For the first time in eight months, Russia is on the brink of taking a Ukrainian city.
Weeks of Russian attacks on Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine, have forced thousands of people from the city and decimated its infrastructure.
Ukrainian forces continue to defend the city, with President Volodymyr Zelensky warning that Russian troops would have “open road” to capture other key cities if they take Bakhmut. “This is tactical for us,” Zelensky said in an interview with CNN. NATO intelligence estimates that for every Ukrainian soldier killed defending Bakhmut, Russian forces have lost at least five, a military official with the alliance told CNN on Monday.
Nearly 4,000 civilians, including 38 children, remained inside the besieged city as of Tuesday, according to Iryna Vereshchuk, Ukraine’s vice prime minister.
Here are some of the stories that made headlines over the past week, as well as some photos that caught our eye.
Hindu devotees are sprayed with colored water during Holi celebrations in Ahmedabad, India, on Wednesday, March 8. Millions of people in India and around the world are celebrating Holi this week.Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh competes at the European Indoor Championships on Sunday, March 5. She won the gold.Israeli army vehicles move along a road into Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, on Tuesday, March 7. Israeli forces staged a daylight raid into Jenin, targeting the suspect in the killing of two Jewish settlers.Women train with plastic baby dolls as they take a nursing skills class in Shanghai, China, on Thursday, March 2. The women were learning to be “confinement carers” who look after mothers and their newborn babies.Former US President Donald Trump leaves the stage after speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, on Saturday, March 4. Trump, who is once again running for president, spoke for nearly two hours.Smoke rises outside of Atlanta on Sunday, March 5, after there were violent protests at the spot where authorities will soon begin construction of a massive police and fire training facility. Protesters have been camping out for months there, vowing to stop construction of the facility that they have dubbed “Cop City.”A woman weaves a carpet at a factory in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Monday, March 6. Since the Taliban took over the country in August 2021, many women’s rights have been eroded.People dressed as mermaids and mermen take part in a group swim Saturday, March 4, during the MerMagic Convention in Manassas, Virginia. The event bills itself as the world’s largest mermaid convention.US President Joe Biden awards the Medal of Honor to retired Army Col. Paris Davis on Friday, March 3. Davis was recognized for his heroism during the Vietnam War.Homes in Yong Peng, Malaysia, are submerged in floodwaters on Saturday, March 4. More than 40,000 people were displaced by the seasonal floods.A model presents a creation from Germanier during a Paris fashion show on Monday, March 6.Chinese leader Xi Jinping, center, is applauded as he arrives for the second plenary session of the National’s People Congress on Tuesday, March 7.A man takes video of an under-construction skyscraper that was on fire in Hong Kong on Friday, March 3. Dozens of people were evacuated from the building, and the cause of the fire is under investigation.San Diego State basketball coach Brian Dutcher falls back onto his players after helping to cut down the nets at their home arena on Saturday, March 4. The Aztecs were celebrating a regular-season conference championship.A Holi reveler is showered with colored powder during celebrations in Mumbai, India, on Tuesday, March 7.Dancers wearing Christian Louboutin shoes perform on the sidelines of Paris Fashion Week to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Louboutin’s famous red sole on Thursday, March 2.A wedding album is seen among the rubble of a collapsed building in Hatay, Turkey, on Tuesday, March 7. Tens of thousands of people were killed after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked Turkey and Syria last month.A woman holds candles during a march to Istanbul’s Taksim Square to mark International Women’s Day on Wednesday, March 8. Police had prevented the crowd from staging a march through the city center.Fireworks explode from a bull figure frame during a San Juan de Dios celebration in Tultepec, Mexico, on Wednesday, March 8.Alex Murdaugh speaks with his legal team in Walterboro, South Carolina, on Friday, March 3, before he was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his wife and son.Two planes with the Roulettes, the Royal Australian Air Force’s aerobatic display team, perform during an air show in Geelong, Australia, on Friday, March 3.A model and a robot perform during a Coperni fashion show in Paris on Friday, March 3.US President Joe Biden prepares to walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on Sunday, March 5. US Rep. Terri Sewell, the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson joined him to commemorate the 58th anniversary of the “Bloody Sunday” march that galvanized the civil rights movement.Three Russian rockets are seen in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, March 9. Russia showered major cities across Ukraine with what officials said was an unprecedented array of missiles on Thursday morning.British athlete Jazmin Sawyers celebrates on the podium after she won the long jump at the European Indoor Championships on Sunday, March 5.Stéphane Voirin dances in front of the coffin of his partner, Agnès Lassalle, as he pays tribute to her in front of a church in Biarritz, France, on Friday, March 3. Lassalle, a 53-year-old teacher, was stabbed to death during a class last month.Ruth Kavere and her 3-year-old granddaughter Faith use a mosquito net at their home in Mukuli, Kenya, on Tuesday, March 7, after Faith received doses of the malaria vaccine. The pilot program, coordinated by the World Health Organization, launched in 2019 and has provided the vaccine in child health clinics across Ghana, Kenya and Malawi.Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testifies before a US Senate committee on Tuesday, March 7. He informed lawmakers about inflation and the Fed’s actions to date.Female army recruits attend a three-month training program at a military base in Bogota, Colombia, on Monday, March 6. After a 25-year ban, the Colombian army is once again allowing women to join its ranks through voluntary military service.Protesters brandishing a European Union flag are sprayed by a water cannon as they clash with riot police in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Tuesday, March 7. After two nights of protests, Georgia’s ruling party withdrew a controversial “foreign influence” bill.Two storks with soaked plumage sit on their nest in Biebesheim am Rhein, Germany, on Wednesday, March 8.People eating lunch watch protesters march in Toulouse, France, on Thursday, March 9. Many of France’s largest unions have been protesting radical reforms to the country’s pension system.Swiss hurdler Jason Joseph wins the 60-meter final at the European Indoor Championships on Sunday, March 5. Spain’s Enrique Llopis fell just before the finish line and had to be carried off on a stretcher.Israelis in Tel Aviv protest government plans to overhaul the nation’s judicial system on Thursday, March 9.This aerial photo shows a yacht moored on mudflats, revealed during the low tide, after the River Medway ebbed near Gillingham, England, on Thursday, March 2.Fevzi Anli carries his 3-year-old grandson as they wait to receive food in Antakya, Turkey, on Friday, March 3. Following last month’s devastating earthquake, Anli stays with his family in a tent near their collapsed home.
