Good morning. Welcome to Axios today. I'm Erica Pandy, Infernala Boudou. Here's what we're

covering today. How to talk to your kids about climate change? Plus, a new, shorter number

to reach the suicide prevention hotline. But first, today's one big thing. The second phase

of war in Ukraine. Russian troops have surrounded the last remaining Ukrainian stronghold in the

city of Maryopoul early Thursday morning. President Putin has ordered his forces not to storm a

massive steel plant in the city, or about 1,000 civilians are sheltering. This comes days after

Ukrainian President Zelensky announced the long-awaited Russian offensive in the Donbass region

has begun. This attack could be a decisive second phase of the war. As we enter week 9 of Russia's

invasion, Axios world editor Dave Lawler joins with the details. Hey Dave. Good morning, Erica.

Dave, can you catch us up on which areas of Ukraine are under Russian control or almost Russian

control right now? Right, so if we take a step back to the start of this campaign, you'll remember

that Russia basically tried to attack across four different fronts on most of the major cities

across Ukraine all at once. It was this lightning strike that the Pentagon thinks Putin hoped

would be accomplished within the first week of the war. That didn't happen, but they've now pulled

those troops back, except for this southeastern Donbass region. And that's where they're really

concentrating forces. This is the area where there was already fighting, dating back to 2014,

and pro-Russian separatists held about one-third of this Donbass region heading into the war,

and Russian troops have steadily made some gains in this area. This is the area that's

contested right now. Obviously, nowhere more so than Mariupol, this port city that has come under

real strain over eight weeks and is now virtually in Russian control, except for the steel plant.

As you mentioned, that is a pretty significant victory for Putin. It's the biggest city he will

have taken in the entire offensive so far, and it's the third biggest city in this Donbass region.

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