Ukraine-Russia Conflict Escalates with Targeted Strikes and Military Arsenal Deployments.

Ukraine may have targeted Russian fuel depots as a possible preamble to its expected counteroffensive, while Russia sharply intensified strikes against Ukrainian civilians, claiming dozens of lives. The battle for the city of Bakhmut in Donetsk remained intense, as Russian forces continued to fight for the few neighbourhoods they don’t already control. The attritional battle has become the focal point of the war since last autumn. The White House estimates that 20,000 Russian troops have lost their lives in Ukraine since December, nearly half of them mercenaries from the Wagner Group, and some 80,000 have been wounded.