Russia starts Donbas assault; Ukrainians make last stand in Mariupol

Mila Turchyn walks into a McDonald's parking lot near the Poland-Ukraine border. She is anxious. She doesn't trust the man she is about to meet. He is a smuggler.

Turchyn found the man via a messaging app a few days ago, advertising transport services for Ukrainians stranded in Russia. They made a deal — $500 to drive Turchyn's mom and sister from Moscow to Przemysl, Poland. It's more than most families fleeing war can afford.

She is wondering if it worked.

Turchyn turns and suddenly finds herself in her sister's arms. There is a brief moment of joy, but no time to hug her mom. The smuggler wants to be paid now. He demands more cash. She pays. At this point, she wants nothing more than to be with her family.

The exchange is finally over and the three women are reunited in Poland. They quietly and quickly embrace.

For the Ukrainians who now find themselves displaced in Russia, however, getting to safety is dangerous.

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A statue of former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin has been erected in Russian-occupied Henichesk, Ukraine, photos posted Monday to social media show, nearly seven years after one was removed as part of "decommunization" efforts.

The town of Henichesk sits on the Sea of Azov in Kherson province, just north of the border with Russian-annexed Crimea.

Three photos, posted on Facebook, show the new Lenin statue in front of the regional council building. A Russian flag is seen on the roof of the building. 

CNN has geolocated and verified the authenticity of the photos.

The original Lenin statue outside the government building was taken down by order of the city council on July 16, 2015, video and local news reports show. According to those reports, Henichesk was one of the last towns in the region to have a statue of Lenin. 

Yuri Sobolevsky, Ukrainian regional deputy for Kherson, confirmed the new statue in a post on Facebook. 

"Orcs in Kherson Region continue their experiments in moving back in time," Sobolevsky wrote, using a slang term for Russian soldiers.

"Red flags, monuments from the Soviet era. And all this against the backdrop of a worsening humanitarian crisis, severe suppression of dissent and manifestations of civic position. Their motive is absolutely transparent — they are [acting like parasites] on the nostalgic sentiments of the population," Sobolevsky wrote.

Having regrouped to launch an offensive in the east of Ukraine, Russian forces have started what one Ukrainian official described as the "second phase of the war" -- the battle for Donbas.

Control of Kreminna, a town in the eastern Luhansk region, has already been "lost" during heavy fighting, a Ukrainian official said.

The developments come after Russia bombarded cities across Ukraine on Monday, with a least four missile strikes reported in the western city of Lviv and at least seven people killed.

Here are the latest developments on Russia's invasion of Ukraine:

The battle for Donbas: Russian forces have begun an assault on the eastern Donbas region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address on Monday. He said Ukrainian forces would continue to fight, saying he is "thankful to all of our warriors, our soldiers, our heroic towns and towns in the region who are resisting and standing firm."

Not a "single place" safe in Ukraine: Ihor Zhovka, chief diplomatic adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that "not a single place, a town, a city or a village" is now safe in Ukraine following Russian missile strikes in Lviv on Monday. The city was previously seen as a safe haven due to its proximity to Ukraine's western border with Poland.

Women, children in besieged steel plant: Video appearing to show women and children sheltering in the basement of the Azovstal steel plant in the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol was posted on Telegram Monday evening by the Azov Battalion of Ukraine. The battalion's commander, Lieutenant Colonel Denys Prokopenko, also said Russian forces were firing "willingly" on the plant. The plant is one of the last areas under Ukrainian control in the city.

Moskva sinking latest: New images emerged early Monday on social media showing Russia's guided-missile cruiser, the Moskva, badly damaged and on fire in the hours before the ship sank in the Black Sea on Thursday. The images show the Moskva listing to one side, with black holes from possible missile puncture marks, and a large plume of smoke billowing upwards.

No plans for Biden to visit Ukraine: White House press secretary Jen Psaki reiterated Monday that there were no plans for US President Joe Biden to travel to Ukraine, following comments from Zelensky encouraging him to do so. The US President suggested last week he wanted to go, though he said US officials are still "in discussions" on whether a high-level US official will visit Ukraine.

US describes “campaign of terror”: State Department spokesperson Ned Price said that Russia’s attacks in Ukraine in recent days further illustrate that the country is “undertaking a campaign of terror” against the people of Ukraine.

Ceasefire “not on the horizon”: A ceasefire in Ukraine is not on the horizon, but may be "in a couple of weeks" depending on how the war and ongoing negotiations continue, said Martin Griffiths, United Nations under secretary general for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, on Monday.

A new video posted by the Azov Battalion on Monday shows Ukrainian forces in Mariupol ambushing a Russian military convoy.

CNN has geolocated and verified the authenticity of the video, but it's unclear when the ambush occurred. The Azov Battalion is a unit that began as an ultra-nationalist militia but has since integrated into the Ukrainian armed forces.

The video, taken by a drone, shows a convoy of six vehicles moving south along Metallurgists Avenue in Mariupol. The convoy pulls off the road and onto a sidewalk just outside the Ararat cafe.

As the drone zooms out, it shows at least nine Ukrainian troops creeping toward the convoy, which has stopped moving. The video then cuts to soldiers firing in the direction of the convoy.

It then cuts to another scene, in which at least three of the six vehicles are on fire. A "Z" -- the symbol of the Russian invasion -- can be seen on at least two of the vehicles.

The video then shows Ukrainian soldiers throwing grenades over a brick wall, in the direction of Russian soldiers who are taking cover between one of the vehicles and a wall.

CNN is not airing the entire video, as it shows grenades exploding on top of the Russian soldiers. 

In an address on Monday to world leaders, commander of the Azov Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Denys Prokopenko, said Russian forces are firing on the Azovstal steelworks factory “willingly” in Mariupol as hundreds of people are sheltering inside. 

The Azov Regiment, sometimes referred to as the Azov Battalion, is a unit that began as an ultra-nationalist volunteer militia but has since integrated into the Ukrainian armed forces.

Prokopenko, who is the commander of one of the Ukrainian units defending the port city, said in a post on Telegram account that among those sheltering are, “people of all ages, women, children, and families of Mariupol defenders. They are sheltering in the basements and bunkers from the ‘Russian world.'"

According to Prokopenko, those sheltering “found their only available shelter next to the Ukrainian soldiers, who are still defending the city from Russian invaders.”

“Russian occupational forces and their proxy from Luhansk People’s Republic/Donetsk People's Republics know about civilians and keep their fire on the factory willingly. They use free-fall bombs, rockets, bunker-buster bombs, and all varieties of artillery, both ground and naval, for indiscriminate attacks,” Prokopenko said.

He added, “City theatre, maternity hospital, schools, kindergartens, and houses were destroyed by those who now offer civilians evacuation and safety. These are the same people. And nobody believes.”

Watch: Drone footage shows smoke rising from Azovstal plant

New images emerged early Monday on social media showing Russia's guided-missile cruiser, the Moskva, badly damaged and on fire in the hours before the ship sank in the Black Sea on Thursday.

The sinking of the Moskva, the flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet, was the biggest wartime loss of a naval ship in 40 years -- and a huge embarrassment for Moscow.

The images show the Moskva listing to one side, with black holes from possible missile puncture marks, and significant scarring at and just above the waterline on the port (left) side of the middle of the vessel.

A large plume of black smoke can be seen billowing upwards, partly obscuring the front of the stricken ship.

Analysts told CNN the warship in the images looked like the Moskva, a Slava Class guided-missile destroyer.

Ukraine and Russia have provided conflicting accounts of what happened during Thursday's incident in the Black Sea.

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New video images of women and children, purportedly sheltering in the basement of the Azovstal steel plant in the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, were published Monday evening on Telegram. 

The video was posted by the Azov Battalion, a unit that began as an ultra-nationalist militia but has since integrated into the Ukrainian armed forces. The video was later shared by the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

It appears to show dozens of children and families who have been sheltering for weeks in the basement of the plant where Ukrainian forces are holding out against Russian attacks.

CNN cannot verify the authenticity of the video, or when it was taken. However, after reviewing thousands of photos and videos of the Azovstal steel plant, the walls of the shelter appear to match the lime-green painted walls of the steel plant's basements.

Some context: Commander of the Azov Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Denys Prokopenko, in Mariupol said in a video posted Monday on Telegram that Russian forces have been firing "willingly" on the Azovstal steelworks factory, where hundreds of civilians are sheltering alongside Ukrainian forces.

Prokopenko said that among those sheltering are, “people of all ages, women, children, and families of Mariupol defenders. They are sheltering in the basements and bunkers from the ‘Russian world’." 

Myhailo Vershynin, the chief of the Mariupol Patrol Police, also told CNN that women, children and the elderly were among those sheltering inside the steel plant.