Ukraine war latest: Russia triggers 'longest air raid alert' in major Ukrainian city since war began; Putin continues China visit

Officials in Russia's Krasnodar region reported another Ukrainian drone attack on an oil refinery, this time causing a fire.

So far, no casualties have been reported at Tuapse oil refinery and authorities say they have contained the fire.

Meanwhile, Russia's defence ministry claims its air defence and the Black Sea fleet destroyed 102 Ukrainian drones and six unmanned boats over the past night.

As a result of that attack, the governor of Sevastopol, in annexed Crimea, says an electrical substation was damaged.

"There will be isolated blackouts," he wrote on messaging app Telegram.

He says he has cancelled classes "in all schools, institutions of secondary vocational education and kindergartens".

As we reported last night, Ukrainian officials claimed Kharkiv region came under drone attack.

Some more information has now come to light.

Public broadcaster Suspilne reports the air raid alert lasted more than 16 hours - the longest recorded since Russia's invasion began.

Governor Oleh Syniehubov said at least five drones had struck Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, while Mayor Ihor Terekhov said the city's Osnovyanskyi district had been hit, causing a fire.

There are no immediate reports of casualties or damage and the air raid alert was lifted early on Friday, after a missile warning was also in place.

Welcome back to our live coverage of the Ukraine war.

It's day two of Vladimir Putin's state visit to China after a summit with Xi Jinping yesterday, where the pair pledged a "new era" of partnership and signed a 7,000-word long joint statement reaffirming their deepening ties.

The Russian president is in the northeastern city of Harbin today, where he's expected to attend trade and cooperation forums and meet students at an engineering university.

The US brushed off the latest statement from the Chinese and Russian leaders - which included one-sentence warning on nuclear war - as "nothing new".

In other news from the past 24 hours:

• At least five Russian drones hit Kharkiv late last night, triggering a fire, before the city came "under missile attack", according to Ukrainian officials. There was no word on any victims;
• Moscow expelled a British defence attache in retaliation to the UK kicking out his Russian counterpart over spying allegations last week;
• Anti-Putin Russian paramilitary soldiers joined Ukrainian troops on the new frontier in northeastern Ukraine;
• Volodymyr Zelenskyy travelled to the city of Kharkiv following the fresh Russian incursion across Ukraine's northeastern border. He described the situation as extremely difficult though "controlled in general";
• Russian authorities claimed a Ukrainian attack in Russia-controlled Donetsk killed four people.

That's it for our live updates on the Ukraine war this evening.

Scroll through the blog below to catch up on what happened.

This map shows much of eastern Ukraine is under an air raid alert currently.

"Air defence is working, do not leave shelters and be careful," Kharkiv governor Oleh Synehubov said on Telegram.

Following on from our previous post, Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov has now said that Kharkiv is "under missile attack".

This was also reported by regional governor Oleh Synehubov, who has urged citizens to move to air raid shelters.

Mr Synehubov said on Telegram that there is no information about victims currently.

A journalist in Kharkiv says he has "lost count of the number of explosions" shaking the city.

At least five Russian drones have hit the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and a fire has broken out, according to officials.

Regional governor Oleh Synehubov reported the drone strike and said the city remained at risk.

Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov said the Osnovyanskyi district has been struck, sparking a fire.

Neither official has reported any casualties.

Kharkiv city has come under frequent fire in recent weeks, while thousands of people have been forced to flee the wider Kharkiv region after Russian troops launched a surprise incursion last week.

The relationship between Russia and China is under scrutiny as Vladimir Putin visits the country in what is largely a symbolic visit.

For Xi Jinping, this visit is about power, says our Asia correspondent Nicole Johnston.

You can watch Nicole's full report here...

"Nothing new."

That's what the US has to say of Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping signing a joint statement on deepening the strategic partnership between their two countries.

"The statement is nothing new," said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at a briefing this evening, adding that Washington has been "very clear" where it stands on the issue.

"We find it unacceptable that Chinese companies are helping Putin wage this war against Ukraine. We've been very clear about that. And if China purports to support peace in Europe, it cannot continue to field the biggest threat of European security," she said.

Ms Jean-Pierre dismissed a question over whether the US had any power to persuade China away from supporting Russia.

Vladimir Putin has arrived in the Chinese city of Harbin for day two of his state visit after spending Thursday in Beijing meeting Xi Jinping (a reminder that China is several hours ahead, meaning it's early morning there now).

The northeastern city, which borders Russia's far east, has cultural and historic ties to Russia.

While there, Mr Putin is expected to attend trade and cooperation forums and meet students at the Harbin Institute of Technology.

Earlier, the Russian president and Mr Xi reaffirmed their "no-limits partnership and criticised US military alliances in Asia and the Pacific.

Mr Putin also thanked the Chinese leader for Beijing's peace proposal for the Ukraine war, which Kyiv and the West rejected.