Russia's war on Ukraine latest: Ukrainian forces repel 102 Russian attacks in 24 hours

Russia's first missile blitz on Ukrainian cities in weeks was met with defiance and disgust over the targeting of civilians, while Ukrainian forces defending the eastern town of Bakhmut continued to thwart Russian attempts to break through. * Ukraine's military said its forces had repelled 102 Russian attacks on the eastern mining town of Bakhmut in the past 24 hours.

Russia's first missile blitz on Ukrainian cities in weeks was met with defiance and disgust over the targeting of civilians, while Ukrainian forces defending the eastern town of Bakhmut continued to thwart Russian attempts to break through. FIGHTING

* Ukraine said its air defences had shot down many drones and missiles during the pre-dawn wave of attacks on Thursday, but said the Russian forces had also fired six Kinzhal hypersonic cruise missiles, which it had no way to stop. Moscow confirmed it had used Kinzhal - Russian for dagger - missiles in Thursday's attack. * Russia said its forces had carried out a "massive retaliatory strike" on Ukrainian infrastructure after what it called a terrorist attack in Russia's Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, last week.

* The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was reconnected to Ukraine's energy grid, grid operator Ukrenergo said, after it lost power during the air strikes. * Ukraine's military said its forces had repelled 102 Russian attacks on the eastern mining town of Bakhmut in the past 24 hours. Reuters could not independently verify battlefield reports.

ECONOMY/DIPLOMACY * Expressing a readiness to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin to call for peace, Pope Francis said the conflict in Ukraine was fuelled by "imperial interests, not just of the Russian empire, but of empires from elsewhere".

* Security services in the Moscow-backed breakaway Transdniestria region of Moldova said they had thwarted a Ukrainian assassination attempt against the region's leader, Russian state news agencies reported. * Russia said a landmark deal to ensure the safe export of grain from Ukraine's Black Sea ports was only being "half-implemented", raising doubts about whether it would allow an extension of the agreement due to expire next week.

* The U.S. has privately urged some commodity traders to shed concerns over shipping price-capped Russian oil in a bid to keep supplies stable, the Financial Times reported. * Russia has introduced personal sanctions against 144 government officials, journalists, lawmakers and other public figures from the three Baltic states who are deemed "most hostile" to Moscow, the Russian foreign ministry said.

* German Chancellor Olaf Scholz can detect no willingness on the part of Putin to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, he told the NBR group of German newspapers. * Ukraine will take part in the European Union scheme to jointly buy gas in global markets, to procure 2 billion cubic metres of the fuel ahead of next winter, the EU energy policy chief said.

* Turkey has acknowledged that Sweden and Finland have taken concrete steps to meet Ankara's concerns over their bids to join NATO and the three will hold further meetings, Sweden's chief negotiator in the accession process said. 

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