Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 656

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, will address US military officers as part of a last-minute push to convince congress to provide more money for weapons before funding runs out. On Tuesday, he is expected to go to Capitol Hill and to meet with Joe Biden at the White House.

Vladimir Putin attended a televised flag-raising ceremony for two nuclear submarines. The Russian president travelled to Severodvinsk to view the vessels, the Krasnoyarsk and Emperor Alexander III, at the Sevmash shipbuilding yard.

Russia will hold its presidential election in four annexed regions of Ukraine, Interfax news agency quoted the country’s central election commission as saying.

Russian forces have unleashed a major offensive on Avdiivka, with 610 artillery shellings reported near the eastern Ukrainian town over the past day, according to the Ukrainian military.

Britain has said it delivered two mine-hunting ships to Ukraine. The mine hunters, originally HMS Grimsby and HMS Shoreham, were renamed Chernihiv and Cherkasy in Glasgow in June, and will help Ukraine to maintain a critical route for merchant shipping travelling across the Black Sea.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has said that it had cracked a network of Ukrainian agents in Crimea who were involved in attempts to assassinate pro-Russian figures, Reuters reported. The FSB also said that, overall, it had prevented 18 “terrorist attacks” this year in Crimea.

Officials have said Russia attacked Kyiv with eight long-range ballistic missiles before dawn on Monday. The strike – at about 4am – marked the first major attack on the Ukrainian capital in recent months using ballistic missiles.

Zelenskiy attended the swearing-in of Argentina’s new president, Javier Milei, on his first official trip to Latin America where he is attempting to court support among developing nations. Milei welcomed the Ukrainian at the presidential palace after his inauguration. The two shared an extended hug, exchanged words and then Milei, who has said he intends to convert to Judaism, presented his Ukrainian counterpart with a menorah as a gift.

Zelenskiy said he had had a “frank” conversation with Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán on the sidelines of the inauguration. “It was as frank as possible – and obviously, it was about our European affairs,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. Orbán has threatened to block more EU aid for Ukraine as well as its membership accession talks.

Britain said it had delivered two mine-hunting ships to Ukraine. The mine hunters, originally HMS Grimsby and HMS Shoreham, were renamed Chernihiv and Cherkasy in Glasgow in June, and will help Ukraine to maintain a critical route for merchant shipping travelling across the Black Sea.