Russia bolsters eastern offensive

Russian forces seized the town of Kreminna in Ukraine’s Donbas region, Gov. Serhiy Gaidai of Luhansk province said Tuesday. The city, about 350 miles east of Kyiv, is the first known to fall to Russia since the eastern offensive began. A senior U.S. official said Russia deployed two more combat units to Ukraine in the past 24 hours. Ukraine said Russia is striking multiple targets to seek out weak points in the country’s defenses. Deadly attacks continued in the eastern cities of Kramatorsk and Kharkiv, while Russia reported missile strikes near Zaporizhzhia in the southeast. 

What’s happening in Mariupol? Russia issued a new Wednesday afternoon deadline for the final Ukrainian troops in the strategic Donbas city to surrender. Ukraine said Russian forces dropped bombs on the Azovstal steel plant, where some of the last troops in the city are gathered. Officials said a bomb also hit an improvised hospital, where about 300 people, including troops and civilians, were staying.

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