Severodonetsk

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country's forces were "doing everything" to stop the Russian offensive, with fierce battles in the east and the south.

Kiev said Friday it had launched new air strikes in the captured southern region of Kherson, one of the first areas to be taken by Russia after the February 24 invasion.

The front line of the war is moving.

Ukraine has pledged to do "everything" to defend Donbas, where an intensifying Russian offensive is prompting Kiev's forces to consider a strategic retreat from some key areas to avoid being surrounded.

Russian troops are advancing in eastern Ukraine, pounding key cities and aiming "to destroy everything there", President Volodymyr Zelensky has said, as Moscow signaled it was digging in for a long war against its neighbor.