LVIV, Ukraine — Russian forces aimed a punishing artillery barrage Saturday at cities, towns and villages in eastern Ukraine, even as Western and Ukrainian military officials and analysts said Moscow’s much-vaunted military offensive in the country’s industrial heartland was being slowed by troop casualties and logistical, supply and morale problems.
Russia reported nearly 400 artillery strikes overnight and early Saturday, mainly in the eastern battle zone. It described the targets as military ones, but Ukraine says residential areas, including the northeastern city of Kharkiv, are being ravaged.
At the same time, the Kremlin redoubled efforts to blame the West for the devastating war that is now in its third month. The Russian invasion has killed thousands of people, left whole swaths of cities in ruins, and turned more than 5.4 million people into refugees.
