DNIPRO, Ukraine – Ukraine is insisting on the need for faster supplies of weapons from the West, with the central city of Dnipro reeling from a Russian missile strike that killed at least 40 people and Ukrainian troops coming under increased pressure on the eastern front.

In its Monday evening update, Ukraine’s army general staff said Russian artillery pounded around 25 towns and villages around the cities of Bakhmut and Avdiika, the two focal points of Moscow’s attempts to advance in the strategic industrial region of Donbas.

It said Russia also kept up shelling of over 30 settlements in the north-east Kharkiv and Sumy areas near the Russian border.

In the south, Russian mortar and artillery fire hit several towns, including the regional capital Kherson, which Russian forces abandoned in November.

The death toll from Saturday’s missile strike in Dnipro rose to 40, including three children, Ukrainian officials said. They said 25 people remained missing or unaccounted for, but 39, including six children, were rescued from the rubble.

“What happened in Dnipro, the fact that Russia is preparing new attempts to seize the initiative in the war, the fact that the nature of military action at the front requires new decisions on arms supplies - only underscores how important it is to coordinate all the efforts of the coalition defending Ukraine and freedom,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his Monday night video address. “And to speed up decision-making.”

Western countries have been supplying weapons to Ukraine since Russian forces invaded on Feb 24, but Mr Zelensky and his government are insisting they need tanks.

Britain confirmed on Monday it was going to send 14 Challenger 2 tanks and other hardware, including hundreds more armoured vehicles and advanced air defence missiles.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was due to host American allies at an air base in Germany on Friday to discuss further aid for Ukraine.

Mr Oleskiy Danylov, secretary of Ukraine’s Security Council, mentioned on Monday night the need for an acceleration in weapons supplies because the government expected Russia “to attempt to make a so-called final push”.

Mr Danylov told Ukrainian television that “final push” could take place on the invasion’s anniversary or in March.

“We must prepare for such events every day, and we are preparing… The first and last question is always about weapons, aid to help us defeat this aggressor that invaded our country,” Mr Danylov said. REUTERS