Russia's defense minister visits the country’s troops in a rare visit at the front line in eastern Ukraine.

Moscow says Russia is open to peace talks with Ukraine to end war but will not give up the Ukrainian regions it has annexed.

“There is little reason to believe that it entered our airspace by accident. By all appearances, it seems some plan was being realized here,” a Belarusian official said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday declared martial law in the former Ukrainian regions that recently joined the Russian Federation amid reports that Ukraine is gearing up for a large-scale offensive in the Kherson region.

Moscow launched the referendum in the eastern areas of Donetsk and Lugansk, and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south.

Beijing is seeking to find a negotiated solution for the Ukraine crisis and will continue its constructive role to accomplish this mission.

Ukrainian forces claim to have marched farther east into areas abandoned by Russia, paving the way for fierce confrontation in the breakaway Donbas region as Kiev lobbies for more Western arms.