Russia's war on Ukraine latest: IMF approves Ksh. 2 trillion Ukraine loan

DIPLOMACY, WEAPONRY

* A $2.6 billion (Ksh. 344.5 billion) U.S. military aid package that could include air surveillance radars, anti-tank rockets and fuel trucks for Ukraine's fight against Russia is expected to be announced as soon as Monday, three U.S. officials said on Friday.

* A senior Ukrainian official ruled out any ceasefire in Russia's war on his country that would involve Russian forces remaining on territory they now occupy in Ukraine.

* Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia faced "existential threats" to its security and development from "unfriendly states" as he presented President Vladimir Putin with an updated foreign policy doctrine.

* U.S. Secretary of State Blinken will push back on Russia's attempts to "weaponise energy" and rally support for a Ukrainian counteroffensive when he meets NATO foreign ministers in Brussels next week, an official said.

* Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Russia, which has decided to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, could if necessary put intercontinental nuclear missiles there too.

BATTLEFIELD

* At least six Russian missiles hit the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv late on Thursday, and officials are gathering details about damage and casualties, the regional governor said.

* The advance of Russian soldiers on the outskirts of the eastern frontline town of Bakhmut "has been halted - or nearly halted", the director of the Ukrainian defence publication Defense Express said.

* Reuters could not verify battlefield reports.

U.S. REPORTER'S ARREST

* Russia said on Friday that if the United States threatened Moscow over its arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, it would "reap the whirlwind", the state-owned news agency RIA reported.

* A Nobel prize-winning Russian journalist said he did not believe that arrested American reporter Evan Gershkovich was a spy, adding he hoped diplomacy could bring about his quick release.