‘What madness looks like’

Ukrainian officials say Russian forces are escalating their onslaught against Ukrainian positions around the wrecked eastern city of Bakhmut. The officials say the intense attack is bringing new levels of death and devastation in the grinding, monthslong battle for control of eastern Ukraine that is part of Moscow’s wider war. 

Hi, I'm Nicole Fallert with an update on Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said there is “almost no life left” around Bakhmut and the nearby Donetsk province city of Soledar. He added that ”this is what madness looks like.” A deputy Ukrainian defense minister says Russian forces are advancing “literally on the bodies of their own soldiers.” The Kremlin is hungry for any victories after its invasion of Ukraine suffered numerous reversals.

More on the Russia-Ukraine crisis:

• Finland and Sweden will soon win the unanimous approval of NATO members required to join the defense pact, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday. Turkey and Hungary have thus far failed to sign off on accepting the two nations as members.
• The Kremlin's apparently false claim that its forces killed 600 Ukrainian troops in a retaliation strike is generating new discontent among Russian military bloggers critical of military leadership since the invasion last February, a Washington-based think tank says.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.