AP

Russia pours in more troops and presses attack in the east

Apr 18, 2022, 9:05 AM | Updated: Apr 19, 2022, 7:14 pm

An injured man smokes following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, o...

An injured man smokes following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)


              An injured man smokes following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              A man with a dog walks in a street along damaged during a heavy fighting apartment buildings in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces in Mariupol, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Taking Mariupol would deprive Ukraine of a vital port and complete a land bridge between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, seized from Ukraine from 2014. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)
            
              Ukrainians men queue inside a church to receive humanitarian aid donated by European Union in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Citizens of Bucha are still without electricity, water and gas after more than 44 days since the Russian invasion began. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              A man tries to extinguish a fire following a Russian bombardment at a residential neighborhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              Member of security forces help an injured man following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              Servicemen of Donetsk People's Republic militia walk past damaged vehicles during a heavy fighting in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces in Mariupol, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Taking Mariupol would deprive Ukraine of a vital port and complete a land bridge between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, seized from Ukraine from 2014. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)
            
              A woman walks next to a damaged building after a Russian bombardment in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russia ratcheted up its battle for control of Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland on Tuesday, intensifying assaults on cities and towns along a front hundreds of miles long in what officials on both sides described as a new phase of the war. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              A woman with a cat sits in a bus to move to Ukrainian city of Dnipro during an evacuation of civilians in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Andriy Andriyenko)
            
              Ukrainian Interior ministry sappers collect explosives in a hole to detonate them near a mine field in the village of Moshchun, close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russia ratcheted up its battle for control of Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland on Tuesday, intensifying assaults on cities and towns along a front hundreds of miles long in what officials on both sides described as a new phase of the war. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
            
              The body of a man is covered by a tarp from a damaged truck following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              A local man stands atop of destroyed Russian armoured vehicles in Bucha, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
            
              A Ukrainian soldier inspects a Russian tank after recent battles at the village of Moshchun close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
            
              Ukrainian men and women queue inside a church to receive humanitarian aid donated by European Union in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Citizens of Bucha are still without electricity, water and gas after more than 44 days since the Russian invasion began. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              A police officer checks the body of a woman killed during a Russian bombardment at a residential neighborhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russia ratcheted up its battle for control of Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland on Tuesday, intensifying assaults on cities and towns along a front hundreds of miles long in what officials on both sides described as a new phase of the war. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              Vera Ptitsyna, 63, right, stands with her daughter Olena, 45, as she mourns on her husband's grave, Yuriy Ptitsyn, 74, who died due to lack of medical care during the monthlong Russian occupation of the town, during his funeral in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              Three dug graves are ready for the next funerals at the cemetery in Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              A member of security forces gives first aid to an injured man following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022, killing at least one person and injuring three others. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              Servicemen of Donetsk People's Republic militia walk past damaged vehicles during a heavy fighting in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces in Mariupol, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Taking Mariupol would deprive Ukraine of a vital port and complete a land bridge between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, seized from Ukraine from 2014. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)
            
              The body of a man is covered by a tarp from a damaged truck following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              A man tries to extinguish a fire following a Russian bombardment at a residential neighborhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              Member of security forces help an injured man following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022, killing at least one person and injuring three others. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              Nina, 77, waits her turn inside a church to receive humanitarian aid donated by European Union in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Citizens of Bucha are still without electricity, water and gas after more than 44 days since the Russian invasion began. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              A local man stands atop of destroyed Russian armoured vehicles in Bucha, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
            
              Sergei, 11, waits his turn to receive donated food during an aid humanitarian distribution in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Citizens of Bucha are still without electricity, water and gas after more than 44 days since the Russian invasion began. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              Three dug graves are ready for the next funerals at the cemetery in Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              A Ukrainian soldier walks past a Russian tank after recent battles at the village of Moshchun close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
            
              People board transport to move to Ukrainian city of Dnipro during an evacuation of civilians in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Andriy Andriyenko)
            
              A police officer checks the body of a woman killed during a Russian bombardment at a residential neighborhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russia ratcheted up its battle for control of Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland on Tuesday, intensifying assaults on cities and towns along a front hundreds of miles long in what officials on both sides described as a new phase of the war. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              A woman walks next to a damaged building after a Russian bombardment in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russia ratcheted up its battle for control of Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland on Tuesday, intensifying assaults on cities and towns along a front hundreds of miles long in what officials on both sides described as a new phase of the war. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              Interior ministry sappers collect explosives in a hole to detonate them near a minefield, after recent battles at the village of Moshchun close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
            
              A member of security forces gives first aid to an injured man following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022, killing at least one person and injuring three others. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              Ukrainian women show their ID inside a church to receive humanitarian aid donated by European Union in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Citizens of Bucha are still without electricity, water and gas after more than 44 days since the Russian invasion began. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              Interior ministry sappers collect explosives in a hole to detonate them near a mine field after recent battles at the village of Moshchun close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
            
              Vera Ptitsyna, 63, right, stands with her daughter Olena, 45, as she mourns on her husband's grave, Yuriy Ptitsyn, 74, who died due to lack of medical care during the monthlong Russian occupation of the town, during his funeral in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              Servicemen of Donetsk People's Republic militia walk past damaged vehicles during a heavy fighting in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces in Mariupol, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Taking Mariupol would deprive Ukraine of a vital port and complete a land bridge between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, seized from Ukraine from 2014. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)
            
              The body of a man is covered by a tarp from a damaged truck following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              A man tries to extinguish a fire following a Russian bombardment at a residential neighborhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              Member of security forces help an injured man following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022, killing at least one person and injuring three others. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              Nina, 77, waits her turn inside a church to receive humanitarian aid donated by European Union in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Citizens of Bucha are still without electricity, water and gas after more than 44 days since the Russian invasion began. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              A local man stands atop of destroyed Russian armoured vehicles in Bucha, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
            
              Sergei, 11, waits his turn to receive donated food during an aid humanitarian distribution in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Citizens of Bucha are still without electricity, water and gas after more than 44 days since the Russian invasion began. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              Three dug graves are ready for the next funerals at the cemetery in Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              A Ukrainian soldier walks past a Russian tank after recent battles at the village of Moshchun close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
            
              People board transport to move to Ukrainian city of Dnipro during an evacuation of civilians in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Andriy Andriyenko)
            
              A police officer checks the body of a woman killed during a Russian bombardment at a residential neighborhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russia ratcheted up its battle for control of Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland on Tuesday, intensifying assaults on cities and towns along a front hundreds of miles long in what officials on both sides described as a new phase of the war. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              A woman walks next to a damaged building after a Russian bombardment in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russia ratcheted up its battle for control of Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland on Tuesday, intensifying assaults on cities and towns along a front hundreds of miles long in what officials on both sides described as a new phase of the war. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              Interior ministry sappers collect explosives in a hole to detonate them near a minefield, after recent battles at the village of Moshchun close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
            
              A member of security forces gives first aid to an injured man following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022, killing at least one person and injuring three others. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              Ukrainian women show their ID inside a church to receive humanitarian aid donated by European Union in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Citizens of Bucha are still without electricity, water and gas after more than 44 days since the Russian invasion began. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              Interior ministry sappers collect explosives in a hole to detonate them near a mine field after recent battles at the village of Moshchun close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
            
              Vera Ptitsyna, 63, right, stands with her daughter Olena, 45, as she mourns on her husband's grave, Yuriy Ptitsyn, 74, who died due to lack of medical care during the monthlong Russian occupation of the town, during his funeral in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              An interior ministry sapper collects mines on a mine field after recent battles in Irpin close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
            
              A man tries to extinguish a fire following a Russian bombardment at a residential neighborhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              A general view of the cemetery in Irpin where three dug graves await the next funerals on Tuesday, April 19, 2022, in the outskirts of Kyiv. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              A police officer checks the body of a woman killed during a Russian bombardment at a residential neighborhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russia ratcheted up its battle for control of Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland on Tuesday, intensifying assaults on cities and towns along a front hundreds of miles long in what officials on both sides described as a new phase of the war. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              A Ukrainian soldier walks past a Russian tank after recent battles at the village of Moshchun close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
            
              A local man stands atop of destroyed Russian armoured vehicles in Bucha, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
            
              Vera Ptitsyna, 63, right, stands with her daughter Olena, 45, as she mourns on her husband's grave, Yuriy Ptitsyn, 74, who died due to lack of medical care during the monthlong Russian occupation of the town, during his funeral in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              The body of a man is covered by a tarp from a damaged truck following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              A member of security forces gives first aid to an injured man following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022, killing at least one person and injuring three others. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              An injured man looks on following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              An interior ministry sapper collects mines on a mine field after recent battles in Irpin close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
            
              A man tries to extinguish a fire following a Russian bombardment at a residential neighborhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              A general view of the cemetery in Irpin where three dug graves await the next funerals on Tuesday, April 19, 2022, in the outskirts of Kyiv. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              A police officer checks the body of a woman killed during a Russian bombardment at a residential neighborhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russia ratcheted up its battle for control of Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland on Tuesday, intensifying assaults on cities and towns along a front hundreds of miles long in what officials on both sides described as a new phase of the war. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              A Ukrainian soldier walks past a Russian tank after recent battles at the village of Moshchun close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
            
              A local man stands atop of destroyed Russian armoured vehicles in Bucha, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
            
              Vera Ptitsyna, 63, right, stands with her daughter Olena, 45, as she mourns on her husband's grave, Yuriy Ptitsyn, 74, who died due to lack of medical care during the monthlong Russian occupation of the town, during his funeral in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              The body of a man is covered by a tarp from a damaged truck following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              A member of security forces gives first aid to an injured man following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022, killing at least one person and injuring three others. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              An injured man looks on following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              An interior ministry sapper collects mines on a mine field after recent battles in Irpin close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
            
              A man tries to extinguish a fire following a Russian bombardment at a residential neighborhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              A general view of the cemetery in Irpin where three dug graves await the next funerals on Tuesday, April 19, 2022, in the outskirts of Kyiv. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              A police officer checks the body of a woman killed during a Russian bombardment at a residential neighborhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russia ratcheted up its battle for control of Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland on Tuesday, intensifying assaults on cities and towns along a front hundreds of miles long in what officials on both sides described as a new phase of the war. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              A Ukrainian soldier walks past a Russian tank after recent battles at the village of Moshchun close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
            
              A local man stands atop of destroyed Russian armoured vehicles in Bucha, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
            
              Vera Ptitsyna, 63, right, stands with her daughter Olena, 45, as she mourns on her husband's grave, Yuriy Ptitsyn, 74, who died due to lack of medical care during the monthlong Russian occupation of the town, during his funeral in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              The body of a man is covered by a tarp from a damaged truck following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              A member of security forces gives first aid to an injured man following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022, killing at least one person and injuring three others. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              An injured man looks on following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              An interior ministry sapper collects mines on a mine field after recent battles in Irpin close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
            
              A man tries to extinguish a fire following a Russian bombardment at a residential neighborhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              A general view of the cemetery in Irpin where three dug graves await the next funerals on Tuesday, April 19, 2022, in the outskirts of Kyiv. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              A police officer checks the body of a woman killed during a Russian bombardment at a residential neighborhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russia ratcheted up its battle for control of Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland on Tuesday, intensifying assaults on cities and towns along a front hundreds of miles long in what officials on both sides described as a new phase of the war. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              A Ukrainian soldier walks past a Russian tank after recent battles at the village of Moshchun close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
            
              A local man stands atop of destroyed Russian armoured vehicles in Bucha, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
            
              Vera Ptitsyna, 63, right, stands with her daughter Olena, 45, as she mourns on her husband's grave, Yuriy Ptitsyn, 74, who died due to lack of medical care during the monthlong Russian occupation of the town, during his funeral in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              The body of a man is covered by a tarp from a damaged truck following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              A member of security forces gives first aid to an injured man following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022, killing at least one person and injuring three others. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              An injured man looks on following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              An interior ministry sapper collects mines on a mine field after recent battles in Irpin close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
            
              A man tries to extinguish a fire following a Russian bombardment at a residential neighborhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              A general view of the cemetery in Irpin where three dug graves await the next funerals on Tuesday, April 19, 2022, in the outskirts of Kyiv. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              A police officer checks the body of a woman killed during a Russian bombardment at a residential neighborhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russia ratcheted up its battle for control of Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland on Tuesday, intensifying assaults on cities and towns along a front hundreds of miles long in what officials on both sides described as a new phase of the war. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              A Ukrainian soldier walks past a Russian tank after recent battles at the village of Moshchun close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
            
              A local man stands atop of destroyed Russian armoured vehicles in Bucha, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
            
              Vera Ptitsyna, 63, right, stands with her daughter Olena, 45, as she mourns on her husband's grave, Yuriy Ptitsyn, 74, who died due to lack of medical care during the monthlong Russian occupation of the town, during his funeral in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              The body of a man is covered by a tarp from a damaged truck following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              A member of security forces gives first aid to an injured man following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022, killing at least one person and injuring three others. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              An injured man looks on following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              A woman walks next to a damaged building after a Russian bombardment in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russia ratcheted up its battle for control of Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland on Tuesday, intensifying assaults on cities and towns along a front hundreds of miles long in what officials on both sides described as a new phase of the war. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              A police officer checks the body of a woman killed during a Russian bombardment at a residential neighborhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russia ratcheted up its battle for control of Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland on Tuesday, intensifying assaults on cities and towns along a front hundreds of miles long in what officials on both sides described as a new phase of the war. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              Interior ministry sappers collect explosives in a hole to detonate them near a minefield, after recent battles at the village of Moshchun close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
            
              A Ukrainian soldier walks past a Russian tank after recent battles at the village of Moshchun close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
            
              A man tries to extinguish a fire following a Russian bombardment at a residential neighborhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              Vera Ptitsyna, 63, right, stands with her daughter Olena, 45, as she mourns on her husband's grave, Yuriy Ptitsyn, 74, who died due to lack of medical care during the monthlong Russian occupation of the town, during his funeral in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              A member of security forces gives first aid to an injured man following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022, killing at least one person and injuring three others. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              People wait for food and medicine distribution, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              The body of a man is covered by a tarp from a damaged truck following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              An injured man smokes following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              A woman walks next to a damaged building after a Russian bombardment in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russia ratcheted up its battle for control of Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland on Tuesday, intensifying assaults on cities and towns along a front hundreds of miles long in what officials on both sides described as a new phase of the war. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              A police officer checks the body of a woman killed during a Russian bombardment at a residential neighborhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russia ratcheted up its battle for control of Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland on Tuesday, intensifying assaults on cities and towns along a front hundreds of miles long in what officials on both sides described as a new phase of the war. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              Interior ministry sappers collect explosives in a hole to detonate them near a minefield, after recent battles at the village of Moshchun close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
            
              A Ukrainian soldier walks past a Russian tank after recent battles at the village of Moshchun close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
            
              A man tries to extinguish a fire following a Russian bombardment at a residential neighborhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              Vera Ptitsyna, 63, right, stands with her daughter Olena, 45, as she mourns on her husband's grave, Yuriy Ptitsyn, 74, who died due to lack of medical care during the monthlong Russian occupation of the town, during his funeral in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              A member of security forces gives first aid to an injured man following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022, killing at least one person and injuring three others. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              People wait for food and medicine distribution, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              The body of a man is covered by a tarp from a damaged truck following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              An injured man smokes following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              A volunteer, right, checks passengers before moving to Ukrainian city of Dnipro during an evacuation of civilians in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Andriy Andriyenko)
            
              People wait for food and medicine distribution, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              Ukrainian women show their ID inside a church to receive humanitarian aid donated by European Union in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Citizens of Bucha are still without electricity, water and gas after more than 44 days since the Russian invasion began. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              An interior ministry sapper collects mines on a mine field after recent battles in Irpin close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
            
              Three dug graves are ready for the next funerals at the cemetery in Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              An elderly woman waits do be evacuated from a hospice in Chasiv Yar city, Donetsk district, Ukraine, Monday, April 18, 2022. At least 35 men and women, some in wheelchairs and most of them with difficulties to walk, were helped by volunteers to flee from the region that has been under attack in the last weeks. They are going to Khmelnytskyi, in western Ukraine. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              Nina, 77, holds her hands inside a church as she waits to receive humanitarian aid donated by European Union in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Citizens of Bucha are still without electricity, water and gas after more than 44 days since the Russian invasion began. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              Interior ministry sappers collect explosives in a hole to detonate them near a mine field after recent battles at the village of Moshchun close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
            
              Sergei, 11, waits his turn to receive donated food during an aid humanitarian distribution in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Citizens of Bucha are still without electricity, water and gas after more than 44 days since the Russian invasion began. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              Ukrainian men and women queue inside a church to receive humanitarian aid donated by European Union in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Citizens of Bucha are still without electricity, water and gas after more than 44 days since the Russian invasion began. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              People wait for food and medicine distribution, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russian forces attacked along a broad front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a "new phase of the war." (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              A woman with a cat sits in a bus to move to Ukrainian city of Dnipro during an evacuation of civilians in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Andriy Andriyenko)
            
              People board transport to move to Ukrainian city of Dnipro during an evacuation of civilians in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Andriy Andriyenko)
            
              People board transports to move to Ukrainian city of Dnipro during an evacuation of civilians in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Andriy Andriyenko)
            
              Sergei, 11, waits his turn to receive donated food during an aid humanitarian distribution in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Citizens of Bucha are still without electricity, water and gas after more than 44 days since the Russian invasion began. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              A woman with a cat sits in a bus to move to Ukrainian city of Dnipro during an evacuation of civilians in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Andriy Andriyenko)
            
              People board transport to move to Ukrainian city of Dnipro during an evacuation of civilians in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Andriy Andriyenko)
            
              People board transports to move to Ukrainian city of Dnipro during an evacuation of civilians in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Andriy Andriyenko)
            
              Ukrainians wait for a food distribution organised by the Red Cross in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, on Monday, April 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              Servicemen of the Donetsk People's Republic militia look at bodies of Ukrainian soldiers placed in plastic bags in a tunnel, part of the Illich Iron & Steel Works Metallurgical Plant, the second largest metallurgical enterprise in Ukraine, in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces in Mariupol, Ukraine, Monday, April 18, 2022. Mariupol, a strategic port on the Sea of Azov, has been besieged by Russian troops and forces from self-proclaimed separatist areas in eastern Ukraine for more than six weeks. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)
            
              Elderly men in beds, at a hospice in Chasiv Yar city, Donetsk district, Ukraine, Monday, April 18, 2022. At least 35 men and women, some in wheelchairs and most of them with mobility issues, were helped by volunteers to flee from the region that has been under attack in the last weeks. They are being transported to Khmelnytskyi, in western Ukraine. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              Ukrainian sappers carry a Russian military drone backdropped by the Antonov An-225, world's biggest cargo aircraft destroyed by the Russian troops during recent fighting, at the Antonov airport in Hostomel, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
            
              Volunteers carry the body of a civilian killed by the Russian Army in Bucha, to be taken to a morgue for investigation on Monday, April 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              Burned vehicles are seen at the destroyed part of the Illich Iron & Steel Works Metallurgical Plant, as smoke rises from the Metallurgical Combine Azovstal during heavy fighting, in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces in Mariupol, Ukraine, Monday, April 18, 2022. Mariupol, a strategic port on the Sea of Azov, has been besieged by Russian troops and forces from self-proclaimed separatist areas in eastern Ukraine for more than six weeks. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)
            
              Elderly people are evacuated from a hospice in Chasiv Yar city, Donetsk district, Ukraine, Monday, April 18, 2022. At least 35 men and women, some in wheelchairs and most of them with mobility issues, were helped by volunteers to flee from the region that has been under attack in the last weeks. They are being transported to Khmelnytskyi, in western Ukraine. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) servicemen enter an apartment during an operation to arrest suspected Russian collaborators in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              In this image from video provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks from Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 18, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
            
              A woman cries next to the body of her father lying on the ground after a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              Firefighters work to extinguish a fire after an airstrike hit a tire shop in Lviv, Ukraine, Monday, April 18, 2022. Russian missiles hit the city of Lviv in western Ukraine on Monday, killing at least six people, Ukrainian officials said, as Moscow's troops stepped up strikes on infrastructure in preparation for an all-out assault on the east. (AP Photo/Mykola Tys)
            
              Two Ukrainian men fill their bottles with the water they draw from a public fountain in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, on Monday, April 18, 2022. Citizens of Bucha are still without electricity, water and gas after more than 43 days since the Russian invasion began. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              Valentyna Nechyporenko, 77, mourns at the grave of her 47-year-old son Ruslan, during his funeral at the cemetery in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Monday, April 18, 2022. Ruslan was killed by Russian army on March 17 while delivering humanitarian aid to his neighbours in the streets of Bucha. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
            
              An interior ministry sapper collects unexploded shells, grenades and other devices in Hostomel, close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia assaulted cities and towns along a boomerang-shaped front hundreds of miles long and poured more troops into Ukraine on Tuesday in a potentially pivotal battle for control of the country’s eastern industrial heartland of coal mines and factories.

If successful, the Russian offensive in what is known as the Donbas would essentially slice Ukraine in two and give President Vladimir Putin a badly needed victory following the failed attempt by Moscow’s forces to storm the capital, Kyiv, and heavier-than-expected casualties nearly two months into the war.

The eastern cities of Kharkiv and Kramatorsk came under deadly attack. Russia also said it struck areas around Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro west of the Donbas with missiles. Multiple explosions were heard early Wednesday in the southern city of Mykolaiv, the regional governor said. A hospital was reported shelled earlier in the nearby town of Bashtanka.

In Mariupol, the now-devastated port city in the Donbas, Ukrainian troops said the Russian military dropped heavy bombs to flatten what was left of a sprawling steel plant and hit a hospital where hundreds were staying.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Moscow’s forces bombarded numerous Ukrainian military sites, including troop concentrations and missile-warhead storage depots, in or near several cities or villages. Those claims could not be independently verified.

In what both sides described as a new phase of the war, the Russian assault began Monday along a front stretching more than 300 miles (480 kilometers) from northeastern Ukraine to the country’s southeast. Ukraine’s military said Russian forces tried to “break through our defenses along nearly the entire front line.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Russian military was throwing everything it has into the battle, with most of its combat-ready forces now concentrated in Ukraine and just across the border in Russia.

“They have driven almost everyone and everything that is capable of fighting us against Ukraine,” he said in his nightly video address to the nation.

Despite Russian claims of hitting only military sites, they continue to target residential areas and kill civilians, he said.

“The Russian army in this war is writing itself into world history forever as the most barbaric and inhuman army in the world,” Zelenskyy said.

Weeks ago, after the abortive Russian push to take Kyiv, the Kremlin declared that its main goal was the capture of the mostly Russian-speaking Donbas, where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces for eight years.

A Russian victory in the Donbas would deprive Ukraine of the industrial assets concentrated there, including mines, metals plants and heavy-equipment factories.

A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the Pentagon’s assessments of the war, said the Russians had added two more combat units, known as battalion tactical groups, in Ukraine over the preceding 24 hours. That brought the total number of units in the country to 78, all of them in the south and the east, up from 65 last week, the official said.

That would translate to about 55,000 to 62,000 troops, based on what the Pentagon said at the start of the war was the typical unit strength of 700 to 800 soldiers. But accurately determining Russia’s fighting capacity at this stage is difficult.

A European official, likewise speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss military assessments, said Russia also has 10,000 to 20,000 foreign fighters in the Donbas. They are a mix of mercenaries from Russia’s private Wagner Group and Russian proxy fighters from Syria and Libya, according to the official.

While Ukraine portrayed the attacks on Monday as the start of the long-feared offensive in the east, some observers noted that an escalation has been underway there for some time and questioned whether this was truly the start of a new offensive.

The U.S. official said the offensive in the Donbas has begun in a limited way, mainly in an area southwest of the city of Donetsk and south of Izyum.

Justin Crump, a former British tank commander now with the strategic advisory company Sibylline, said the Ukrainian comments could, in part, be an attempt to persuade allies to send more weapons.

“What they’re trying to do by positioning this, I think, is … focus people’s minds and effort by saying, ‘Look, the conflict has begun in the Donbas,'” Crump said. “That partly puts pressure on NATO and EU suppliers to say, ‘Guys, we’re starting to fight now. We need this now.'”

President Joe Biden is expected to announce a new weapons package in the coming days that will include additional artillery and ammunition, according to a U.S. official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also said his country will send heavy artillery to Ukraine. And Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told Zelensky that the Netherlands will send more heavy weapons, including armored vehicles.

Western arms have played a key role in enabling the outgunned Ukrainians to hold off the Russians.

Associated Press journalists in Kharkiv said at least four people were killed and three wounded in a Russian attack on a residential area of the city. The attack occurred as residents attempted to maintain a sense of normalcy, with municipal workers planting spring flowers in public areas.

An explosion also rocked Kramatorsk, killing at least one person and wounding three, according to AP journalists at the scene.

In Bashtanka, an unspecified number of people were wounded when Russian forces shelled the hospital, destroying the reception area and the dialysis unit, the head of the regional council, Hanna Zamazeeva, said on Facebook. Bashtanka is about 70 kilometers (40 miles) north of Mykolaiv.

Eyewitness accounts and reports from officials have given a broad picture of the extent of the Russian advance. But independent reporting in the parts of the Donbas held by Russian forces and separatists is severely limited, making it difficult to know what is happening in many places on the ground.

Military experts said the Russians’ goal is to encircle Ukrainian troops from the north, south and east.

Key to the campaign is the capture of Mariupol, which would deprive Ukraine of a vital port and complete a land bridge between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, seized from Ukraine in 2014. It would also free up Russian troops to move elsewhere in the Donbas.

A few thousand Ukrainian troops, by the Russians’ estimate, remained holed up in a sprawling Mariupol steel plant, representing what was believed to be the last major pocket of resistance in the city.

Russia issued a new ultimatum to the Ukrainian defenders to surrender Wednesday after a previous ultimatum was ignored. The Russian Defense Ministry said those who surrender will be allowed to live and given medical treatment. There was no immediate response from the Ukrainian troops, but they have repeatedly vowed not to give up.

Instead, the deputy commander of the Azov regiment, who was among the troops remaining in Mariupol, said the Russian military dropped heavy bombs on the steel plant and hit an “improvised” hospital. “We are pulling people out from under the rubble,” Sviatoslav Palamar told Radio Liberty.

Serhiy Taruta, the former governor of the Donetsk region and a Mariupol native, also reported the bombing of the hospital, where he said 300 people, including wounded troops and civilians with children, were sheltered.

The reports could not be independently confirmed.

Zelenskyy said the Kremlin has not responded to a proposal to exchange Viktor Medvedchuk, the jailed leader of a pro-Russia party, for the Mariupol defenders.

___

Associated Press journalists Mstyslav Chernov and Felipe Dana in Kharkiv, Ukraine; Danica Kirka in London; and Robert Burns and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report, as did other AP staff members around the world.

___

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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