Street fighting is raging around Bakhmut and the Ukrainian city is “almost destroyed” — but Russian forces have not seized full control, its deputy mayor said Saturday. Ukrainian forces appeared to still hold some parts of the eastern city, despite claims by pro-Kremlin forces that they had encircled the town, The Washington Post reported earlier. If Russian forces capture the city, it would give Moscow a symbolic triumph after months of fierce fighting and heavy casualties.
Off the battlefield, law enforcement officials from the United States, the European Union, Britain and other jurisdictions met Friday in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, including U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, who traveled to Ukraine unannounced.
Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.
When Ukraine goes dark: Although far away from the front lines, Ukrainian cities have been plunged into darkness after repeated Russian strikes against Ukraine’s infrastructure, The Post reports. Residents in these urban areas suffer similar challenges: what to eat, when to take the stairs and where to shelter from strikes.
In this 22-story, 114-unit building, power outages mean the parking garage is now a bomb shelter. Living on higher floors used to mean a better view. Now it means a longer climb.