Russia Invades Ukraine
The Fight For Eastern Ukraine
- By RFE/RL
Violence has escalated in recent days in and around the Donbas Region as Russia's invasion of Ukraine enters what the Kremlin calls a new "phase."
![Medical workers help a man who was badly injured during shelling of Kharkiv on April 27. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/02930000-0aff-0242-c0a2-08da28f773f2_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Medical workers help a man who was badly injured during shelling of Kharkiv on April 27.
![Decoy flares are released by a Sukhoi SU-25 that was providing air support to Ukrainian troops during fighting near Yampil, in the Donetsk region on April 27. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/02930000-0aff-0242-bf62-08da28f75d54_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Decoy flares are released by a Sukhoi SU-25 that was providing air support to Ukrainian troops during fighting near Yampil, in the Donetsk region on April 27.
![The aftermath of a military strike near a railway station in Lyman in the Donetsk region on April 28. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/02930000-0aff-0242-40ca-08da290b8d73_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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The aftermath of a military strike near a railway station in Lyman in the Donetsk region on April 28.
![Kremlin-backed separatist fighters ride an armored vehicle in the Donetsk region on April 27. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/02930000-0aff-0242-2b97-08da28f776f9_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Kremlin-backed separatist fighters ride an armored vehicle in the Donetsk region on April 27.
![Ukrainian servicemen install a machine gun onto the turret of a tank in the Donetsk region on April 27. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/02930000-0aff-0242-d8d0-08da28dde004_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Ukrainian servicemen install a machine gun onto the turret of a tank in the Donetsk region on April 27.
![Plumes of smoke rise above the landscape of the Luhansk region after shelling on April 26. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/02930000-0aff-0242-a45d-08da286192bd_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Plumes of smoke rise above the landscape of the Luhansk region after shelling on April 26.
![Numbered, unnamed graves are seen in the Starokrymskoye Cemetery in Mariupol on April 26. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/02930000-0aff-0242-4379-08da28f77471_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Numbered, unnamed graves are seen in the Starokrymskoye Cemetery in Mariupol on April 26.
![Medical workers carry an injured man following shelling in Kharkiv on April 27. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/01e70000-0aff-0242-50b8-08da28f77450_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Medical workers carry an injured man following shelling in Kharkiv on April 27.
![Western anti-tank weapons are displayed in an arms depot that the Russian Defense Ministry says was captured by Russian troops. The photo was released on April 27. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/01e70000-0aff-0242-0d27-08da28f77554_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Western anti-tank weapons are displayed in an arms depot that the Russian Defense Ministry says was captured by Russian troops. The photo was released on April 27.
![A Ukrainian tanker does repair work in the Donetsk region on April 27. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/01e70000-0aff-0242-b5cb-08da28f76109_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A Ukrainian tanker does repair work in the Donetsk region on April 27.
![A Ukrainian serviceman walks in a trench alongside a checkpoint in the Zaporizhzhya region on April 27. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/01e70000-0aff-0242-f81b-08da28f7634d_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A Ukrainian serviceman walks in a trench alongside a checkpoint in the Zaporizhzhya region on April 27.
![Smoke rises in the aftermath of a military strike near a railway station in Lyman in the Donetsk region on April 28. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/01e70000-0aff-0242-5751-08da290b8d7e_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Smoke rises in the aftermath of a military strike near a railway station in Lyman in the Donetsk region on April 28.
![A man cooks over an open fire outside the bunker of a factory in Severodonetsk on April 27. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/02930000-0aff-0242-d8b7-08da28f75d6e_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A man cooks over an open fire outside the bunker of a factory in Severodonetsk on April 27.
![A Ukrainian fighter cleans his rifle while on duty near the front line in Svyatohirsk on April 27. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/02930000-0aff-0242-db7c-08da28f76a0a_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A Ukrainian fighter cleans his rifle while on duty near the front line in Svyatohirsk on April 27.
![The body of a dead Ukrainian fighter lies amid rubble at an unnamed location in a picture released on April 27. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/01e70000-0aff-0242-dc51-08da28f77680_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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The body of a dead Ukrainian fighter lies amid rubble at an unnamed location in a picture released on April 27.
![A woman smokes in the safety of a bunker that is serving as a bomb shelter in Severodonetsk on April 27. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/02930000-0aff-0242-65b7-08da28f75d54_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A woman smokes in the safety of a bunker that is serving as a bomb shelter in Severodonetsk on April 27.