Finland could donate a small number of German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine if a wider group of European nations also decided to do so, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto was quoted as saying on Thursday.

Kyiv has requested heavy military vehicles such as the Leopard 2, which would represent a significant step-up in Western support after Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 last year.

Finland, which has applied for NATO membership, could only share a limited number of tanks as the country’s arms are needed to guard its long border with Russia, the president told Finnish news agency STT.

“If tanks would be sent, that is why Finland’s offering could not be very numerous,” Niinisto told STT.

Poland has said it would send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine if there was a larger coalition of countries doing so, while Germany has said it has no plans to send any.

“If the position would change for the part of the battle tanks and a joint European cooperation would form, Finland’s contribution is also needed,” the president’s office said in an emailed statement to Reuters on Friday.

Ukraine said on Friday its forces were still holding out in the eastern salt mining town of Soledar after a “hot” night of fighting in what has become one of the bloodiest battlefields of the entire war.

Both sides have endured heavy losses in the battle for the small town. Moscow is seeking what would be its first big battlefield gain after half a year of humiliating retreats. Kyiv says Russia is throwing wave upon wave of soldiers into a pointless fight for a bombed-out wasteland.

The Wagner ultra-nationalist mercenary company run by an ally of President Vladimir Putin has claimed to have taken the town. But Russia‘s defence ministry has so far said little about the situation there, while a Russian-installed local official said on Thursday there were still pockets of resistance.

“The night in Soledar was hot, battles continued,” Ukraine‘s Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

“The enemy threw almost all the main forces in the direction of Donetsk and maintains a high intensity of offensive. Our fighters are bravely trying to maintain the defence,” she said, referring to the Donetsk region which includes Soledar.

“This is a difficult phase of the war, but we will win. There is no doubt.”

Outside Soledar, Ukrainian soldiers were dug into well-fortified trenches in the wintry woods. Explosions echoed in the distance.

A 24-year-old soldier using the call-sign BUK, told Reuters the intensity of shelling had risen by around 70 percent, but forces were still holding their positions.

“The situation is difficult but stable. We’re holding back the enemy ... we’re fighting back.”

Reuters could not verify the situation inside the town, which had around 10,000 residents before the war. Ukrainian officials say more than 500 civilians are trapped inside, including 15 children.

In an overnight video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy thanked two units in Soledar he said were “holding their positions and inflicting significant losses on the enemy.” He did not give more details.

A close ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin on Friday suggested confiscating property and assets of Russians who discredit the country’s armed forces and oppose the war in Ukraine.

Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the Russian Duma, said current measures, such as fines for those who speak out against what Moscow calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine, were not strict enough.

A Russian foreign ministry official said on Friday that a flurry of joint military drills between Russia and its close ally Belarus was designed to deter “potential opponents from escalation and provocations.”

Russia used Belarus as a springboard to invade Ukraine in February 2022, and the October deployment of a joint troop group to Belarus raised fears in Kyiv that Russia could be preparing to launch a new offensive from its northern neighbour this year.

A Russian foreign ministry official said on Friday that Belarus may enter the conflict in Ukraine if Kyiv decides to “invade” either country.

Russia used Belarus as a springboard to invade Ukraine in February 2022, and since October has deployed troops in Belarus for joint military drills.

Both countries have since agreed to intensify their military co-operation, raising fears Moscow could use its close ally to launch a new offensive on Ukraine from the north.

In an interview with state media, foreign ministry official Aleksey Polishchuk said that Russia‘s joint drills with Belarus were designed to prevent escalation, but warned that Belarus may join the Ukraine conflict if it or Russia were invaded.

“From a legal point of view, the use of military force by the Kyiv regime or the invasion of the territory of Belarus or Russia by the armed forces of Ukraine are sufficient grounds for a collective response,” Polishchuk told the TASS news agency.

He added, however, that it was up to the leaders of the two countries whether they would make that decision.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday that his country must “be ready” at its border with Belarus, but that he so far only saw “powerful statements” coming from his neighbour.

“We understand that apart from powerful statements, we do not see anything powerful there, but nevertheless we must be ready both at the border and in the regions,” he said.

The British defence ministry has said that the Russian defence manufacturing sector is highly likely resorting to using convict labour in an effort to meet war-time production demands.

“In November 2022, Uralvagonzavod (UVZ), Russia’s largest tank manufacturer, told local media that it would employ 250 prisoners after meeting with the Federal Penal Service (FSIN),” the ministry said today.

The ministry noted that there is a “long tradition of prison labour in Russia, but since 2017 forced labour as a specific criminal punishment was reintroduced.”

“With one of the highest rates of incarceration in the world, FSIN oversees a sprawling empire of over 400,000 inmates and has frequently been accused of extreme brutality and corruption,” the MoD said in its latest intelligence update.

“The prison population provides a unique human resource to Russian leaders to utilise in support of the ‘special military operation’ while willing volunteers remain in short supply,” according to the ministry.

It added that Russia’s convict labour will “likely be particularly in demand from manufacturers of relatively low-tech weaponry such as UVZ, which are almost certainly under intense pressure from Moscow to increase their production.”

“The situation is difficult but stable. We’re holding back the enemy ... we’re fighting back,” said a 24-year-old Ukrainian soldier positioned outside the key mining town.

Soledar – the focus of the Russian offensive as of now – has been dubbed the “meat grinder” as casualties have racked up in the strategic region less than 10km (6 miles) northeast of the city of Bakhmut.

Volodymyr Zelensky has hailed a “new direction” in Ukraine’s state charity effort, United24, with which it hopes to reconstruct the country once Russia’s invasion is repelled.

“This direction is the reconstruction of Ukraine. It is the generation of funds for the restoration, in particular, of housing for Ukrainians in the territories affected by Russian strikes and occupation,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address.

A”s of this day, about half a billion hryvnias have already been raised through United24 from people from more than a hundred countries to restore housing. This is a tangible help to both local communities and the state.

“In general, more than 10 billion hryvnias have already been raised due to the state fundraising platform. And I thank everyone who joined the United24 fundraising.”

The speaker of the Russian Duma and a close ally of Vladimir Putin has suggested Moscow could confiscate property and assets of Russians who discredit the country’s armed forces and oppose the war in Ukraine.

Current measures such as fines for those who speak out against what Moscow calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine are not strict enough, speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said today.