Russia seeks to regain ground, hits Ukraine’s infrastructure

By SABRA AYRES and HANNA ARHIROVA
Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian troops are fighting to regain lost ground in areas of Ukraine that President Vladimir Putin has illegally annexed. Moscow also is trying to pound the invaded country into submission with more missile and drone attacks on critical infrastructure. Russian forces attacked Ukrainian positions near Bilohorivka, a village in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine. In the neighboring Donetsk region, fighting raged near the city of Bakhmut. Kremlin-backed separatists have controlled parts of both regions for 8½ years. Putin declared martial law in Luhansk, Donetsk and southern Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions starting Thursday in an attempt to assert Russian authority in the annexed areas following a string of battlefield setbacks.