Russia pressed on with its offensive in eastern Ukraine after NATO branded Moscow the biggest "direct threat" to Western security and agreed plans to modernise Kyiv's beleaguered armed forces.

FIGHTING

* Eight missiles struck Mykolaiv, a river port just off the Black Sea, its mayor said, including a hit on an apartment building, that killed four people and wounded five.

* "There is fighting everywhere," said the governor of the eastern Luhansk region, much of which is now in Russian hands. The Russians are taking the city of Lysychansk building by building, he said, as they did before in nearby Sievierodonetsk.

* Reuters could not independently verify any of the battlefield accounts.

* Ukraine carried out its biggest exchange of prisoners of war since Russia invaded, securing the release of 144 of its soldiers, including 95 who defended Mariupol's steelworks, Ukraine's military intelligence agency said.

DIPLOMACY AND ECONOMY

* U.S. President Biden pledged more American troops, warplanes and warships for Europe as NATO agreed the biggest strengthening of its deterrents since the Cold War in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

* Britain will provide another 1 billion pounds ($1.21 billion) of military support to Ukraine, the British government said, bringing the total amount to 2.3 billion pounds since the invasion.

Reuters