Russia-Ukraine war: Key things to know about the conflict

Russian troops are pressing their offensive across Ukraine, pounding populated areas with artillery and airstrikes and deploying siege tactics honed in Syria and Chechnya — where opposing cities were reduced to rubble

Russian troops are pressing their offensive across Ukraine, pounding populated areas with artillery and airstrikes and deploying siege tactics honed in Syria and Chechnya — where opposing cities were reduced to rubble.

The bombardment has intensified as units fan out to prepare their assault on Kyiv, a major political and strategic prize for Russian President Vladimir Putin but one that ground troops would pay dearly to take.

Ukrainians armed with portable missiles and Molotov cocktails have vowed to annihilate any Russian forces who enter the capital, but they themselves are likely to face days or weeks of murderous shelling before any tanks roll in.

Now into its third week, the war has expanded to areas closer to NATO members Poland and Romania, with Ukrainian authorities saying Russian airstrikes attacked sites in two western cites. Meanwhile residents in some besieged areas — like the surrounded port city of Mariupol — have faced so much firepower they can't even bury the dead.