Russia hits Lviv, prepares for assault in eastern Ukraine

Russian forces launched missile attacks on the western city of Lviv and pounded a multitude of other targets across Ukraine on Monday in what appeared to be an intensified bid to grind down the country's defences ahead of an all-out assault on the east.

At least seven people were reported killed in Lviv, where plumes of black smoke rose over a city that has seen only sporadic attacks during almost two months of war and has become a haven for civilians fleeing the fighting elsewhere. To the Kremlin's increasing anger, Lviv has also become a major conduit for NATO-supplied weapons and foreign fighters joining the Ukrainian cause.

In other developments, a few thousand Ukrainian troops, by Russia's estimate, remained holed up at a mammoth steel mill in Mariupol, the last known pocket of resistance in the devastated southern port city after seven weeks of bombardment. The holdouts ignored a surrender ultimatum from the Russians on Sunday.

And Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy submitted a filled-out questionnaire in the first step toward obtaining accelerated membership in the European Union - a desire that has been a source of irritation to Russia for years. Zelenskyy, though, has offered to drop any effort to join NATO, one of the Kremlin's key demands.

The Russian missile strikes on Lviv hit three military infrastructure facilities and an auto mechanic shop, according to the region's governor, Maksym Kozytskyy. He said the wounded included a child.