Ukraine: Zelenskyy says Avdiivka positions 'protected'

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday said that his country was "actively at work preparing for the upcoming Peace Formula meeting in Malta next week."

The comments came after Zelenskyy held talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

A group of national security advisers representing Ukraine's allies is due to meet in Malta next weekend.

"Many influential nations from all across the world will be present," Zelenskyy said and added, "The number of participants is growing by the day, with more than 50 states already expected to attend."

No further details were provided about the upcoming summit although statements from Kyiv suggest the talks will center around Western security guarantees against future Russian aggression. 

The UK's Ministry of Defence (MOD) said Russian assaults in the eastern frontline town of Avdiivka have "contributed to a 90% increase in Russian casualties recorded by the Ukrainian MOD."

The town has been the focus of continued Russian attacks according to Ukraine's military.

Avdiivka lies around 15 kilometers (9 miles) north of Donetsk and has been a symbol of Ukrainian resistance since the first invasion of 2014.

The MOD went on to say that it was likely that Russia had suffered 150,000-190,000 "permanent casualties (killed and permanently wounded) since the conflict began."

This figure, the MOD said, did not include Wagner Group fighters or those recruited from penal colonies who fought in Bakhmut. 

US President Joe Biden explained why the situation in Ukraine is important to the US.

"Israel and Ukraine’s success is vital to our national security. History has taught us that when terrorists and dictators don’t pay a price, they cause more death and destruction," he wrote on X, previously known as Twitter.

On Friday, Biden requested a $106 billion (€100 billion) national-security package, including $61 billion in military aid for Ukraine.

However, Biden's request comes as the House of Representatives remains in chaos, with Republicans, who hold a slim majority, in their worst meltdown in decades and unable to elect a speaker for the past 18 days.

A growing number of Republicans also oppose providing more security assistance to Ukraine.

A Russian missile hit a postal distribution center in Ukraine's second largest city Kharkiv on Saturday, killing six people and injuring 14, Kharkiv region governor Oleh Synehubov said.

Synehubov, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said several of the injured were in serious condition in hospital.

"All six dead and 14 injured as a result of the occupiers' attack were employees of the company who were inside the Nova Poshta terminal," he said.

"This is strictly a civilian site," Synehubov said. "The Russians have inflicted more terror on Kharkiv's peaceful population."

Regional prosecutors, quoted by Ukraine's public broadcaster, said two missiles struck a postal distribution center. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his condolences to the families of the victims, calling for a tough response to "Russian terror." 

"We must increase pressure on the terrorist state," he wrote on Telegram. "We must confront Russian terror every day on the front lines with our results, we must further strengthen the unity of the world in the fight against terror."

dh/wd (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa)