Russia's foreign minister said that over a million people have been evacuated from Ukraine since the conflict began. Sergey Lavrov's remarks, made in an interview with China's state news agency Xinhua on Saturday, came as Ukraine accuses Moscow of forcibly deporting Ukrainians. According to Lavrov, that number included more than 300 Chinese civilians. In the interview, Lavrov provided no evidence to back up his assertion.

Lavrov also stated that Russia and Ukraine are still in talks "nearly every day." He did warn, however, that "progress has not been simple." The negotiations were disrupted, said Lavrov, due to "bellicose rhetoric and aggressive acts of Western backers of the Kyiv regime." On the other hand, guests on Russian official television have suggested that Moscow employ nuclear weapons in the confrontation.

Meanwhile, the British Defense Ministry made that assessment in a tweet Saturday as part of a daily report it provides on Russia’s war on Kyiv. It said, Russia "continues to face significant hurdles" in combat. Russian forces have "been compelled to integrate and redeploy weakened and dispersed units from the unsuccessful advances in northeast Ukraine," according to the British military.

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