Live updates | Russia says it hit base for 'mercenaries'

MOSCOW — Russia’s defense ministry says it used air-launched missiles to destroy a Ukrainian military base where foreign fighters allegedly were being trained.

Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Thursday that the training center was in the Zhytomyr region of central Ukraine, about 125 kilometers (75 miles) west of Kyiv.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine to the Russian claims. Russia refers to foreign fighters who joined Ukrainian troops in the war as ‘mercenaries.’

Konashenkov said Russian missiles also destroyed an ammunition depot and an anti-aircraft system elsewhere in Ukraine.

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KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:

— War rap: In Ukraine, an angry voice for a furious generation

— Smashed buildings in Mariupol produce ‘caravan of death’

— Russia, Turkey back plan to export grains; Ukraine doubtful

— UN report: Ukraine war is increasing suffering of millions

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

KYIV, Ukraine — The governor of eastern Ukraine's Luhansk province says Russian forces are employing “scorched-earth tactics” against the city of Sievierodonetsk, hitting it with rockets, artillery and mortars.

Serhiy Haidai also told The Associated Press on Thursday that neighboring Lysychansk is enduring “day and night shelling." Russians are trying the storm the key road connecting Lysychansk and the city of Bakhmut but have failed to gain control of it, he said.

Haidai says Ukraine still “remains able to deliver humanitarian supplies to the region by a relatively safe route.”

Ukraine's east has been the main focus of Russia's...