosions on the horizons of the surrounding farmland.

That’s the claim from Kyiv, despite Russia saying on Friday that it had taken control of the town.

According to UK broadcaster Sky News, while the leader of a Russian mercenary group has claimed to have taken the town, Ukrainian soldiers say it is still contested.

In footage from the broadcaster, soldiers are seen both in heavy military vehicles and on foot, operating handheld drones in the middle of a cluster of houses.

Capturing the town of Soledar would mark an elusive victory for the Kremlin but come at the cost of heavy