Russia-Ukraine war live updates: Second war crimes trial in Ukraine; Biden to host leaders of Finland, Sweden

Russian troops, stymied by Ukrainian resistance and organizational problems, are now attacking in smaller units, the Pentagon said Wednesday, in a sign they’re paring back their battlefield ambitions. Meanwhile, in Mariupol, local officials warned of a potential environmental disaster at the battered Azovstal industrial complex.

Here’s the latest from some of the key battlegrounds across Ukraine:

Mariupol: Local officials have warned of a possible “environmental catastrophe” during Russia’s siege of the city’s Azovstal steel plant. They said tens of thousands of tons of toxic chemicals stored there could leak into the Sea of Azov, and subsequently the Black and Mediterranean seas. The city’s mayor is calling for the immediate admission of international experts and United Nations officials to the site to ward off a disaster.

Donetsk region: Russian forces killed 10 civilians, including two children, in this eastern region Wednesday, Pavlo Kyrylenko, the region’s governor, said on the Telegram messaging app. The exact number the exact number of dead in Mariupol, located on the southern tip of this region, was “impossible to determine,” he said.

Luhansk region: This region was without electricity, according to its governor, Serhiy Haidai, because power lines were cut and a major substation was damaged during fighting. Concerns are also growing about water supplies, with some areas going without water for more than a week, according to local officials.

Kyiv region: As of Wednesday, authorities had located the bodies of 1,288 civilians killed by Russian forces during their occupation of towns and villages in the Kyiv region in the early phase of the conflict, regional police chief Andriy Niebytov told local media in a televised interview. The Post could not verify that number, which appears to have grown since April.

Alex Horton and Reis Thebault contributed to this report.

Source: WP