A woman named Natalia, 50, of Mariupol, reacts after arriving at an evacuation point for people fleeing Mariupol, Melitopol and the surrounding towns under Russian control on May 2, 2022 in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. Dozens of refugees were expected to arrive here from Mariupol, including the Azovstal steel facility, following extensive negotiations between representatives of Ukraine, Russia, the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross. (Chris McGrath, Getty Images)
Russian forces pounded targets across Ukraine, taking aim at supply lines for foreign weapons in the west and intensifying an offensive in the east, as the European Union moved Wednesday to further punish Moscow for the war with a proposed ban on oil imports.
The Russian military said Wednesday it used sea- and air-launched precision guided missiles to destroy electric power facilities at five railway stations across Ukraine, while artillery and aircraft also struck troop strongholds and fuel and ammunition depots.
Ukrainian authorities, meanwhile, said attacks in the eastern Donbas region left 21 civilians dead.
The flurry of attacks over the past day comes as Russia prepares to celebrate Victory Day on May 9, marking the Soviet Union’s defeat over Nazi Germany. This year the world is watching for signs of whether Russian President Vladimir Putin will use the occasion to declare a limited victory — or expand what he calls a “special military operation” to a wider war.
Here are some photos, below, that illustrate the latest happenings overseas.
Demonstrators hold placards and a large Ukrainian flag during a solidarity march with Ukraine on April 30, 2022 in Budapest, Hungary. Now in its third month, Russia's war on Ukraine is still widely condemned across the world. People take to the streets of cities to protest against the invasion and show their solidarity with the Ukrainian people. (Getty Images)Two women sit in chairs as they visit the grave of fallen soldier Rostyslav Dumansky, who was killed on March 16, 2022, in the area in Lychakiv cemetery reserved for fallen soldiers from the Russian invasion of 2022, on May 1, 2022 in Lviv, Ukraine. The practice of visiting relatives' graves the week after orthodox Easter, a tradition referred to as Hrobki or Provody, held added poignancy as the country mourns the civilians and soldiers lost to the war with Russia. (Getty Images)Volunteers undergo weapons training at a Territorial Defense Force facility on April 30, 2022, outside Lviv, Ukraine. Providing both medical as well as tactical and weapons training, the group has worked with hundreds of volunteers from Western Ukraine to defend their country. Comprising of 25 regional groups, the Territorial Defense Force has seen its numbers surge since Russia invaded just more than two months ago. (Getty Images)Ukrainian Army medical units treat and prepare to transport a soldier in danger of collapsed lungs from a frontline of the northern Donbas as Russia steps up its offensive bombardment along the 300-mile frontline, at a medical facility in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on April 29, 2022. This is one of a number of medical stabilization centers that are the first stop for Ukraine's frontline wounded, which for tough cases are sent for surgery and other procedures to hospitals in Dnipro and other cities far from the front. Russian-backed separatists started a rebellion in 2014, resulting in an eight-year war with Ukrainian forces. After Russia's recent military withdrawal from positions around Kyiv, one front of a three-pronged Russian military invasion that began on Feb. 24, Russia has now launched what it calls Phase Two of its offensive, by focusing on the Donbas and its effort to cut off the Russian-speaking regions of Donetsk and Luhansk from the rest of Ukraine. (Getty Images)Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi during a visit by a U.S. congressional delegation on April 30, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. The U.S. Speaker of the House led a congressional delegation, which included, left to right, Rep. Jim McGovern, Rep. Gregory Meeks and Rep. Adam Schiff, on a secret meeting with the Ukrainian president that was announced the next day, as they left the country for nearby Poland. (Photo by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office/Handout via Getty Images)Volunteers undergo training at a Territorial Defense Force facility on April 30, 2022 outside Lviv, Ukraine. (Getty Images)A Ukrainian Territorial Defense volunteer named Serhei has the time he was administered painkillers written on his hand, as he is treated for shrapnel in his legs after his position came under Russian artillery fire, as medical units treat wounded soldiers from frontlines of the northern Donbas as Russia steps up its offensive with what officers say is a near-constant Russian bombardment. (Getty Images)The Ukrainian Community of Rome protests the Russian attack on Ukraine in Piazza della Repubblica on May 1, 2022 in Rome, Italy. The war in Ukraine, now in its third month, has sparked a wave of protests across Europe, as well as sanctions imposed on Russia by European governments. (Corbis via Getty Images)Anastasia Biriuk, 70, shows the scars from the debris wounds on May 3, 2022 in Termakhivka, Ukraine. Anastasia got wounded as a result of numerous missile strkes in the area on Feb. 24. Biriuk's house also got damaged by the debris. Termakhivka was occupied by the Russian soldiers for one month, and Anastasia didn't have access to the hospital, so her husband Ivan took care of her injuries. The communities north of Kyiv were square in the path of Russia's devastating but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to seize the Ukrainian capital with forces deployed from Belarus, a Russian ally. (Getty Images)A young couple embrace before a bus leaves for Przemyśl in Poland, carrying refugees from regions of Southern and Eastern Ukraine, including Mairupol, on May 3, 2022 in Lviv, Ukraine. Lviv has served as a stopover and shelter for the millions of Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion. (Getty Images)Vladislav Dulai from Odessa is held by his mother Natalia Dulai as they wait on a coach destined for Przemysl in Poland, carrying refugees from regions of Southern and Eastern Ukraine, including Mairupol, on May 3, 2022 in Lviv, Ukraine. (Getty Images)People hold banners and shout slogans during a demonstration in support of Mariupol defenders on May 3, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. After a short-lived ceasefire that allowed hundreds of civilians to escape Mariupol's Azovstal steel works, Russia has resumed shelling the plant. (Getty Images)A local resident walks down the road by a burnt-out APC on May 3, 2022 in Termakhivka, Ukraine. Termakhivka was occupied by the Russian soldiers for one month. The communities north of Kyiv were square in the path of Russia's devastating but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to seize the Ukrainian capital with forces deployed from Belarus. (Getty Images)Ukrainian Army volunteer, someone named Valerii, tries on body armor as aid worker Kristina fits him for the new gear on May 3, 2022 in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine. A veteran of the war against separatists in Donbas, he volunteered for a new brigade and is soon to deploy to fight against the Russians. He received body armor and accessories from a self-organized group of volunteers called Fazenda, which operates out of a bar basement in Kriyvyi Rih. The central Ukrainian city and district of Kryvyi Rih, known as an industrial center and the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelensky, lies less than 70 kilometers north of Russian-occupied areas in nearby Kherson Oblast, where Russian forces sought to create a land bridge between the Crimean peninsula and the eastern Donbas region. (Getty Images)A woman sits with a child on an evacuation bus after arriving at an evacuation point for people fleeing the Azovstal plant, Mariupol, Melitopol, and the surrounding towns under Russian control on May 3, 2022 in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. Scores of refugees have arrived here in recent days from Mariupol, including the first group who escaped the Azovstal steel facility, following negotiations brokered by the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross. (Getty Images)Close relatives and friends of Vira Hyrych pay their respects during the funeral service in St. Michaels Cathedral on May 3, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Ms. Hyrych, a journalist who worked for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, died last Thursday when Russian missiles hit her apartment building in the city's Shevchenkivskyi district. (Getty Images)Ukrainians displaced from frontline areas arrive at a train station for onward travel to western Ukraine and possibly beyond on May 3, 2022 in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine. (Getty Images)Evacuees, including some from the Azovstal plant, wave as they arrive on a bus at an evacuation point for people fleeing the Azovstal plant, Mariupol, Melitopol, and the surrounding towns under Russian control on May 3, 2022 in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. (Getty Images)
All photos copyright Getty Images. With information from The Associated Press.
