Russia's war on Ukraine latest: Ukraine's generals vow to defend Bakhmut

* Volodymyr Nazarenko, a Ukrainian commander in Bakhmut, said there had been no order to retreat and "the defence is holding", albeit in conditions of "utter hell". * The head of Russia's Wagner mercenary force said on Monday he needed the regular army to supply him with more ammunition, reinforcements and covering support if he was to win the months-long battle of attrition for Bakhmut.

Ukraine's top military commanders have vowed to keep defending the besieged city of Bakhmut, where Russia is hoping to make its first major wartime gain in more than half a year, and will strengthen their defences, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. FIGHTING

* Zelenskiy said he had discussed Bakhmut with his chief of the general staff and commander of ground forces, who both backed "continuing the defensive operation" in Bakhmut. * Volodymyr Nazarenko, a Ukrainian commander in Bakhmut, said there had been no order to retreat and "the defence is holding", albeit in conditions of "utter hell".

* The head of Russia's Wagner mercenary force said on Monday he needed the regular army to supply him with more ammunition, reinforcements and covering support if he was to win the months-long battle of attrition for Bakhmut. * At least one person was wounded in the southern Russian region of Belgorod after Russian forces shot down three missiles, the governor of the region bordering Ukraine said.

* Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has visited Mariupol, the port city in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region captured by Russian forces last year after a months-long siege, his ministry said. Reuters could not independently verify battlefield reports.

INSIDE RUSSIA * Russia's FSB security service said it had thwarted a Ukrainian-backed car bomb attack against prominent nationalist businessman Konstantin Malofeyev. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.

* Russia's federal budget deficit widened sharply in the first two months of the year as Moscow drastically raised expenditure while revenue fell amid slumping oil and gas takings, the finance ministry said. * Russia said it was declaring the German-based anti-corruption group Transparency International an "undesirable organisation".

ECONOMY/DIPLOMACY * Ukraine's economy ministry has cut its 2023 GDP growth forecast to 1%, the Interfax Ukraine news agency quoted a deputy minister as saying. The ministry had previously projected the economy, which shrank about a third last year amid Russia's invasion, would grow 3.2% this year.

* The U.S. list of recently sanctioned entities for alleged support for Russia's war effort in Ukraine includes two Canadian companies, U.S. and Canadian authorities said on Monday. * Ukraine has brought 307 children out of Russia-occupied territories, the country's human rights ombudsman said on Monday, including an 8-year-old boy who was reunited with his grandmother.

STORIES ABOUT THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY SINCE THE WAR BEGAN * TIMELINE - Major developments since Russia's invasion

* Ukraine's Zelenskiy has defied Putin against the odds * Putin, secure in power, has set the stage for long war

* A year on, Ukraine and its government have not just survived. They've fought back * Toughened by war's scars, Kyiv presses on

* Graphics of a year of war and the financial markets * Russian economy holds up but road back to prosperity may be long

* Moscow's decades-old gas ties with Europe lie in ruins * Top brands pull out of Russia, but goods easy to find

* Can U.S. support for Ukraine last? * External backers pour billions into Ukraine

* How has China stood by 'no limits' partner Russia? * Life and death in Mariupol - a survivor's tale of war

* Family mourns Bucha victim who became symbol of war (Compiled by Reuters editors)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)