Intensified Russian Strikes Target Vital Ukrainian Cities

Russian forces continue to target the Ukrainian cities of Bakhmut and Avdiivka in the eastern Donetsk region, with Ukraine's military reporting over 40 enemy strikes repelled in the past 24 hours. The longest battle in over a year of war has been taking place in Bakhmut, which Russia has been besieging for months. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced Russian air strikes on Orthodox Palm Sunday, which killed a man and his daughter, and said Moscow was further isolating itself from the world. Control of Bakhmut could allow Russia to directly target Ukrainian defensive lines in Chasiv Yar in the east and advance on two bigger cities it has long coveted in the Donetsk region: Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.