Russia destroys Lviv army facility

KYIV, May 15 (BBC/AP): A military facility in Ukraine's Lviv region has been "fully destroyed" by a Russian missile strike, regional governor Maksym Kozytskyy says on Telegram.
In recent weeks Russia has been focusing its offensive on the east of Ukraine but sporadic attacks have continued in western areas such as Lviv.
"Four enemy missiles hit a military infrastructure facility in Lviv Region. The facility has been fully destroyed. According to preliminary information, there were no casualties," Kozytskyy says.
He adds Ukrainian air defence systems have shot down two missiles. Earlier in the day Kozytskyy said the missiles hit the facility at 04:30 local time (01:30 GMT).
Russian offensive in Donbas
has lost momentum: UK
Russia's offensive in Donbas has lost momentum and fallen significantly behind schedule, according to the UK's Ministry of Defence.
Russia refocused its campaign on the eastern region, traditionally Ukraine's industrial heartland, after the initial wider invasion.
In its daily morning update on Twitter on the situation in Ukraine, the MoD says: "Despite small-scale initial advances, Russia has failed to achieve substantial territorial gains over the past month whilst sustaining consistently high levels of attrition."
It says Russia is likely to have lost a third of the ground combat force it committed in February and the additional loss of intelligence and critical equipment including drones, will have exacerbated delays in any Russian progress, restricted its manoeuvres and left its forces vulnerable.
The MoD also says Russian morale will be low and combat effectiveness reduced.
"Under the current conditions, Russia is unlikely to dramatically accelerate its rate of advance over the next 30 days," it concludes.
Mariupol steel plant
under heavy fire
We haven't heard much about the ongoing fight at the Azovstal steelworks today, but its defenders say they remain under heavy attack 80 days into the invasion.
As a reminder, the massive industrial complex is the last hold-out of Ukrainian defenders in the key port city of Mariupol on Ukraine's south coast.
In a post on Telegram, the Azov battalion writes that Russia "continues to drop air bombs... continues to use heavy artillery and tanks [and] uses a large number of infantry to attempt to storm Ukrainian positions".
"Despite the extremely critical situation, the defenders, making superhuman efforts, repel attempts to break through the positions of defenders and deter the enemy troops."
Russians withdraw from
around Kharkiv
Russian troops were withdrawing from around Ukraine's second-largest city after bombarding it for weeks, the Ukrainian military said Saturday, as Kyiv and Moscow's forces engaged in a grinding battle for the country's eastern industrial heartland.
Ukraine's military said the Russian forces were pulling back from the northeastern city of Kharkiv and focusing on guarding supply routes, while launching mortar, artillery and airstrikes in the eastern province of Donetsk in order to "deplete Ukrainian forces and destroy fortifications."
Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Ukraine was "entering a new - long-term - phase of the war."
In a show of support, a U.S. Senate delegation led by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday in Kyiv. A video posted on Zelenskyy's Telegram account showed McConnell, who represents the state of Kentucky, and fellow Republican senators Susan Collins of Maine, John Barrasso of Wyoming and John Cornyn of Texas greeting him.