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Russia obliterates front-line Ukraine towns by retrofitting bombs and expanding its air base network
![Andrii Marienko FILE - Firefighters put out a fire after two guided bombs hit the Epicenter shopping complex in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, May 25, 2024. The sign reads "Garden Center". (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko,File)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/f5ac99c04c954b1a95cf21ee390b6589/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x&wm=false)
FILE - Firefighters put out a fire after two guided bombs hit the Epicenter shopping complex in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, May 25, 2024. The sign reads "Garden Center". (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko,File)
![Libkos FILE - Smoke rises from a building in Bakhmut, the site of the heaviest battles with the Russian troops in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Wednesday, April 26, 2023. Russia has accelerated its destruction of Ukraine's front-line cities in 2024 to a scale never seen in the war using glide bombs, first used in Bakhmut and Avdiivka, and an expanding network of airstrips.(AP Photo/Libkos,File)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/e18b978128e847f8bf3afd18995938e6/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x&wm=false)
FILE - Smoke rises from a building in Bakhmut, the site of the heaviest battles with the Russian troops in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Wednesday, April 26, 2023. Russia has accelerated its destruction of Ukraine's front-line cities in 2024 to a scale never seen in the war using glide bombs, first used in Bakhmut and Avdiivka, and an expanding network of airstrips.(AP Photo/Libkos,File)
![Uncredited This Planet Labs satellite image shows a newly constructed airfield in the Belgorod Oblast, Russia in June 2024. AP analysis found that the 2,000-meter (yard) runway was built in the late summer of 2023 during the failed Ukrainian counteroffensive. (Planet Labs via AP)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/51e23bb9d7434ae7b76c569838d41485/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x&wm=false)
This Planet Labs satellite image shows a newly constructed airfield in the Belgorod Oblast, Russia in June 2024. AP analysis found that the 2,000-meter (yard) runway was built in the late summer of 2023 during the failed Ukrainian counteroffensive. (Planet Labs via AP)
![Andrii Marienko FILE - A police officer registers a dead body after two Russian guided bombs hit the Epicenter shopping complex in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, May 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko, File)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/7694fb47aee143738ad590f3eafe6594/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x&wm=false)
FILE - A police officer registers a dead body after two Russian guided bombs hit the Epicenter shopping complex in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, May 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko, File)
![Uncredited This Planet Labs satellite image shows a field in the Belgorod Oblast, Russia, in August 2023. By June 2024 a 2,000-meter (yard) runway was built, AP analysis found. Construction began in the late summer of 2023 during the failed Ukrainian counteroffensive. (Planet Labs via AP)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/62b2bc3f95e84d5cb1812e97cfb6a625/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x&wm=false)
This Planet Labs satellite image shows a field in the Belgorod Oblast, Russia, in August 2023. By June 2024 a 2,000-meter (yard) runway was built, AP analysis found. Construction began in the late summer of 2023 during the failed Ukrainian counteroffensive. (Planet Labs via AP)
![Evgeniy Maloletka Store manager Oleksandr Lutsenko stands inside of Epicenter shopping complex in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, June 6, 2024. The bombing of the Epicenter with glide bombs by the Russian military in May killed 19 people, including two children. In all, glide bombs have hit the city more than 50 times in 2024, according to Spartak Borysenko of the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/c3836ec1a2c04d0e9c4ea784d00300a9/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x&wm=false)
Store manager Oleksandr Lutsenko stands inside of Epicenter shopping complex in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, June 6, 2024. The bombing of the Epicenter with glide bombs by the Russian military in May killed 19 people, including two children. In all, glide bombs have hit the city more than 50 times in 2024, according to Spartak Borysenko of the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
![Evgeniy Maloletka The destroyed Epicenter shopping complex stands in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, June 6, 2024. The bombing of the Epicenter with glide bombs by the Russian military in May killed 19 people, including two children. In all, glide bombs have hit the city more than 50 times in 2024, according to Spartak Borysenko of the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/e975c6f24d5949ba9fd3335a953e0501/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x&wm=false)
The destroyed Epicenter shopping complex stands in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, June 6, 2024. The bombing of the Epicenter with glide bombs by the Russian military in May killed 19 people, including two children. In all, glide bombs have hit the city more than 50 times in 2024, according to Spartak Borysenko of the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
![Evgeniy Maloletka The destroyed Epicenter shopping complex stands in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, June 6, 2024. The bombing of the Epicenter with glide bombs by the Russian military in May killed 19 people, including two children. In all, glide bombs have hit the city more than 50 times in 2024, according to Spartak Borysenko of the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/d632fa841d874565adb3e240f2b0c701/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x&wm=false)
The destroyed Epicenter shopping complex stands in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, June 6, 2024. The bombing of the Epicenter with glide bombs by the Russian military in May killed 19 people, including two children. In all, glide bombs have hit the city more than 50 times in 2024, according to Spartak Borysenko of the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
![Evgeniy Maloletka Damaged shoes sit on the shelves of the destroyed Epicenter shopping complex in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, June 6, 2024. The bombing of the Epicenter with glide bombs by the Russian military in May killed 19 people, including two children. In all, glide bombs have hit the city more than 50 times in 2024, according to Spartak Borysenko of the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office.(AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/d6cc2bd5b5bc4d58a2ba10ea5bce9e65/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x&wm=false)
Damaged shoes sit on the shelves of the destroyed Epicenter shopping complex in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, June 6, 2024. The bombing of the Epicenter with glide bombs by the Russian military in May killed 19 people, including two children. In all, glide bombs have hit the city more than 50 times in 2024, according to Spartak Borysenko of the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office.(AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
![Uncredited This image taken from a video released by the Ukrainian Tsunami Assault Regiment, Liut Brigade, shows the northeastern frontline town of Vovchansk, Ukraine, during heavy bombardment by Russian forces May 28, 2024. (Tsunami Assault Regiment, Liut Brigade photo via AP)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/1b77017630a1455594cc0ca31ddef458/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x&wm=false)
This image taken from a video released by the Ukrainian Tsunami Assault Regiment, Liut Brigade, shows the northeastern frontline town of Vovchansk, Ukraine, during heavy bombardment by Russian forces May 28, 2024. (Tsunami Assault Regiment, Liut Brigade photo via AP)
![Evgeniy Maloletka FILE - A Ukrainian police officer and war crimes prosecutor inspect fragments of a glide bomb in front of a damaged house, after a Russian airstrike on a residential neighborhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, May 18, 2024. Russia has accelerated its destruction of Ukraine's front-line cities in 2024 to a scale never seen in the war using glide bombs and an expanding network of airstrips.(AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka,File)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/272e1dde39a0451bb2b0e2fa048575d3/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x&wm=false)
FILE - A Ukrainian police officer and war crimes prosecutor inspect fragments of a glide bomb in front of a damaged house, after a Russian airstrike on a residential neighborhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, May 18, 2024. Russia has accelerated its destruction of Ukraine's front-line cities in 2024 to a scale never seen in the war using glide bombs and an expanding network of airstrips.(AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka,File)
![Evgeniy Maloletka FILE - A Ukrainian police officer takes cover in front of a burning building that was hit in a Russian airstrike in Avdiivka, Ukraine, Friday, March 17, 2023. Russia has accelerated its destruction of Ukraine's front-line cities in 2024 to a scale never seen in the war using glide bombs, first used in Bakhmut and Avdiivka, and an expanding network of airstrips.(AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/afb13516b1b8448db65b3f636247fe7a/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x&wm=false)
FILE - A Ukrainian police officer takes cover in front of a burning building that was hit in a Russian airstrike in Avdiivka, Ukraine, Friday, March 17, 2023. Russia has accelerated its destruction of Ukraine's front-line cities in 2024 to a scale never seen in the war using glide bombs, first used in Bakhmut and Avdiivka, and an expanding network of airstrips.(AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)
![Uncredited In this photo taken from an undated video released by the Russian Defense Ministry shows a glide-guided bomb being released by a Russian air force jet at an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/72201441aeda480e806c6d7b84b86ef3/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x&wm=false)
In this photo taken from an undated video released by the Russian Defense Ministry shows a glide-guided bomb being released by a Russian air force jet at an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP)
![Evgeniy Maloletka A photograph of a store hangs on a burned wall inside an office at the Epicenter shopping complex in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, June 6, 2024. The bombing of the Epicenter with glide bombs by the Russian military in May killed 19 people, including two children. In all, glide bombs have hit the city more than 50 times in 2024, according to Spartak Borysenko of the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/f84ed3ca9fb24fe980d494be94b5238d/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x&wm=false)
A photograph of a store hangs on a burned wall inside an office at the Epicenter shopping complex in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, June 6, 2024. The bombing of the Epicenter with glide bombs by the Russian military in May killed 19 people, including two children. In all, glide bombs have hit the city more than 50 times in 2024, according to Spartak Borysenko of the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
![Evgeniy Maloletka Store manager Oleksandr Lutsenko walks inside the Epicenter shopping complex in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, June 6, 2024. The bombing of the Epicenter with glide bombs by the Russian military in May killed 19 people, including two children. In all, glide bombs have hit the city more than 50 times in 2024, according to Spartak Borysenko of the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/56e293ca97174e46aa1c4f2d5feb8618/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x&wm=false)
Store manager Oleksandr Lutsenko walks inside the Epicenter shopping complex in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, June 6, 2024. The bombing of the Epicenter with glide bombs by the Russian military in May killed 19 people, including two children. In all, glide bombs have hit the city more than 50 times in 2024, according to Spartak Borysenko of the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
![Uncredited This image taken from a video released by the Ukrainian Tsunami Assault Regiment, Liut Brigade, shows the northeastern frontline town of Vovchansk, Ukraine, during heavy bombardment by Russian forces May 28, 2024. (Tsunami Assault Regiment, Liut Brigade photo via AP)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/b8ed1026de194fdba3102d90aef87588/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x&wm=false)
This image taken from a video released by the Ukrainian Tsunami Assault Regiment, Liut Brigade, shows the northeastern frontline town of Vovchansk, Ukraine, during heavy bombardment by Russian forces May 28, 2024. (Tsunami Assault Regiment, Liut Brigade photo via AP)
![Evgeniy Maloletka An excavator clears the rubble from the Epicenter shopping complex in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, June 6, 2024. The bombing of the Epicenter with glide bombs by the Russian military in May killed 19 people, including two children. In all, glide bombs have hit the city more than 50 times in 2024, according to Spartak Borysenko of the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/627f22923ae940f394770401bbaeb12f/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x&wm=false)
An excavator clears the rubble from the Epicenter shopping complex in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, June 6, 2024. The bombing of the Epicenter with glide bombs by the Russian military in May killed 19 people, including two children. In all, glide bombs have hit the city more than 50 times in 2024, according to Spartak Borysenko of the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
![Evgeniy Maloletka Spartak Borysenko of the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office shows parts of a glide bomb found at the Epicenter shopping complex in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday, June 7, 2024. The bombing of the Epicenter by the Russian military in May using glide bombs killed 19 people, including two children. In all, glide bombs have hit the city more than 50 times in 2024, according to Spartak Borysenko of the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/a163e1745de54449a4e62358a12013a6/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x&wm=false)
Spartak Borysenko of the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office shows parts of a glide bomb found at the Epicenter shopping complex in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday, June 7, 2024. The bombing of the Epicenter by the Russian military in May using glide bombs killed 19 people, including two children. In all, glide bombs have hit the city more than 50 times in 2024, according to Spartak Borysenko of the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
![Evgeniy Maloletka Nina Korsunova gets emotional as she walks inside the destroyed Epicenter shopping complex in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, June 6, 2024. The bombing of the Epicenter with glide bombs by the Russian military in May killed 19 people, including two children. In all, glide bombs have hit the city more than 50 times in 2024, according to Spartak Borysenko of the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/f5875610723f4b0799feb5de61257502/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x&wm=false)
Nina Korsunova gets emotional as she walks inside the destroyed Epicenter shopping complex in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, June 6, 2024. The bombing of the Epicenter with glide bombs by the Russian military in May killed 19 people, including two children. In all, glide bombs have hit the city more than 50 times in 2024, according to Spartak Borysenko of the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
![Evgeniy Maloletka Spartak Borysenko of the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office shows parts of a glide bomb found at the Epicenter shopping complex in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday, June 7, 2024. The bombing of the Epicenter by the Russian military in May using glide bombs killed 19 people, including two children. In all, glide bombs have hit the city more than 50 times in 2024, according to Spartak Borysenko of the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/90db9bebb66c4520866e3aa935bcf0b5/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x&wm=false)
Spartak Borysenko of the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office shows parts of a glide bomb found at the Epicenter shopping complex in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday, June 7, 2024. The bombing of the Epicenter by the Russian military in May using glide bombs killed 19 people, including two children. In all, glide bombs have hit the city more than 50 times in 2024, according to Spartak Borysenko of the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)