The devastated city -- which was home to some 60,000 people before Russia's February 2022 full-scale invasion -- has become a key focus of the Kremlin's yearslong push to capture all of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk Oblast, which along with neighboring Luhansk Oblast makes up the Donbas region.

Ukraine's military reportedly struck and damaged Russia's Volgograd oil refinery overnight on Nov. 6, Russian Telegram media channels reported, as explosions rocked several Russian energy sites.