Russia threatens more attacks on Kyiv, Ukrainian forces make last stand in Mariupol

Key updates

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Blasts were reported outside Kyiv on Friday after Russia’s Defense Ministry warned of retaliation in response to Ukrainian strikes, as both sides prepare for a potentially bloody battle in the eastern Donbas region.

The attack comes after Ukrainian forces struck Russia’s premier warship in the Black Sea with two Neptune missiles, causing it to sink, a senior U.S. defense official confirmed.

As forces gear up for battle in eastern Ukraine, Russia appeared poised to capture the strategic port city of Mariupol and escalate attacks across Ukraine’s southeast, analysts said.

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As the fall of Mariupol appears imminent, the governor of Ukraine’s Donetsk region said the city “has been wiped off the face of the earth” by Russian forces.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that Ukrainian officials believe that 2,500 to 3,000 Ukrainian troops have died in the war.

Aiming to exert greater pressure on Moscow, Zelensky asked President Biden to designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, one of the most powerful and far-reaching sanctions in the U.S. arsenal.

Russia sent a formal diplomatic note to the United States this week warning that shipping weapons to Ukraine could bring “unpredictable consequences.”

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