Days after retaking the Donetsk transportation hub of Lyman, Ukrainian forces extended their battlefield gains in the country’s eastern and southern regions on Monday, putting them in position to attack Russian forces in the nearby Luhansk region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said fierce fighting continues on many fronts, claiming “new liberated settlements in several regions.”
Some of the recent advances are in areas that Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to seize through illegal annexations. Russia’s lower house of parliament voted to ratify the annexations Monday, and the upper house formalized them Tuesday, with Putin expected to sign them into law soon after.
Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.