Ukraine retreats in east as Russian strikes kill three, hit energy

The attacks also came two days after U.S.-mediated settlement talks in Miami, which lasted for a few days as the warring sides were working out details of the Washington-proposed plan to end the war. The Ukrainian army said that "to preserve the lives of our soldiers and the combat capability of our units, Ukrainian defenders have withdrawn from the settlement" of Siversk, adding that fighting was still ongoing on the outskirts. On the battlefield in the east, Russia's army claimed to have captured settlements in the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, in a grinding advance that has accelerated in recent weeks.