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Photos: Russia accuses Ukraine of retaliation, as battle in the east intensifies

NPR

By Grace Widyatmadja,

Marco Storel

Published April 12, 2022 at 6:14 AM PDT

<strong>April 14:</strong> A policeman walks among the rubble of destroyed houses in Bohdanivka village, northeast of Kyiv, amid Russia's invasion launched on Ukraine. — April 14: A policeman walks among the rubble of destroyed houses in Bohdanivka village, northeast of Kyiv, amid Russia's invasion launched on Ukraine.

Updated April 15, 2022 at 2:06 PM ET

Editor's note: Some of these images are graphic.

A senior U.S. defense official says the U.S. continues to see signs of Russian forces moving into eastern Ukraine for what is expected to be a large-scale offensive in the coming days.

This includes Russian command-and-control elements, support battalions, infantry and helicopters moving into the country's Donbas region, just across from its border with Russia.

Over the last couple of weeks, Russia withdrew forces from around Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, retreating north into neighboring Belarus. Those forces are now moving to the east of Ukraine.

Here is what it looks like on the ground:

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

<strong>April 14:</strong> A woman looks as Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) servicemen enter a building during an operation to arrest suspected Russian collaborators in Kharkiv, Ukraine. — April 14: A woman looks as Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) servicemen enter a building during an operation to arrest suspected Russian collaborators in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

<strong>April 14:</strong> Nadiya Trubchaninova, 70, stands in her bedroom holding a portrait of her sons Oleg Trubchaninov, 46, and Vadym, 48, who was killed by Russian soldiers last March 30 in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. — April 14: Nadiya Trubchaninova, 70, stands in her bedroom holding a portrait of her sons Oleg Trubchaninov, 46, and Vadym, 48, who was killed by Russian soldiers last March 30 in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine.

<strong>April 15:</strong> Ukrainian servicemen stand guard at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Barvinkove, eastern Ukraine. — April 15: Ukrainian servicemen stand guard at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Barvinkove, eastern Ukraine.

<strong>April 14:</strong> Volunteers carry the body of a man killed during the war to a refrigerated container in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. — April 14: Volunteers carry the body of a man killed during the war to a refrigerated container in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine.

<strong>April 14:</strong> A cemetery worker carries a cross for the tomb of Tetyana Gramushnyak, 75, who was killed by shelling on March 19 while cooking food outside her home in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. — April 14: A cemetery worker carries a cross for the tomb of Tetyana Gramushnyak, 75, who was killed by shelling on March 19 while cooking food outside her home in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine.

<strong>April 14:</strong> A woman looks for goods dropped from the apartment building partly damaged by shelling, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. — April 14: A woman looks for goods dropped from the apartment building partly damaged by shelling, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine.

<strong>April 14:</strong> A firefighter works to extinguish a fire at a warehouse caused by recent Russian shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine. After Russian forces retreated from areas around Kyiv, recent reports point to a new offensive as Russian forces have regrouped in the eastern part of the country bringing fears of an escalation of violence. — April 14: A firefighter works to extinguish a fire at a warehouse caused by recent Russian shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine. After Russian forces retreated from areas around Kyiv, recent reports point to a new offensive as Russian forces have regrouped in the eastern part of the country bringing fears of an escalation of violence.

<strong>April 14:</strong> A pedestrian walks along a street past anti-tank obstacles shortly before a curfew in Dnipro, amid Russia's military invasion launched on Ukraine. — April 14: A pedestrian walks along a street past anti-tank obstacles shortly before a curfew in Dnipro, amid Russia's military invasion launched on Ukraine.

<strong>April 14:</strong> Women wait at a bus station in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. — April 14: Women wait at a bus station in Kramatorsk, Ukraine.

<strong>April 15:</strong> A Ukrainian couple say goodbye as she leaves for Poland to escape the war at the Shehyni border crossing, in Ukraine. — April 15: A Ukrainian couple say goodbye as she leaves for Poland to escape the war at the Shehyni border crossing, in Ukraine.

<strong>April 13:</strong> The father (right) and a friend (left) of Anatoliy Kolesnikov, 30, who was killed by Russian soldiers while trying to evacuate from Irpin, a suburb of Kyiv, Ukraine, embrace outside the morgue in nearby Bucha. — April 13: The father (right) and a friend (left) of Anatoliy Kolesnikov, 30, who was killed by Russian soldiers while trying to evacuate from Irpin, a suburb of Kyiv, Ukraine, embrace outside the morgue in nearby Bucha.

<strong>April 13:</strong> Men walk along a street destroyed by shellings in Chernihiv, in northern Ukraine. — April 13: Men walk along a street destroyed by shellings in Chernihiv, in northern Ukraine.

<strong>April 13:</strong> Iryna Homenko, a school director, walks down the hall of a Chernihiv school damaged in a Russian airstrike. — April 13: Iryna Homenko, a school director, walks down the hall of a Chernihiv school damaged in a Russian airstrike.

<strong>April 13:</strong> Residents of Lysychansk, in the Luhansk Oblast in eastern Ukraine, celebrate a birthday in the basement of a residential building to protect themselves from shelling. — April 13: Residents of Lysychansk, in the Luhansk Oblast in eastern Ukraine, celebrate a birthday in the basement of a residential building to protect themselves from shelling.

<strong>April 13:</strong> A destroyed flat in Borodianka, near Kyiv, Ukraine. Rescue workers are still removing rubble from the area after Russian troops' withdrawal from the area as they refocus their invasion on eastern Ukraine. — April 13: A destroyed flat in Borodianka, near Kyiv, Ukraine. Rescue workers are still removing rubble from the area after Russian troops' withdrawal from the area as they refocus their invasion on eastern Ukraine.

<strong>April 13:</strong> Workers wearing protective gear exhume bodies on the grounds of the Church of Saint Andrew, where civilians were buried during Russia's occupation of Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv. — April 13: Workers wearing protective gear exhume bodies on the grounds of the Church of Saint Andrew, where civilians were buried during Russia's occupation of Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv.

<strong>April 13:</strong> Mourners attend a memorial service for officer Taras Bobanych — whose call sign was "Hammer" — of Right Sector, the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps, at the Saints Peter and Paul Garrison Church in Lviv, in western Ukraine. — April 13: Mourners attend a memorial service for officer Taras Bobanych — whose call sign was "Hammer" — of Right Sector, the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps, at the Saints Peter and Paul Garrison Church in Lviv, in western Ukraine.

<strong>April 13: </strong>From left, Gitanas Nauseda, the president of Lithuania; Andrzej Duda, the president of Poland; Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine; Egils Levits, the president of Latvia; and Alar Karis, the president of Estonia; hold a press conference following talks in Kyiv. — April 13: From left, Gitanas Nauseda, the president of Lithuania; Andrzej Duda, the president of Poland; Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine; Egils Levits, the president of Latvia; and Alar Karis, the president of Estonia; hold a press conference following talks in Kyiv.

<strong>April 13:</strong> Children play in Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv. — April 13: Children play in Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv.

<strong>April 13:</strong> A woman collects wooden planks in a street destroyed by shellings in Chernihiv, in northern Ukraine. — April 13: A woman collects wooden planks in a street destroyed by shellings in Chernihiv, in northern Ukraine.

<strong>April 13:</strong> Mourners sing the Ukrainian national anthem during the burial of Ukrainian soldier Oleksandr Goshko in Starychi, in western Ukraine. Goshko died fighting Russian invaders near the town of Popasna, in the Luhansk Oblast in eastern Ukraine. — April 13: Mourners sing the Ukrainian national anthem during the burial of Ukrainian soldier Oleksandr Goshko in Starychi, in western Ukraine. Goshko died fighting Russian invaders near the town of Popasna, in the Luhansk Oblast in eastern Ukraine.

NPR News

Grace Widyatmadja

Grace Widyatmadja is a photo editing intern working with NPR's visuals desk and Goats & Soda.

Marco Storel