Photos: Russian troops strengthen their grip on Ukraine's south

Marcus Yam
·7 min read
TOPSHOT - A woman reacts as she stands in front of a house burning after being shelled in the city of Irpin, outside Kyiv, on March 4, 2022. - More than 1.2 million people have fled Ukraine into neighbouring countries since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24, United Nations figures showed on March 4, 2022. (Photo by Aris Messinis / AFP) (Photo by ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images)
A house burns after being shelled in the city of Irpin, outside Kyiv, on March 4. (Aris Messinis / AFP/Getty Images)

The following images may be disturbing to some readers.

KYIV, Ukraine — Russian forces pressed their offensive against key Ukrainian cities Friday in a heavy bombing and shelling campaign that has led to an unfolding humanitarian disaster, spurred an astonishing exodus of people and raised fears of a wider calamity after Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant was set ablaze.

A row of wrecked armored vehicles
A view of destroyed Russian armored vehicles in the city of Bucha, west of Kyiv, on March 4. (Aris Messinis / AFP/Getty Images)
People hold a crate of bottles plugged with rags.
Volunteers hold a basket with handmade Molotov cocktails during a self-defense civilian course on the outskirts of Lviv, western Ukraine. (Daniel Leal / AFP/Getty Images)
A man speaks to a crowd of people in coats, many holding children.
A member of the Ukrainian military gives instructions to women and children fleeing fighting in Bucha and Irpin, Ukraine, on March 4. (Chris McGrath / Getty Images)
A military vehicle rolls past wreckage on a road.
A Ukrainian military vehicle speeds by on a main road near Sytnyaky on March 3. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
Soldiers stand near another soldier's body on the ground.
The body of a Russian soldier lies by the road after Ukrainian forces destroyed a Russian vehicle March 3 near Sytnyaky. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
Armed men stand over a body.
Ukrainian soldiers salvage equipment from the body of a Russian soldier after a Russian vehicle was destroyed in battle near Sytnyaky. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
A soldier wears a yellow armband.
A soldier walks past military vehicles March 3 in Sytnyaky, Ukraine. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
A Ukrainian soldier walks down railroad tracks where bodies lie covered in snow
A Ukrainian soldier wanders down railroad tracks to inspect something, past the bodies of Russian soldiers where fighting took place on the outskirts of Irpin, Ukraine. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
Volunteer fighters transport rifles across a river under a destroyed bridge to reinforce Ukrainian troops in Irpin, Ukraine.
Volunteer fighters transport rifles across a river under a destroyed bridge to reinforce Ukrainian troops in Irpin, Ukraine. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
City Hall building in the central square following shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine
Rescuers examine the building of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration after a missile launched by Russian invaders hit nearby in Freedom Square on March 1 in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine. (Getty Images)
Rescuers in central Kharkiv, Ukraine, carry a wounded person on the stretcher after shelling by Russian troops.
Rescuers in central Kharkiv, Ukraine, carry a wounded person on the stretcher after shelling by Russian troops. (Getty Images)
Members of an Ukrainian civil defense unit pass new assault rifles to the opposite side of a blown up bridge outside Kyiv
Members of a Ukrainian civil defense unit pass new assault rifles to the opposite side of a blown-up bridge on Kyiv's northern front on Tuesday. (Aris Messinis / AFP/Getty Images)
A woman takes photos of a destroyed building near a checkpoint in Brovary, outside Kyiv, on Tuesday.
A woman takes photos of a destroyed building near a checkpoint in Brovary, outside Kyiv, on Tuesday. (Efrem Lukatsky / Associated Press)
Refugees arrive from Ukraine at the border crossing Vysne Nemecke, Slovakia
Refugees arrive from Ukraine at the border crossing Vysne Nemecke, Slovakia, on Tuesday. (Darko Vojinovic / Associated Press)
A Russian armored personnel carrier burns after fighting in Kharkiv, Ukraine.
A Russian armored personnel carrier burns after fighting in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Ukrainian forces engaged in fighting with Russian troops that entered the country's second-largest city on Sunday. (Marienko Andrew / Associated Press)
Three people make Molotov cocktails
Volunteers from the Territorial Defense Units make Molotov cocktails to use against Russian troops in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 26. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
A nurse checks a baby in a basement while another person stands nearby
A nurse checks a baby being treated at a pediatrics center after the unit was moved to the basement of the hospital, which is being used as a bomb shelter, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 28. (Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images)
A man walks in front of a destroyed building
A man walks in front of a destroyed building after a Russian missile attack in the town of Vasylkiv, near Kyiv, Ukraine. (Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images)
A woman sits with two babies being treated in a makeshift basement bomb shelter at a pediatrics hospital
A woman sits with two babies being treated in a makeshift basement bomb shelter at a pediatrics hospital in Kyiv, Ukraine, on February 28, 2022. (ARIS MESSINIS / AFP )
Buildings can be seen through a hole in a residential building.
Damage from a rocket that hit a residential building in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 26. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
The body of a soldier in the snow near a military vehicle.
A dead soldier on the outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 25. (Vadim Ghirda / Associated Press)
Natali Sevriukova's home was struck by a rocket in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Natali Sevriukova's home was struck by a rocket in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press)
Firefighters work o a damaged apartment building in Kyiv which was hit by a recent shelling
Firefighters work on a damaged apartment building in Kyiv which was hit by a recent shelling during Russia's military intervention in Ukraine. (Aytac Unal / Getty Images)
Ukrainian soldiers at the site of a fighting with Russian troops in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Feb. 26.
Ukrainian soldiers at the site of a fighting with Russian troops in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Feb. 26. (SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty Images)
Volunteers receive weapons and training at the Ukraine's Territorial Defense depot in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Volunteers receive weapons and training at the Ukraine's Territorial Defense depot in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Erin Trieb/Getty Images)
A Ukrainian soldier inspects the wreckage of a downed plane.
A Ukrainian soldier inspects the wreckage of a downed plane in Kyiv, the nation's capital, on Friday. (Vadim Zamirovsky / Associated Press)
A Ukrainian woman and child at the border of Ukraine and Slovakia.
A Ukrainian woman and child at the border of Ukraine and Slovakia. (Peter Lazar / AFP/Getty Images )
People in Tbilisi, Georgia, rally in support of Ukraine and to protest the Russian invasion.
People in Tbilisi, Georgia, rally in support of Ukraine and to protest the Russian invasion. (Daro Sulakauri / Getty Images)
Bodies of Russian servicemen wearing Ukranian service uniforms lie inside and beside a vehicle.
Dead soldiers in Kyiv. Ukrainian forces said the dead were Russian troops wearing Ukrainian uniforms on a mission to infiltrate the capitol. (SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images)
A boy in a public basement being used as a bomb shelter in Kyiv, Ukraine.
A boy in a public basement being used as a bomb shelter in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Emilio Morenatti / Associated Press)
A Ukrainian firefighter, right, walks around wreckage of a downed aircraft in Kyiv, Ukraine.
A Ukrainian firefighter, right, walks around wreckage of a downed aircraft in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Oleksandr Ratushniak / Associated Press)
Ukrainian soldiers on a bridge in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Ukrainian soldiers take up positions on a bridge in Kyiv, the capital. (Emilio Morenatti / Associated Press)
People survey an apartment building damaged by a missile strike in Kyiv on Feb. 25.
People survey an apartment building damaged by a missile strike in Kyiv on Feb. 25. (Chris McGrath / Getty Images)
Residents take shelter in a subway station in Kyiv on Feb. 25.
Residents take shelter in a subway station in Kyiv on Feb. 25. (Efrem Lukatsky / Associated Press)
A Ukrainian soldier keeps watch on the front line with Russia-backed separatists in Luhansk, Ukraine.
A Ukrainian soldier keeps watch on the front line with Russia-backed separatists near the town of Shchastia in Luhansk, Ukraine. (Anatolii Stepanov / AFP/Getty Images)
Firefighters work on a fire on a building after bombings on the eastern Ukraine town of Chuguiv
Smoke pours from a building in Chuguiv, a Ukrainian town near Kharviv, after it was attacked Thursday. (Aris Messinis / AFP/Getty Images)
Hundreds of people seek shelter in a subway station.
Hundreds of people seek shelter in a subway station. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
Ukrainian soldiers
Ukrainian soldiers in Ukraine's Lugansk region on Feb. 24. (Anatolii Stepanova / AFP/Getty Images)
A man uses a carpet to cover a body.
A man uses a carpet to cover a body after bombings in the eastern Ukraine town of Chuguiv on Feb. 24. (Aris Messinis / AFP/Getty Images)
President Biden departs the East Room of the White House.
President Biden departs the East Room of the White House after a news conference. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
An injured man waits to receive medical assistance.
An injured man waits to receive medical assistance after bombings in the eastern Ukraine town of Chuguiv. (Aris Messinis / AFP/Getty Images)
A woman and child on a bus leave the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine.
A woman and child on a bus leave the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine. (Vadim Ghirda / Associated Press)
Damaged radar arrays and other equipment are seen at Ukrainian military facility outside Mariupol, Ukraine
Damaged radar arrays and other equipment smolder after a missile strike outside Mariupol, Ukraine. (Sergei Grits / Associated Press)
Russian military vehicles move toward the border in eastern Ukraine
Russian military vehicles move toward the border in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
A Ukrainian serviceman speaks on a walkie-talkie at his position
A Ukrainian serviceman speaks on a walkie-talkie at his position near rebel-held territory near Svitlodarsk, eastern Ukraine. (Evgeniy Maloletka / Associated Press)
A woman with a bandaged head and bloodied face stands before a damaged building
A wounded woman whose apartment complex was damaged by an airstrike outside Kharkiv, Ukraine. (Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
A man mourns near a body after an airstrike at an apartment complex
A man mourns near a body after an airstrike at an apartment complex outside Kharkiv, Ukraine. (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
An aerial view of vehicles streaming out of a major city
Residents leave Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, after Russian missile strikes. (Pierre Crom / Getty Images)
A woman walks away from a line for the ATM
A woman walks away from a line for the ATM as people try to obtain cash as news of Russia invading Ukraine continues to dominate the headlines, in Slovyansk, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
Civilians are evacuated from the Donetsk region under the control of pro-Russian separatists
Civilians are evacuated from the Donetsk region, under the control of pro-Russia separatists. (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Girls hold their mobile phones as they take refuge in a Kyiv metro station
Girls hold their mobile phones as they take refuge in a Kyiv metro station. (Daniel Leal / AFP, via Getty Images)
People stand at the doorway to a basement they use as a bomb shelter
People stand at the doorway to a basement they use as a bomb shelter in the town of Shchastia, near the eastern Ukraine city of Lugansk. (Aris Messinis / AFP/Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a wreath-laying ceremony
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin wall to mark the Defender of the Fatherland Day in Moscow on Wednesday. (Alexey Nikolsky / Sputnik)

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.