Ukraine says Russia steps up shelling of residential areas

By YURAS KARMANAU
Associated Press
LVIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces intensified shelling of Ukrainian cities in the country’s center, north and south, a Ukrainian official said, as a second attempt to evacuate civilians from besieged cities collapsed. Russian President Vladimir Putin shifted blame for the invasion and said Moscow’s attacks could be halted “only if Kyiv ceases hostilities.” Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich said on television that the outskirts of Kyiv, Chernihiv in the north, Mykolaiv in the south, and Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, faced intense shelling.