SLOVYANSK, Ukraine—Russian forces kept up artillery strikes in eastern Ukraine on Saturday, while the defending troops braced for what Ukrainian officials expect will be a new push toward this nearly empty city where separatists helped kick off the Moscow-backed uprising in Ukraine eight years ago.
Russian troops have lobbed artillery shells and missiles into Slovyansk and surrounding towns over the past day, keeping up pressure on a heavily fortified foothold still held by Ukrainian troops in the Donetsk region.
