Russia grinds on in eastern Ukraine; Bakhmut ‘destroyed’

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russian forces have turned the city of Bakhmut into ruins as they try to conquer eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk province. Ukraine’s military on Saturday reported missile, rocket and air strikes in multiple parts of the country that Moscow is trying to capture after months of resistance. The latest battles of Russia’s 9 1/2 month war in Ukraine have centered on four provinces that Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally claimed to have annexed in September. Russia has battered Bakhmut with rockets for more than half of the year. Some buildings there remain standing, but the battle has heated up around Bakhmut since Ukraine’s army recaptured the southern city of Kherson.