Russia strategically shells Sloviansk

Artillery pounded the town of Sloviansk on Tuesday as residents sought shelter or evacuated. The town, which had a population of 107,000 before the start of the war, is the next obstacle to Moscow’s takeover of the Donbas region. Russian President Vladimir Putin declared victory over Luhansk, one of two regions in the Donbas, on Monday. Russia controls about half of the other region,  Donetsk.

Can Russian forces advance? Putin said after the Luhansk victory that Russian troops need to “take some rest and beef up their combat capability.” Russian units involved in the fighting in the region have lost up to half of their troops, according to Oleh Zhdanov, a military analyst in Ukraine. Western observers have noted that the number of Russian fighters in Ukraine has shrunk over the course of the war — partially due to attrition and partially due to the Kremlin’s inability to refill the ranks.

Dig deeper: Read Jenny Lind Schmitt’s report in WORLD Magazine about helping Ukrainians cope with the war’s emotional cost.