KYIV, Ukraine — With Ukrainian towns and cities on edge in advance of a major Russian holiday dedicated to military victory, new fighting flared Saturday along the eastern front lines as authorities redoubled efforts to pluck civilians from the last sliver of Ukrainian-held territory in the shattered port city of Mariupol.
At the same time, the Ukrainian military said its troops had managed to push Moscow’s forces back from some artillery positions near Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city. Located at the northeastern tip of the battle zone, just 25 miles from the Russian border, the city has been under relentless bombardment since the war’s earliest days.
More than 5.8 million refugees have fled fighting in Ukraine, according to the United Nations, and Jill Biden, visiting Romania, praised its government and those of other front-line states for taking in those trying to escape the war.
