Russia-Ukraine war: Key things to know about the conflict

Russian forces appear to be shifting their focus from Ukraine’s capital to the contested Donbas region, possibly signaling a new phase of the war. The Russians seem to be prioritizing what Moscow calls the liberation of the Donbas region over a ground offensive aimed at Kyiv. Russian-backed separatists have controlled part of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine since 2014. Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials say a strike on a theater last week in the besieged city of Mariupol killed about 300 people in the deadliest single attack since the invasion started a month ago. Separately, The Associated Press has independently documented at least 34 assaults on Ukrainian medical facilities by Russian forces.