Russia launched a series of attacks on Ukrainian rail and fuel facilities on Monday, attacking vital infrastructure far from the front lines of its eastern offensive, which Britain claims has yet to make considerable progress.
Meanwhile, two oil-related fires have been reported in western Russia. The cause of the fires was unknown.
Top American officials offered further assistance to assure Ukraine's victory in the two-month-old war, as both sides prepare for what could be a grueling fight of attrition in the country's eastern industrial heartland.
The American secretaries of state and defense told President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Sunday that Washington had approved a $165 million ammunition sale for Ukraine's war effort, as well as more than $300 million in military aid.
"The strategy we've put in place — huge support for Ukraine, massive pressure on Russia, solidarity with more than 30 nations involved in these efforts — is producing actual results," Blinken told reporters the day after the summit in Poland.
"Russia is failing to achieve its war objectives. He went on to say, "Ukraine is succeeding."
Russian President Vladimir Putin told top officials at the Prosecutor General's office on Monday that the US and its allies have attempted and failed to "divide Russian society and destroy Russia from within."
Russia's stated intention when it invaded Ukraine on February 24 was a rapid offensive that would quickly grab the capital and possibly topple the government in Kyiv. But, with the help of Western weapons, the Ukrainians stymied Putin's plans.
According to the British Ministry of Defense, a tiny detachment of Ukrainian troops holed up in a steel mill in the vital city of Mariupol is tying down Russian forces and preventing them from being joined to the offensive elsewhere in the Donbas.
Russian military began more airstrikes on the steel complex over the weekend in an effort to evict the estimated 2,000 rebels inside. The steelworks are also home to an estimated 1,000 people, and the Russian military has promised to establish a humanitarian passage for them to evacuate on Monday.
Because of its strategic location on the Sea of Azov, Mariupol has seen heavy warfare since the beginning of the war. Its capture would not only free up Russian forces, but it would also deprive Ukraine of a key resource.
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