Russia tries to press its offensive into Ukraine’s east

On Sunday, six people, including a nine-year-old girl, were killed in the Russian shelling of Sloviansk and another 19 people were wounded, according to local authorities.

A Russian Su-25 ground attack jet fires rockets on a mission at an undisclosed location in Ukraine (Russian Defence Ministry Press Service/AP)

Russian forces tried to press their offensive deeper into east Ukraine after taking control of a key stronghold.

The Ukrainian military confirmed its forces had withdrawn from the city of Lysychansk, the last bulwark of Ukrainian resistance in the Luhansk province, one of the two regions that make up the country’s eastern industrial heartland of Donbas.