As Russia continued its months-long assault on Bakhmut, Ukrainian authorities said attacks 100 miles to the north have escalated. Kupiansk and the surrounding Kharkiv region have been under heavy attack, prompting evacuations as Russian forces encroach on Ukraine’s east.
Meanwhile, Kyiv renewed its calls for more ammunition and stronger air defenses after Russia killed several people with strikes from hypersonic missiles last week.
Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.
Defending Ukraine’s ‘highway of life’ — the last road out of Bakhmut: As the war’s bloodiest battle continues in Bakhmut, almost all roads have been cut off by Russian troops and fierce fighting. Just one viable road out of the embattled eastern city remains, Highway T0504. The two-lane highway is the only route that can be used by Ukrainian soldiers to evacuate the wounded and the dead, write Alex Horton and Anastacia Galouchka.
Maj. Oleksandr Pantsernyi, commander of the 24th Separate Assault Battalion, one of the units responsible for defending the corridor, said the road also plays a key role in sustaining the fight by enabling the movement of ammunition, water and fresh troops eastward.
Ukrainian soldiers say Russia’s forces are also aware of the road’s importance and have tried to shred it with artillery and force their enemy into the mud.
