Ukrainian troops are locked in fierce street battles with Russian soldiers in the industrial city of Severodonetsk, while other towns are under increased air assault, as fighting rages in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
Parts of the Ukrainian cities of Rubizhne and Severodonetsk are significantly destroyed, new satellite images taken on Monday by Maxar Technologies show.
Constant, intense fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces has been happening for weeks in both cities. Ukrainian forces in the cities have held on, despite intense bombardments by Russian artillery.
Russian forces continue to try to advance into — and past — the two key cities in Ukraine’s Donbas region.
A number of buildings in northern Severodonetsk have been destroyed by military strikes, satellite images show.
Russia claimed on Tuesday that it had opened a land corridor to Russian-occupied Crimea, allowing civilians and goods to pass through the eastern Ukrainian territory now under its control.
Here are more of the latest headlines from the Russia-Ukraine war:
- Mykolaiv regional governor reports continued shelling: Shelling continues in the southern Mykolaiv region, according to Vitalii Kim, the head of the Mykolaiv region military administration. Kim said two people were killed in the past 24 hours. An administrative building, outpatient clinic, stadium and district council in the city of Bashtanka were also shelled, he said. Kim said there are more than 3,700 damaged or destroyed properties in the Mykolaiv region.
- Unburied bodies and contaminated drinking water spark fears of cholera outbreak in Mariupol: In Mariupol, the ravaged southeastern Ukrainian port city now under Russian occupation, fears have shifted from relentless bombardment to deteriorating sanitary conditions: sewage seeping into drinking water and fears of a cholera outbreak. On Monday, one of the city’s exiled local officials said that Russian officials now in control of Mariupol were considering imposing a quarantine in the city, where decomposing corpses and garbage were contaminating drinking water, putting remaining residents at risk of cholera and other diseases. “There are talks about quarantine. The city is being quietly closed,” said mayoral adviser Petro Andriushchenko, a reliable source of information from residents remaining in the city.
- War in Ukraine is impacting energy and food prices around the globe, US treasury secretary says: US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen conceded on Tuesday that inflation is at “unacceptable levels,” but also sought to underscore it is not a problem exclusive to the United States. “Putin’s war in Ukraine is having impacts on energy and food prices globally,” Yellen told lawmakers. “We are not the only country experiencing inflation. You can see that in virtually every developed country around the world.” Speaking during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Tuesday, Yellen pointed to the Biden administration’s record-setting release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. “Energy and gasoline prices, while very high, they would be higher without that,” Yellen said of the emergency oil release.
- Russia claims it has opened a land corridor to Crimea through occupied Ukrainian territory: Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed on Tuesday that it had opened a land corridor to Russian-occupied Crimea, allowing civilians and goods to pass through the eastern Ukrainian territory now under its control. Russian defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, said in a conference call on Tuesday that the military, working with Russian Railways, had restored 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) of train tracks and opened roads to allow ”full-fledged traffic” between Russia, eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region and Crimea, the peninsula annexed by Russian forces from Ukraine in 2014. The supply of water through the North Crimean Canal — a lifeline for Crimea — had also resumed, Shoigu said.
- Zelensky says he’s glad ”very important ally” Johnson will remain UK prime minister: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that he was “very happy” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had won a confidence vote on Monday, as he is “a true friend of Ukraine.” “I am glad that we have not lost a very important ally,” Zelensky told the Financial Times in a broadcast interview. “This is great news.” He added: “I cannot comment on the internal situation. I do not know all the details. So I beg pardon to Mister Johnson about this. I think that he is much better informed about the details than I am.” But “Boris is very concrete in supporting Ukraine,” Zelensky said.
- UK foreign secretary says more sanctions on Russia are ”in the pipeline”: British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the United Kingdom will not back down in its support for Ukraine and that more sanctions on Russia are ”in the pipeline,” according to a readout of Monday’s cabinet meeting. ”She said the UK would not back down in its support, with further sanctions in the pipeline and continued work with global allies on how to help Ukraine rebuild in the future,” the cabinet readout said. Prime Minister Boris Johnson also reiterated that the UK will remain at the forefront of supporting Ukraine.