Russia's war on Ukraine latest: Kyiv shuts 'post-apocalyptic' town to civilians

* Russia and China are not creating a military alliance and the cooperation between their armed forces is "transparent", Putin said in comments broadcast on Sunday, days after hosting Chinese leader Xi Jinping in the Kremlin. BATTLEFIELD AND MILITARY AID * President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met troops in southeastern Ukraine during his tour of frontline regions. * Two people were killed and 29 wounded on Monday after Russian forces fired two S-300 missiles at the eastern city of Sloviansk northwest of Bakhmut, according to regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko.

Ukraine shut the eastern town of Avdiivka to non-military personnel on Monday, describing it as a post-apocalyptic wasteland, as Kyiv seeks to break the back of Russia's flagging winter offensive before a counter-assault of its own. DIPLOMACY AND SANCTIONS

* Ukraine on Sunday criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin's plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus announced over the weekend and called for an emergency U.N. Security Council session to address the move. * EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned Belarus of further sanctions if it went along with Putin's plan.

* White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the United States had seen no sign that Putin had moved any nuclear weapons. "We've in fact seen no indication that he has any intention to use nuclear weapons – period - inside Ukraine," Kirby told U.S. broadcaster CBS on Sunday. * Russia and China are not creating a military alliance and the cooperation between their armed forces is "transparent", Putin said in comments broadcast on Sunday, days after hosting Chinese leader Xi Jinping in the Kremlin.

BATTLEFIELD AND MILITARY AID * President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met troops in southeastern Ukraine during his tour of frontline regions.

* Two people were killed and 29 wounded on Monday after Russian forces fired two S-300 missiles at the eastern city of Sloviansk northwest of Bakhmut, according to regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko. Zelenskiy posted a video of smouldering debris, saying that "Ukraine will not forgive" such attacks. Moscow denies targeting civilians. * Inside Russia, the defence ministry said it had downed a Ukrainian drone on Sunday, with three people injured and apartment blocks damaged in the attack. Kyiv does not generally comment on reports of attacks inside Russia. The reported attack on the town of Kireyevsk, 220 km (140 miles) south of Moscow, appeared to be one of the closest yet to the Russian capital.

* Russia is turning Ukraine's Avdiivka into "a place from post-apocalyptic movies", intensifying shelling and forcing a nearly full shutdown of the frontline city, the top local official said on Sunday. * International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi said he met Zelenskiy in Zaporizhzhia, the site of Europe's largest nuclear power plant to discuss its protection.

* Reuters could not verify battlefield reports. * The 18 Leopard 2 battle tanks pledged by Germany to support Kyiv in its war against Russia have arrived in Ukraine, a security source said, confirming a report by Spiegel news magazine.

QUOTES "I am sad to say this, but Avdiivka is becoming more and more like a place from post-apocalyptic movies," the city's military administration head Vitaliy Barabash said on the Telegram messaging app.

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(Compiled by Reuters editors)