Ukraine expects a fresh assault by Russian ground forces, following widespread shelling which killed more than 30 people, as Kyiv's Western allies brace for a worsening of the global energy crisis if Russia cuts its supply of oil and gas, Reuters reported.
Ukraine's general staff said the shelling across the country amounted to preparations for an intensification of hostilities as Russia seeks to seize Donetsk province, and control the whole of Ukraine's Donbas industrial heartland.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia had carried out 34 air strikes since Saturday, one hit a five-storey apartment killing 31 people and trapping dozens.
Moscow denies targeting civilians but many Ukrainian cities, towns and villages have been left in ruins. And the human cost of Russia's invasion, Europe's biggest conflict since World War Two and now in its fifth month, mounts.
Russian state news agency TASS reported a Ukrainian attack on the Russian-held town of Nova Kakhovka in Ukraine's southern Kherson region killed six people and left many injured.
Reuters
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