Russia's war on Ukraine latest news: Zelenskiy to visit Biden

* He will hold talks with Biden and top national security aides at the White House, participate in a joint news conference with Biden, and then go to Capitol Hill to address a joint session of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. * Biden will announce a package of military assistance for Ukraine valued at nearly $2 billion that will include a Patriot missile battery to help it defend itself against barrages of Russian missiles, a senior U.S. official said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is travelling to the United States to meet President Joe Biden and visit Congress on Wednesday in his first known overseas trip since Russia's invasion on Feb. 24. DIPLOMACY

* Zelenskiy said he was going to Washington for talks with Biden to strengthen Ukraine's "resilience and defence capabilities" and address the U.S. Congress. * He will hold talks with Biden and top national security aides at the White House, participate in a joint news conference with Biden, and then go to Capitol Hill to address a joint session of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

* Biden will announce a package of military assistance for Ukraine valued at nearly $2 billion that will include a Patriot missile battery to help it defend itself against barrages of Russian missiles, a senior U.S. official said. * Video footage issued by UkrinformTV of Zelenskiy's visit to Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine showed Ukrainian servicemen handing him a Ukrainian flag with their signatures on it, which the president said he would turn over to the Congress and Biden.

* The U.S. Senate has advanced a government-funding bill that includes $44.9 billion in emergency assistance to Ukraine and NATO allies. * The World Bank said it had approved an additional financing package totalling $610 million to address urgent relief and recovery needs in Ukraine.

CONFLICT * President Vladimir Putin acknowledged that conditions in Russian-held areas of Ukraine were "extremely difficult" and ordered the strengthening of Russia's borders.

* Zelenskiy paid a surprise visit to the frontline city of Bakhmut, where he hailed the "superhuman" troops waging a battle that has come to symbolise the grinding brutality of the war. * Electricity supplies in the Kyiv region were at a "critical" level, with less than half the capital's power needs being supplied following Russian missile and drone attacks, regional officials said.

* Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Ukraine should prepare for new Russian attacks on its energy grid because Moscow wanted Ukrainians to spend the Christmas and New Year holidays in darkness. * Reuters was not able to independently verify battlefield reports.