Russian forces aimed their firepower at key points along the eastern front today, launching missiles at a strategic urban target and mounting a final, potentially bloody push to seize the last Ukrainian bastion in the port city of Mariupol.

The push is part of an apparent effort to secure a propaganda win that President Vladimir Putin can celebrate on Monday, Russia’s Victory Day — a holiday that celebrates the Soviet Union’s vanquishing of Nazi Germany, and honors the 27 million Soviets who died in World War II.

This year’s holiday will take place as Russian state television broadcasts bellicose messages about supposed Nazis in Ukraine, my colleagues Dan Bilefsky and Anton Troianovski report.

Today, Russian forces took aim at the eastern city of Kramatorsk with airstrikes, gutting a large apartment complex and a store selling bras and underwear. Ukrainian and Western officials say that in the coming days Russia’s military may seek to encircle or capture the city, a key target.