Ukrainian forces withdraw from Lysychansk, their last holdout in key region

Russia has taken control of Lysychansk, the last city in the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine that was still under Ukrainian control.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to President Vladimir Putin that the military had taken over Lysychansk and a number of nearby settlements on Sunday, according to the country’s Ministry of Defense.

Ukraine’s military announced Sunday that it had been “forced to withdraw” from the critical city.

In his nightly televised address to the nation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the retreat from Lysychansk was motivated to save the lives of Ukrainian troops.

“We will rebuild the walls, we will win back the land, and people must be protected above all else,” he said.

Luhansk is one of the two regions that form Donbas, the eastern part of Ukraine where the conflict between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists started in 2014. The area has became the key centerpiece of Putin’s military ambition in Ukraine after his troops failed to take over Kyiv earlier this year.

The fall of Lysychansk shifts Russia closer to achieving the goal of taking over Donbas.

“After heavy fighting for Lysychansk, the Defense Forces of Ukraine were forced to withdraw from their occupied positions and lines,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Sunday on Twitter.

Accompanying the announcement was a photo that read: “Lysychansk: We’ll be back.”

A Facebook post by the Ukrainian military also cited Russian superiority in weapons, ammunition and personnel in the battle for the city.

“We continue the fight. Unfortunately, steel will and patriotism are not enough for success - material and technical resources are needed,” that post read.

Pro-Russia separatists in the area had already claimed a victory in the battle over Lysychansk.

Leonid Pasechnik, the leader of the Russian-backed self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR), declared the Luhansk region “liberated.”

“Today is the day we have accomplished what we all have been striving to for eight long years. Today our troops, with the support of the Russian armed forces, liberated the town of Lysychansk, thus completing the liberation of the Republic within its historic borders,” Pasechnik said.

Only Russia and Syria recognize the LPR as independent. Ukraine and its western allies consider it part of the Ukrainian territory, currently under Russian occupation.

Mykhailo.

Deep in the eastern Ukrainian forest, this group of volunteers waits as Russia's military creeps closer

Video shared by Russian state news outlet Ria Novosti on Saturday purports to show residents installing he old Soviet Union flag at the Memorial to the Memory of the Fallen in Lysychansk.

The Institute for the Study of War said Russia will likely establish control over the remaining territory of Luhansk region in coming days. After that, the institute said in its latest update, Russian troops will likely focus on Ukrainian positions in Siversk, west of Lysychansk, before turning inland to Sloviansk and Bakhmut.

The Donetsk region military administration said Sunday that Russian forces continued shelling Slovyansk and Bakhmut.

At least six people have died and 15 were injured in Sloviansk on Sunday, according to Tetiana Tiurina, the head of the Public Information and Communication Department of Donetsk region.

The city of Kramatorsk was also hit with three missile strikes Sunday morning but there were no casualties, according to Ukraine’s Donetsk Regional Military Administration.

Zelensky said the cities of the Luhansk region were “the epicenter” of the hostilities. In his nightly address on Saturday, Zelensky acknowledged that more than 2,600 Ukrainian cities and towns were under Russian control.

“The Russian army continued to fire missiles at our cities,” Zelensky said, urging people to “help the army, help volunteers, help everyone who was left alone at this time” and to use their contacts to “spread the truth about the war and about the crimes of the occupiers on our land.”

A photo provided by Ukrainian authorities shows buildings that have been damaged in strikes on Lysychansk on July 3, 2022.

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Ukrainian firefighters attend to the site of a missile strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on October 6.

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Head of the separatist self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin, left, and Secretary of the United Russia Party's General Council Andrey Turchak attend a news conference on preliminary results of a referendum on the joining of the DPR to Russia, in Donetsk, Ukraine, on September 27.

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People wait for food aid distributed by the local branch of Caritas Internationalis, a Catholic charity organisation, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on September 27.

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Ukrainian State Emergency Service firefighters put out a fire after a Russian rocket attack hit an electric power station in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on September 11.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, speaks to the press at his hotel before leaving to inspect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on September 1.

Graves of fallen soldiers in Lychakiv Cemetery, Lviv, as Ukrainians celebrate Independence Day, and mark the six month anniversary of the Russian invasion, on August 24.

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Valentyna Kondratieva, 75, left, is comforted by a neighbor as they stand outside her damaged home, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on August 13, after a rocket attack.

The bulk carrier NAVI STAR, transporting a cargo of corn, is seen leaving port of Odesa, Ukraine, on August 5.

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Ukrainian State Emergency Service firefighters attend to a fire at an oil depot in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, on August 2.

A firefighter extinguishes a burning hospital building hit by a Russian missile strike in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, on August 1.

Russian tanks near the settlement of Olenivka in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on July 29.

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Firefighters rest as their colleagues remove debris during the search for bodies at the Central House of Culture, in Chuhuiv, Ukraine, after an air strike on July 25.

A man holds the hand of his 13 year-old son, killed by a Russian military strike, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on July 20.

Ukrainian service members fire a shell from a towed howitzer FH-70 at the front line in the Donbas region, Ukraine, on July 18.

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Local residents look on as smoke rises after shelling in Donetsk, Ukraine, on July 7.

A wounded woman is transported to an ambulance in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on July 7.

A farmer drives a combine harvester past a crater suspected to be caused by an air strike near Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on July 7.

A Ukrainian soldier with the 14th Mechanized Brigade of Prince Roman the Great works in his tank as the unit awaits their next mission on July 1.

An aerial view of rescue workers after a missile attack in the Serhiivka district of Odesa, Ukraine, on July 1.

People attend a funeral ceremony for Ukrainian serviceman Volodymyr Kochetov, 46, in the village of Babyntsi, Ukraine, on June 30.

Firefighters clear rubble at the Amstor shopping mall in Kremenchuk, Poltava Oblast, Ukraine, on June 28.

Ukrainian State Emergency Service firefighters work to take away debris at a shopping mall after a rocket attack in Kremenchuk, Ukraine, on June 28.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky attends a working session of G7 leaders via video link from his office in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday June 27.

An apartment building in the Shevchenkivskiy district of Kyiv, Ukraine, is damaged during a Russian airstrike, on June 26. Several explosions rocked the west of the Ukrainian capital in the early hours of Sunday morning, with at least two residential buildings struck, according to Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko.

Ukrainian service members patrol an area in the city of Severodonetsk, Ukraine, on June 20.

People light flares in memory of the Ukrainian activist Roman Ratushnyi during a farewell ceremony at Baikove cemetery, Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 18.

Oleksiy Chernyshov, Ukrainian President Zelensky's special envoy for EU accession, walks with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian PM Mario Draghi past destroyed buildings in Irpin, Ukraine, on June 16.

Young people swing in front of destroyed residential buildings in Borodyanka, Ukraine, on June 15.

A Ukrainian bomb disposal expert looks at an ordnance shell during a mine clearance operation in Solonytsivka, near Kharkiv, Ukraine, on June 15.

Ukrainian servicemen fire a French 155mm CAESAR self-propelled howitzer towards Russian positions in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas on June 15.

A forensic technician inspects a mass grave near the village of Vorzel in the Bucha district near Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 13.

Russian servicemen guard an area of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Ukraine, on June 13.

Local residents walk along an empty street as smoke rises in the background in the town of Lysychansk, Ukraine, on June 10.

A Ukrainian soldier takes cover during heavy fighting at the front line in Severodonetsk, Ukraine, on Wednesday, June 8.

Ukrainian troops fire surface-to-surface rockets from MLRS towards Russian positions at the front line in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas on June 7.

A Ukrainian soldier holds a next generation light anti-tank weapon (NLAW) at a position on the front line near Bakhmut in the Donbas region of Ukraine on June 5.

U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink, left, listens to Ukraine's Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktov during a tour of Borodyanka, Ukraine, on June 4.

Local residents examine a destroyed Russian tank outside of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Tuesday, May 31. It has now been 100 days since Russia invaded.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, third from left, visits front-line positions during a trip to the Kharkiv region on Sunday, May 29.

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Buses with Ukrainian servicemen evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant wait near a prison in Olyonivka on May 17. The steel plant was the last holdout in Mariupol, a city that had become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance under relentless Russian bombardment.

Ukrainian servicemen fire mortars toward Russian positions in the east Kharkiv region of Ukraine on May 17.

A woman named Tatyana searches for her husband's grave in the settlement of Staryi Krym, outside Mariupol, on May 15.

Ukrainian service personnel work inside a basement used as a command post in the Kharkiv region on May 15.

Grieving relatives attend the funeral of Pankratov Oleksandr, a Ukrainian military serviceman, in Lviv, Ukraine, on May 14.

Ukrainian people evacuated from Mariupol arrive on buses at a registration and processing area for internally displaced people in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on May 8.

Ukrainian serviceman and emergency workers carry the body of a Russian soldier into a refrigerated train in Kharkiv on May 5. The bodies of more than 40 Russian soldiers were being stored in the refrigerated car.

Smoke rises from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol on May 5.

Ukrainian soldiers clear mines at the Antonov Airport in Hostomel, Ukraine, on May 5.

Vehicles are on fire at an oil depot in Makiivka, Ukraine, after missiles struck a facility in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces on May 4.

Natalia Pototska cries next to her grandson Matviy as they arrive at a center for displaced people in Zaporizhzhia on May 2.

Pro-Russian troops stand guard next to a bus transporting evacuees near a temporary accommodation center in the Ukrainian village of Bezimenne on May 1.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, center, meets with US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as a congressional delegation visited Kyiv on April 30. Pelosi is the most senior US official to meet with Zelensky since Russia invaded Ukraine.

A man stands on the balcony of his apartment after a missile strike damaged a residential building in Ukraine's Donetsk region on April 30.

A woman walks through the site of an explosion in Kyiv on April 29. Russia struck the Ukrainian capital shortly after a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

Guterres speaks during his meeting with Zelensky on April 28.

A team member with the International Atomic Energy Agency arrives at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, on April 26. Russian forces withdrew from Chernobyl, the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster, in March.

Maria, 13, holds a photograph of her father, Yurii Alekseev, as she and her godfather, Igor Tarkovskii, attend Alekseev's funeral in Bucha, Ukraine, on April 26. Alekseev, 50, was a territorial defense member who was killed by Russian soldiers, according to his family.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin attend a meeting in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on April 24.

A couple looks at a memorial wall in Lviv on April 24. The wall shows Ukrainian civilians who have been killed during the Russian invasion.

People pray during an Easter church service at St. Michael's Cathedral in Kyiv on April 24.

Women walk between sandbags and anti-tank barricades in Zhytomyr, Ukraine, to attend a blessing of traditional Easter food baskets on April 23.

Members of the Ukrainian Red Cross talk before moving an elderly woman to an ambulance in a bunker under a factory in Severodonetsk, Ukraine, on April 22.

A woman who recently evacuated Mariupol cries after arriving at a registration center for internally displaced people in Zaporizhzhia on April 21.

Emergency workers remove the body of a person killed during the Russian attack on Mariupol.

Vova, 10, looks at the body of his mother, Maryna, lying in a coffin as his father, Ivan, prays during her funeral in Bucha on April 20. She died during Russia's occupation of the city, as the family sheltered in a cold basement for more than a month.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, right, speaks with European Council President Charles Michel during a meeting in Kyiv on April 20.

A Ukrainian serviceman stands next to a multiple rocket-launch system in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine on April 20.

Firefighters work in Lviv after a civilian building was hit by a Russian missile on April 18.

Smoke rises above Mariupol on April 18.

Women clean inside a damaged building at the Vizar company military-industrial complex in Vyshneve, Ukraine, on April 15. The site, on the outskirts of Kyiv, was hit by Russian strikes.

Firefighters work at a burning building in Kharkiv following a missile attack near the Kharkiv International Airport on April 12.

Mourners react in Stebnyk, Ukraine, during the funeral ceremony of Ukrainian serviceman Roman Tiaka. Tiaka was 47.

Ukrainian forces fire rockets toward Russian positions in Ukraine's Donbas region on April 10.

A man works to catalog some of the bodies of civilians who were killed in and around Bucha. Shocking images showing the bodies of civilians scattered across the suburb of Kyiv sparked international outrage and raised the urgency of ongoing investigations into alleged Russian war crimes. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Russian leaders to be held accountable for the actions of the nation's military. The Russian Ministry of Defense, without evidence, claimed the extensive footage of Bucha was "fake."

Search-and-rescue teams remove debris after the Ukrainian army regained control of Borodianka, Ukraine, on April 6.

People wait to board a train as they flee Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on April 5.

Destruction is seen in Borodianka on April 5. Borodianka was home to 13,000 people before the war, but most fled after Russia's invasion. What was left of the town, after intense shelling and devastating airstrikes, was then occupied by Russian forces.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to the media about the alleged atrocities in Bucha on April 4. "It's very difficult to negotiate when you see what (the Russians) have done here," Zelensky emphasized as he stood in the town, surrounded by security.

Anna Zhelisko touches the casket of her grandson, Ukrainian soldier Dmitry Zhelisko, as it arrives for his funeral in Chervonohrad, Ukraine, on April 3. He died fighting the Russian army near Kharkiv.

Smoke rises over Odesa, Ukraine, on April 3. The Russian defense ministry confirmed a strike on an oil refinery and fuel storage facilities in the port city.

Bodies lie on a street in Bucha on April 2. Images captured by Agence France-Presse showed at least 20 civilian men dead.

A Ukrainian serviceman stands with a handcuffed Russian soldier in Kharkiv on March 31.

A satellite image shows a shelled warehouse that was being used by the Red Cross in Mariupol on March 29.

Russian and Ukrainian delegations meet in Istanbul for talks on March 29. Russia said it would "drastically reduce" its military assault on the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv and Chernihiv. The announcement came after Ukrainian and Western intelligence assessments recently suggested that Russia's advance on Kyiv was stalling. The talks also covered other important issues, including the future of the eastern Donbas region, the fate of Crimea, a broad alliance of security guarantors and a potential meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

A woman named Julia cries next to her 6-year-old daughter, Veronika, while talking to the press in Brovary, Ukraine, on March 29.

The regional government headquarters of Mykolaiv, Ukraine, is damaged following a Russian attack on March 29. At least nine people were killed, according to the Mykolaiv regional media office's Telegram channel.

An armored convoy of pro-Russian troops travel on a road leading to Mariupol on March 28.

A volunteer weaves a bulletproof vest in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on March 28.

A woman lights a candle during the Sunday service at a monastery in Odesa on March 27.

A Ukrainian serviceman stands in a heavily damaged building in Stoyanka, Ukraine, on March 27.

Orphaned children travel by train after fleeing the Russian-controlled town of Polohy, Ukraine, on March 26.

A man recovers items from a burning shop following a Russian attack in Kharkiv on March 25.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses world leaders via video at the NATO summit in Brussels, Belgium, on March 24. Zelensky stopped short of issuing his usual request for a no-fly zone, but he did say Ukraine needs fighter jets, tanks and better air defenses.

A child holds a Ukrainian flag in front of the Taras Shevchenko monument as members of the Ukrainian National Guard band perform in Lviv on March 24.

A firefighter sprays water inside a house that was destroyed by shelling in Kyiv on March 23.

Svetlana Ilyuhina looks at the wreckage of her home in Kyiv following a Russian rocket attack on March 23. "First there was smoke, and then everything went black," she said.

Pictures lie amid the rubble of a house in Kyiv on March 23.

A woman cleans up a room March 21 in a building that was damaged by bombing in Kyiv.

The Retroville shopping mall is seen in Kyiv after Russian shelling on March 21.

People share dinner and sing "Happy Birthday" during a celebration in Kyiv on March 20. This studio space has turned into a bomb shelter for approximately 25 artists who are volunteering to help the war effort.

Former Ukrainian Parliament member Tetiana Chornovol, now a service member and operator of an anti-tank guided missile system, examines a Russian tank she destroyed in a recent battle in the Kyiv region.

A Ukrainian serviceman stands among debris after shelling in a residential area in Kyiv on March 18.

US President Joe Biden holds a virtual meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in this photo that was released by the White House on March 18. Biden sought to use the 110-minute call to dissuade Xi from assisting Russia in its war on Ukraine.

Staff members attend to a child at a children's hospital in Zaporizhzhia on March 18.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a rally at a stadium in Moscow on March 18. Speaking from a stage in front of a banner that read "for a world without Nazism," Putin said Russia "will definitely implement all our plans" in Ukraine. He insisted that national unity was the strongest in a long time, even as many people flee Russia or protest against war in the streets. State workers were told by authorities to attend the celebration, which commemorated the eighth year of Russia's annexation of Crimea.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky receives a standing ovation as he virtually addresses the US Congress on March 16. The historic speech occurred as the United States is under pressure to provide more military assistance to the embattled country.

An elderly woman is helped by police officers after she was rescued from an apartment that was hit by shelling in Kyiv on March 15.

Firefighters work to extinguish flames at an apartment building in Kyiv on March 15.

Military cadets attend a funeral ceremony at a church in Lviv on March 15. The funeral was for four of the Ukrainian servicemen who were killed during an airstrike on the Yavoriv military base near the Polish border. Local authorities say 35 people were killed.

A woman walks past a damaged window to lay flowers at a makeshift memorial for victims in Donetsk, Ukraine, on March 15.

Ukrainian soldiers take cover from incoming artillery fire in Irpin, Ukraine, on March 13.

A Ukrainian soldier surveys a destroyed government building in Kharkiv on March 13.

A mother and son rest in Lviv, Ukraine, while waiting to board a train to Poland on March 12.

An explosion is seen at an apartment building in Mariupol on March 11. The city in southeastern Ukraine has been besieged by Russian forces.

Mariana Vishegirskaya's husband, Yuri, holds their newborn daughter, Veronika, at a hospital in Mariupol on March 11. Vishegirskaya survived the maternity hospital bombing in the city earlier in the week.

People pay their respects during a funeral service for three Ukrainian soldiers in Lviv on March 11. Senior Soldier Andrii Stefanyshyn, 39; Senior Lt. Taras Didukh, 25; and Sgt. Dmytro Kabakov, 58, were laid to rest at the Saints Peter and Paul Garrison Church. Even in this sacred space, the sounds of war intruded: an air raid siren audible under the sound of prayer and weeping. Yet no one stirred. Residents are now inured to the near-daily warnings of an air attack.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov gives a news conference after meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Antalya, Turkey, on March 10. Two weeks into Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Lavrov falsely claimed that his country "did not attack" its neighbor.

A resident takes shelter in a basement in Irpin on March 10. Due to heavy fighting, Irpin has been without heat, water or electricity for several days.

Emergency workers carry an injured pregnant woman outside of a bombed maternity hospital in Mariupol on March 9. The woman and her baby later died, a surgeon who was treating her confirmed. The attack came despite Russia agreeing to a 12-hour pause in hostilities to allow refugees to evacuate.

Dead bodies are placed into a mass grave on the outskirts of Mariupol on March 9. With overflowing morgues and repeated shelling, the city has been unable to hold proper burials.

Cars drive past a destroyed Russian tank as civilians leave Irpin on March 9. A Ukrainian official said lines of vehicles stretched for miles as people tried to escape fighting in districts to the north and northwest of Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is displayed on a screen as he addresses British lawmakers via video on March 8. "We will not give up and we will not lose. We will fight until the end at sea, in the air. We will continue fighting for our land, whatever the cost," he said in his comments translated by an interpreter. The House of Commons gave Zelensky a standing ovation at the end of his address.

A firefighter works to extinguish flames after a chemical warehouse was reportedly hit by Russian shelling near Kalynivka, Ukraine, on March 8.

Members of the Red Cross help people fleeing the Kyiv suburb of Irpin on March 7.

The dead bodies of civilians killed while trying to flee are covered by sheets in Irpin on March 6. CNN determined they were killed in a Russian military strike.

Civilians seek protection in a basement bomb shelter in Kyiv on March 6.

Local residents help clear the rubble of a home that was destroyed by a suspected Russian airstrike in Markhalivka, Ukraine, on March 5.

George Keburia says goodbye to his wife and children as they board a train in Odesa on March 5. They were heading to Lviv.

Ukrainian officials say several people were injured in a Russian missile attack on Kyiv on Thursday, April 28, which occurred as the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres was finishing a visit to the Ukrainian capital.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomes UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres before their meeting, in Kyiv, on April 28.

A statue is covered in Lviv on March 5. Residents wrapped statues in protective sheets to try to safeguard historic monuments across the city.

Ukrainians crowd under a destroyed bridge as they try to flee across the Irpin River on the outskirts of Kyiv on March 5.

Marina Yatsko runs behind her boyfriend, Fedor, as they arrive at the hospital with her 18-month-old son, Kirill, who was wounded by shelling in Mariupol on March 4. Medical workers frantically tried to save the boy's life, but he didn't survive.

People remove personal belongings from a burning house after shelling in Irpin on March 4.

Oksana and her son Dmytro stand over the open casket of her husband, Volodymyr Nezhenets, during his funeral in Kyiv on March 4. According to the Washington Post, he was a member of Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces, which is comprised mostly of volunteers.

People crowd on a platform as they try to board a westbound train in Kyiv on March 4.

A bullet-ridden bus is seen after an ambush in Kyiv on March 4.

People take shelter on the floor of a hospital during shelling in Mariupol on March 4.

A member of the Ukrainian military gives instructions to civilians in Irpin on March 4. They were about to board an evacuation train headed to Kyiv.

Surveillance camera footage shows a flare landing at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Enerhodar, Ukraine, during shelling on March 4. Ukrainian authorities said Russian forces have "occupied" the power plant.

A Ukrainian child rests on a bed at a temporary refugee center in Záhony, Hungary, on March 4.

A residential building destroyed by shelling is seen in Borodyanka, Ukraine, on March 3. Russian forces have shown a "willingness to hit civilian infrastructure on purpose," a senior US defense official told reporters.