In Pictures

Photos: Destruction in Ukraine as Russia’s attacks intensify

Russia’s escalating offensive leaves widespread devastation in Ukrainian cities under bombardment.

Ukrainian soldiers take cover from incoming artillery fire in Irpin, near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. [Felipe Dana/AP Photo]

By AP

Russia’s military forces have kept up their punishing campaign to capture Ukraine’s capital with fighting and artillery fire in Kyiv’s suburbs, even as Russian and Ukrainian negotiators held a new round of talks on Monday.

The attacks around Kyiv came a day after Russia escalated its offensive by shelling areas close to the Polish border.

In the eastern city of Kharkiv, firefighters doused the remains of a four-storey residential building on a street of apartments and shops. Ukrainian emergency services said a strike hit the building, leaving smouldering piles of wood and metal. It was unclear whether there were casualties.

The surrounded southern city of Mariupol, where the war has produced some of the greatest human suffering, remained cut off despite earlier talks on creating aid or evacuation convoys.

A pregnant woman and her baby died in Mariupol after Russia bombed the maternity hospital where she was meant to give birth.

Russia’s invasion, launched on February 24, has forced nearly 2.8 million people to flee Ukraine. Thousands of civilians and soldiers have been killed.

Residents remove their belongings from a destroyed building after it was hit by artillery shelling in Kyiv — Residents remove their belongings from a destroyed building in Kyiv after it was hit by artillery shelling. [Felipe Dana/AP Photo]

A resident passes by cars burnt in the Russian shellfire as he flees from his hometown on the road towards Kyiv — A man passes cars burned by Russian shelling as he flees from his hometown Irpin towards Kyiv. [Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo]

A man plays with a child before she boards a Lviv bound train, in Kyiv — A man plays with a child before she boards a Lviv-bound train in Kyiv. [Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo]

FFirefighters evacuate a man from an apartment building — Firefighters evacuate a man from an apartment building hit by shelling in Kyiv. [Ukrainian State Emergency Service via AP]

A woman walks past building damaged by shelling, in Kharkiv, — A woman walks past a building damaged by shelling in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine. [Andrew Marienko/AP Photo]

Foreign and Ukrainian soldiers cross an improvised path under a destroyed bridge in Irpin, outskirts of Kyiv — Foreign and Ukrainian soldiers cross an improvised path under a destroyed bridge in Irpin. Kyiv's northwest suburbs such as Irpin and Bucha have endured Russian bombardment for over a week - prompting residents to leave their homes. [Felipe Dana/AP Photo]

A Ukrainian firefighter drags a hose inside a large food products storage facility which was destroyed by an airstrike — On the outskirts of Kyiv, a Ukrainian firefighter drags a hose inside a large food products storage facility that was destroyed by an early morning air strike. [Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo]

Destroyed cars on a road being used as an evacuation route out of Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv — Destroyed cars on a road being used as an evacuation route out of Irpin. [Felipe Dana/AP Photo]

A woman walks past a burning apartment building after shelling in Mariupol — A woman walks past a burning apartment building after shelling in the southern port city of Mariupol. [Evgeniy Maloletka/AP Photo]