The Biden administration said it received advance notice of the annual drills.

It comes after two more people, including a pregnant woman, have died as Russia targeted more than 40 villages around Ukraine over the past day, Ukrainian officials said.

Russian forces launched five rockets, 30 air strikes and more than 100 multiple-launch rocket system attacks on Ukrainian targets, the Ukrainian armed forces general staff said on Wednesday.

The attacks came as fears grew that Russia, facing setbacks on the battlefield, might try to detonate a so called “dirty bomb”,  a device that uses explosives to scatter radioactive waste in an effort to sow terror or could go as far as tapping its nuclear arsenal.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday called his counterparts from India and China to share Moscow’s concern about “possible Ukrainian provocations involving a dirty bomb”, according to the Russian Defence Ministry.

Shoigu first made that allegation in calls with British, French, Turkish and US officials. Britain, France, and the United States rejected his claim as “transparently false”.

Ukrainian authorities warned that Moscow might be preparing to use such a device in a false flag attack.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday called Russia’s unsubstantiated statements “absurd”.

“Allies reject this blatantly false accusation, and Russia must not use false pretexts to escalate the war further,” Stoltenberg told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

Meanwhile, Australia will send an extra 30 Bushmasters to Ukraine and up to 70 defence force trainers to the United Kingdom in its latest effort to prop up Kyiv. It brings the total number of the armoured vehicles donated to Ukraine to 90.

But when and where they will be deployed, as well as how many have already landed there are being kept secret for security reasons.

The personnel will be deployed to the UK in January to join a British-led operation to train Ukrainian troops.

No Australian defence personnel will enter Ukraine.

Defence Minister Richard Marles said Australian troops joining Operation INTERFLEX would help them prepare their Ukrainian counterparts to continue the fight against Russian aggression.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia would continue to stand up for freedom and democracy.

“This is not just about Ukraine’s sovereignty – the brave people of Ukraine are defending international law, rules and norms,” he said.

The new measures bring the value of Australia’s total support for Ukraine to $655 million, including $475m in military aid.

The additional costs will come from the defence department after Tuesday’s federal budget revealed the government will provide more than $210m to Ukraine over five years.

Marles has previously warned of a protracted conflict as Ukraine pleads with western nations to not let their support wane as the war drags on.

-AAP