Russian, Ukrainian troops fight block by block in key city

KRAMATORSK, Ukraine (AP) — Russian troops pushed farther into a key eastern Ukrainian city and fought street by street with Kyiv’s forces Monday.

Ukrainian servicemen park a Russian BMP-2, an infantry combat vehicle, in the Kharkiv area, eastern Ukraine, Sunday, May 29, 2022. The Ukrainian military has been recovering abandoned Russian combat vehicles on the frontline to repair them and use them to their advantage. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

The mayor said the battle has left the city “completely ruined” and driven tends of thousands from their homes.

Military analysts painted the battle as part of a race against time for the Kremlin.

They said Russia wants to complete its capture of the industrial Donbas region before more Western arms arrive to bolster Ukraine’s defenses.

Weapons from the West have already helped Kyiv’s forces thwart a Russian advance on the capital in the early weeks of the war.

That failure forced Moscow to withdraw, regroup, and pursue a more limited objective of seizing the Donbas.

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