Seven people are dead and 11 injured after Russia launched four missile strikes in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, regional military governor Maksym Kozytskyy said.
The toll could rise further as rescue efforts continue, he added.
"The rubble is still being dismantled, so the numbers [are] not final yet," said Kozytskyy. "Three are heavily injured, a child is mildly injured."
Three missiles hit warehouses and a fourth hit a tire repair shop, said Kozytskyy.
Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said the strikes shattered windows in eight residential buildings as well as a school.
Mariya Holovchak, 67, who lives across a tire repair shop that was hit in a missile strike. (Jo Shelley/CNN)
Maria Holovchak, who lives across the road from the tire repair shop, said her neighbor's windows were shattered. The 67-year-old told CNN she was in bed when she heard the explosions and saw her neighbors running out of the building.
"I prayed that God would protect us," she said.
7:02 a.m. ET, April 18, 2022
"No parts of Ukraine should be on the negotiating table," Ukrainian lawmaker tells CNN
Ukrainian lawmaker Lesia Vasylenko has said that “no parts of Ukraine should be on the negotiating table” as the country continues its resistance, despite Russia's bombardment of cities across the country Monday.
Vasylenko, a Member of Parliament for the Holos Party who was elected in 2019, was speaking to CNN after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine was not willing to give up territory in eastern Ukraine to end the war with Russia.
“Ukraine is writing its own, new history and it’s also writing the new history of the world as it goes,” Vasylenko told CNN New Day from Prague, Czech Republic.
“If under any circumstances Ukraine is made to give up territories, it’s going to be a risk not just to Ukrainians living in Ukraine, but to the whole world," she added.
“Because then a message will be sent to aggressors loud and clear that it’s okay to go in for land grabs, it’s okay to start aggressive wars and to terrorize civilian population, because nobody is actually going to be doing anything about it.”
She also said that Russia has committed “multiple war crimes” during the course of the war in Ukraine, a claim made by several Ukrainian officials that the Kremlin has denied.
Following Russia’s invasion nearly two months ago, Vasylenko told CNN that she had undertaken shooting practice and armed herself with an AK-47 and pistol.
“Are we not clear still that Russia is the one in the wrong here? That Russia has committed a crime of aggression?” she said.
She also said that Russia has committed “multiple war crimes” during the course of the war in Ukraine, a claim made by several Ukrainian officials that the Kremlin has denied.
7:23 a.m. ET, April 18, 2022
"A trap for our defenders": Mariupol adviser accuses Russia of offering false evacuation corridors
From CNN's Yulia Kesaieva and Nathan Hodge in Lviv
Smoke rises above a plant of Azovstal Iron and Steel Works company in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, on April 18. (Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters)
Russian forces have been bombarding the Azovstal steel plant, a bastion of the Ukrainian defense, in the southeastern port city of Mariupol, said Petro Andriushchenko, a mayoral adviser, who accused Russia of trying to trap those defending the city.
Ukrainian forces are continuing to resist Russian attacks in the city after rejecting a deadline to surrender.
"The fighting in the Left Bank (Livoberezhnyi) district has been ongoing all day long," Andriushchenko said in a statement on Telegram. "The occupiers continue to fire on and bomb Azovstal with all weapons."
"Realizing that the defenders are not going to give up, the occupiers' plans are clear," Andriushchenko said.
"According to their message, the corridor for safe exit should have been marked with red flags, but no marks were made," he said. "That once again confirms that they are only preparing a trap for our defenders."
CNN cannot independently verify those claims.
Andriushchenko previously said that Mariupol would be closed for entry and exit starting on Monday, with Russian forces issuing passes for movement.
Andriushchenko is not in Mariupol but works to gather information collected from people in the city, which has been under a weekslong siege.
8:22 a.m. ET, April 18, 2022
Analysis: Biden and US allies face Ukraine aid dilemma
Analysis by CNN's Maeve Reston
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks with Ukrainian media about accelerating the supply of various types of weapons from partner countries in Kyiv, Ukraine. (President of Ukraine)
Ukraine's military took a defiant stand this weekend -- refusing to give in to Russia's demand for Kyiv's troops in the port city of Mariupol to surrender -- at the same time that US President Joe Biden and his allies face a new precipice in deciding how far the US can go in arming the embattled country.
This comes as Russia signals that it may take more aggressive action to stop the flow of weapons from the US and NATO.
There are new worries about how quickly Ukraine could run out of ammunition as heavier fighting intensifies in Donbas, where Russia is trying to encircle and cut off Ukrainian forces in their quest to control that region.
As he tries to keep the pressure on allies to lend greater support in this next phase, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is arguing that the West must view that fight as a critical pivot point in curbing the unbridled ambitions of Russian President Vladimir Putin and demonstrating the West's commitment to defending democracy against a voracious autocratic power.
Zelensky warned that the battle ahead in Donbas "can influence the course of the whole war" and said his country has no intention of giving up territory in the eastern part of Ukraine to end the war during an exclusive interview with CNN's Jake Tapper that aired Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union."
If Russia is able to capture the Donbas region, Zelensky warned, it is entirely possible that Putin could renew his attempt to take control of Kyiv. When pressed by Tapper on whether he was satisfied with the US announcement last week of another $800 million in military aid to bolster Ukraine's forces in the Donbas, Zelensky replied, "of course we need more."
"There will never be enough. Enough isn't possible," Zelensky said, as he explained the challenges that lie ahead in the eastern region of his country.
"There is a full-scale war ongoing today, so we still need a lot more than what we have today ... We donot have technical advantages over our enemy. We're just not on the same level there."
But even as that latest aid has begun arriving in the region, CNN's Barbara Starr reported this weekend that there is rising concern about how quickly Ukraine could deplete its stores of ammunition in this next battle.
Though the US announced that it was sending 18 155mm Howitzer cannons and 40,000 artillery rounds as part of its latest package, Starr reported that a US official warned that the aid could be used up within a matter of days as heavy fighting intensifies in Donbas.
Control over city of Kreminna "lost" amid heavy fighting
From CNN's Nathan Hodge and Tim Lister
Control over the city of Kreminna has been "lost," according to Serhii Haidai, the head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration, as Russian forces try to break Ukrainian resistance in the country's east.
"At the moment, control over the city of Kreminna is lost" and heavy fighting continues, Haidai said on Telegram.
As residents tried to flee in their own vehicles, Russian forces opened fire on a car carrying civilians, said Haidai.
"Four people died. One seriously injured person is still at the scene," he said.
"Doctors cannot reach her due to endless shelling."
Russian forces have been trying to advance toward the borders of both Luhansk and Donetsk in the Donbas region. Russia's focus has shifted to the east since its failure to gain territory around the capital Kyiv, and other parts of the center and north of the country.
Earlier Monday, Russian forces entered the town with "a huge amount of equipment," said Haidai, claiming that "the offensive has begun."
4:49 a.m. ET, April 18, 2022
More people are entering Ukraine from Poland than those going the other way
From CNN’s Lauren Kent in Przemysl, Poland
Ihor, center left, welcomes Lyudmila who has returned from neighboring Poland as they stand on a platform at the Kyiv-Pasazhyrskyi train station, in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on April 17. (Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images)
More people entered Ukraine from Poland on Friday and Saturday than the number of people who crossed the border the other way, according to the Polish Border Guard, in a first since Russia launched its invasion on February 24.
The Polish border agency recorded 22,000 people crossing into Ukraine from Poland on Saturday, with 19,200 people traveling the other way.
On Friday the agency recorded 25,100 people entering Ukraine, and 24,400 people traveling into Poland.
Some of those entering and exiting Ukraine are aid workers who cross the border frequently.
“We are Ukraine's neighbors not only literally, but also in the sense of the common history and understanding of the situation,” Polish President Andrej Duda said Wednesday.
Some context: Over 2.7 million refugees have fled to Poland from Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion, the most of any country.
As the focus of Russia’s war has shifted to eastern Ukraine, some of those who fled to Poland and other neighboring countries have returned to areas regained by Ukrainian forces.
4:27 a.m. ET, April 18, 2022
"Street fights" as Russians enter Kreminna in eastern Luhansk, Ukrainian official says
From CNN's Nathan Hodge in Lviv and Tim Lister
Russian forces have entered Kreminna, a town in the eastern Luhansk region that has been bombarded for weeks as Russian forces push westwards in Donbas, a senior Ukrainian official said.
"The Russians entered Kreminna. Street fights began," said Serhii Haidai, head of the Luhansk regional military administration, in a brief Facebook post early Monday.
The Russians had entered the town with "a huge amount of equipment," he said.
The offensive has begun," he said.
The Russians have been trying to break Ukrainian resistance in Kreminna and a string of towns and cities in Luhansk as they try to advance towards the borders of both the Luhansk and Donetsk regions — the declared goal of President Vladimir Putin's "special military mission."
Evacuation was now impossible, Haidai said.
"We planned the evacuation, literally along forest paths, so that the people would not come under fire. But overnight the situation changed. While fighting [has broken out] in the city, it is unrealistic to count the civilians who remain there," Haidai said.
Haidai said the Olympus sports facility in Kreminna was "burning down" and that fire was now covering an area of 2,400 square meters.
"Rescuers are working hard as there is a forest near the center," he said.
Haidai said that elsewhere in the region two people had been killed and four injured in Zolote, while seven people had been recovered from the rubble of a building destroyed in Rubizhne.
On Sunday evening, Russian forces fired at a police building in Lysychansk, Haidai said, injuring six policemen.
The shelling continues, he said.
7:03 a.m. ET, April 18, 2022
Lviv mayor: Tire facility hit in strikes
From CNN's Yulia Kesaieva in Lviv
Firefighters battle a blaze after a civilian building was hit by a Russian missile on April 18, in Lviv, Ukraine. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Russian missile strikes on the city of Lviv hit a tire repair facility, destroying or damaging 40 cars, Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said Monday on Telegram.
Citing preliminary information, Sadovyi said six people were dead and 11 injured, including one child, in a number of strikes on the city.
The blast wave shattered windows in a nearby hotel where internally displaced Ukrainians who evacuated from fighting were housed, Sadovyi said.
4:36 a.m. ET, April 18, 2022
Six dead, eight injured in Lviv strikes, regional governor says
From CNN's Yulia Kesaieva in Lviv
Smoke rises after missile strikes hit Lviv, Ukraine, on April 18. (Ozge Elif Kizil/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Six people were killed and eight injured, including one child, in Russian missile strikes on the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Monday, according to Maksym Kozytskyy, the head of the Lviv regional military administration.
"According to information from the Air Operations Command West, four missile strikes on Lviv were carried out today," Kozytskyy said on Telegram. "Three were directed at military infrastructure. One hit a tire repair shop."
Fires have broken out and firefighting efforts were underway, Kozytskyy said, adding that details were still being gathered.
Some context: The city's Mayor Andrii Sadovyi had previously said there were five missile strikes on the city and a CNN team heard five explosions.
