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Russia's strategic nuclear forces have held exercises overseen by President Vladimir Putin, as Washington accused Russian troops massed near Ukraine's border of advancing and being "poised to strike".

With Western fears of war rising, the White House said US President Joe Biden's national security team told him they still believed Russia could launch an attack in Ukraine "at any time" and he planned to convene his top advisers on Sunday to discuss the crisis.

Foreign ministers from the G7 group of rich nations said they had seen no evidence Russia is reducing its military activity in the area and remained "gravely concerned" about the situation.

After Kyiv and Moscow traded accusations over new shelling near the border, France and Germany urged all or some of their citizens in Ukraine to leave. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Russian forces were beginning to "uncoil and move closer" to the border.

"We hope he (Putin) steps back from the brink of conflict," Austin told a news conference in Lithuania, saying an invasion of Ukraine was not inevitable.

Russia ordered the military build-up while demanding NATO prevent Ukraine from ever joining the alliance but says Western warnings that it is planning to invade Ukraine are hysterical and dangerous. Moscow says it is pulling back, but Washington and allies say the build-up is mounting.

Washington and NATO say Moscow's main demands are non-starters, but in Ukraine fears are growing over Putin's plans.

Venting his frustration at a security conference in Munich, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the global security architecture was "almost broken". He urged the permanent members of the UN Security Council, Germany and Turkey to meet to draw up new security guarantees for his country.

"The rules that the world agreed on decades ago no longer work," Zelenskiy said. "They do not keep up with new threats ... This is a cough syrup when you need a coronavirus vaccine."

World Bank President David Malpass told Zelenskiy on Saturday the bank was readying funding to Ukraine of up to $US350 million ($A488 million).

The Kremlin said Russia successfully test-launched hypersonic and cruise missiles at sea during the nuclear forces drills. Putin observed the exercises on screens with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko from a "situation centre".

In his most pointed prediction so far, Biden said on Friday he was convinced that Putin has made the decision to invade Ukraine in the coming days, and Austin said on Saturday the nuclear forces exercises were stoking concerns around the world.

"President Biden continues to monitor the evolving situation in Ukraine, and is being updated regularly about events on the ground by his national security team," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement. "They reaffirmed that Russia could launch an attack against Ukraine at any time."

G7 foreign ministers called on Russia to choose the path of diplomacy. "As a first step, we expect Russia to implement the announced reduction of its military activities along Ukraine's borders. We have seen no evidence of this reduction," they said in a statement.

Zelenskiy said he had an "urgent" phone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron and discussed possible ways of immediate de-escalation and political-diplomatic settlement. Macron is due to speak with Putin on Sunday.

The nuclear drills follow manoeuvres by Russia's armed forces in the past four months that have included a build-up of troops -- estimated by the West to number 150,000 or more -- to the north, east and south of Ukraine.

New helicopters and a battle group deployment of tanks, armoured personnel carriers and support equipment have been moved to sites in Russia near the border, according to US-based Maxar Technologies, which tracks developments with satellite imagery.

Moscow-based analysts said Saturday's exercises were aimed at sending a message to take Russia's demands seriously.

"Ignoring Russia's legitimate rights in this area adversely affects the stability not only on the European continent, but also in the world," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted by his ministry as telling his French counterpart by phone.

A NATO official said the alliance relocated staff from Kyiv to the western city of Lviv and to Brussels for safety reasons. The United States and other countries have moved diplomats to Lviv.

Russian-backed rebels seized a swathe of eastern Ukraine and Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Kyiv says more than 14,000 people have been killed in the conflict in the east.

Separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine have declared a full military mobilisation after ordering women and children to evacuate to Russia, citing the threat of an imminent attack by Ukrainian forces, which Kyiv denied.

Kyiv and Western leaders say the mobilisation, evacuation and increased shelling are part of a Russian plan to create a pretext for an invasion.

© RAW 2022

Russia and Belarus are extending military drills that were due to end on Sunday, the Belarus defence minister has said, in a step that further intensifies pressure on Ukraine as Western leaders warn of an imminent Russian invasion.

The Belarus minister said the decision had been taken "in connection with the increase in military activity near the external borders" of Russia and Belarus and because of rising tension in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine.

NATO says Russia has up to 30,000 troops in Belarus and could use them as part of an invasion force to attack Ukraine, although Moscow denies any such intention.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a BBC interview broadcast on Sunday that Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin might not be thinking logically so the threat of sanctions may not be enough to deter a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Sanctions "may not be enough to deter an irrational actor and we have to accept at the moment that Vladimir Putin is possibly thinking illogically about this and doesn't see the disaster ahead," Johnson told the BBC.

Explosions were heard in the centre of Donetsk, a city in the eastern Donbass region controlled by Russia-backed separatists, a Reuters reporter said, in addition to heavy shelling elsewhere in the region earlier in the day. SMS messages sent to residents of Donetsk urged men to report for military duty.

Several days of firing in eastern Ukraine, large parts of which are controlled by Russia-backed separatists, have followed a build-up of Russia troops - estimated by the West to number 150,000 or more - to the north, east and south of the country.

Russia has denied plans to attack Ukraine, despite the troop deployments that Britain's Johnson said suggested preparations for a large-scale conflict.

"The plan that we are seeing is for something that could be really the biggest war in Europe since 1945 just in terms of sheer scale," Johnson told the BBC.

Johnson said the United States and Britain would seek to cut off Russian companies' access to dollars and pounds in the case of an invasion, saying such sanctions would "hit very very hard" and would go further than previously suggested in public.

With Western fears of war rising, US President Joe Biden was due to convene his top advisers later in the day to discuss the crisis. Biden said on Saturday he believed Russia could launch an attack "at any time", despite assurances from the Kremlin that some troops were returning to their permanent bases after military exercises.

A Russian diplomat at the UN said no one should tell Russia where or when to conduct military exercises, adding that US and British intelligence assessments could not be trusted, citing mistakes made prior to the war in Iraq.

Foreign ministers from the G7 group of rich nations said on Saturday they had seen no evidence Russia is reducing its military activity in the area and remained "gravely concerned" about the situation.

Russia ordered the military build-up several months ago while demanding NATO prevent Ukraine from ever joining the alliance. It says Western warnings that it is planning to invade Ukraine are hysterical and dangerous.

However, it has warned of unspecified "military-technical" measures if demands including a NATO pullback from Eastern Europe are not met.

The focus of tensions in recent days has been on a swathe of eastern Ukraine that Russian-backed rebels seized in 2014, the same year Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine. More than 14,000 people have been killed in the conflict in the east.

Ukraine suspended operations on Sunday at one of the seven checkpoints to territory in Donbass, due to heavy shelling, the Ukrainian military said.

Incidents of shelling across the line dividing government forces and separatists increased sharply last week, in what the Ukrainian government called a provocation. Kyiv's Western allies are concerned Russia might use the escalation as a pretext for wider conflict.

Two Ukrainian soldiers were reported killed and four wounded on Saturday.

Local military forces in one of the separatist areas, Luhansk, said on Sunday that two civilians had been killed and five buildings were damaged in shelling by the Ukraine military.

Russia's Investigative Committee will investigate the case, the RIA news agency quoted it as saying.

The Ukrainian military said in a statement that its forces were sticking to a ceasefire agreement and "open fire exclusively when the actions of the Russian occupation forces pose a threat to the life and health of Ukrainian servicemen and civilians."

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that reports it was shelling separatist areas were "pure lies".

The military commissariat of the other breakaway region, Donetsk, sent text messages to residents saying: "In view of possible aggression from the Ukrainian side, it is the sacred duty and obligation of every man to take up the defence of his home and fatherland."

© RAW 2022

NSW has posted a further 21 COVID-related fatalities and 5582 new infections following an easing of restrictions and with plans to relax testing requirements for students.

Some 1280 virus patients remain in NSW hospitals, with 77 of them in intensive care and 35 requiring ventilation.

Health authorities say the latest deaths were of 15 men and six women. Eleven of the group were aged in their 80s, five in their 70s, three in their 60s and one each in their 50s and 90s.

Ten were triple vaccinated, eight were double dosed and three were not immunised.

Of the positive results returned in the 24 hours to Saturday evening, 3866 were collected using rapid antigen kits and 1716 processed in labs.

Meanwhile, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet says surveillance testing of school children will move to an on-demand basis from Monday week.

Parents will receive eight rapid antigen tests per student to be distributed in two drops.

"The packs are there for families and staff to use at their discretion for their own peace of mind, for example, when a student is feeling unwell with a sore throat or cough, or if family members are sick," the premier said.

Teachers will also receive the free tests.

Minister for Education Sarah Mitchell says there have been no school closures since students returned this year, despite the levels of community transmission.

"Testing children twice a week was not an easy task and I'd like to thank all of the parents and carers for their efforts in these critical first few weeks of term," she said.

Early childhood staff will also receive the additional RAT kits to be used when necessary.

Research conducted by the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance showed that in the final term of 2021, three to four per cent of people exposed to a positive case in school and early childhood settings contracted COVID-19 compared to around 70 per cent in residential settings.

Elsewhere, the state is finishing off a weekend with fewer COVID-19 restrictions after the premier rolled back QR code check-ins and the ban on singing and dancing in hospitality venues.

The two-metre density limit for indoor venues has been scrapped and QR check-ins are only required for nightclubs and music festivals with more than 1000 patrons.

The requirement to wear face masks will also mostly cease next Friday.

© AAP 2022