Shelling is ongoing near the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's "special military operation" into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered "stiff resistance," according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine's disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
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As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Monday that simplifies the procedure for any Ukrainian seeking Russian citizenship, allowing them to fast-track their applications, Russian news agency Interfax reported.
The fast-tracked citizenship applications previously only applied to residents of Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Six people are dead and another 31 are injured from shelling in Kharkiv, according to the Kharkiv Prosecutor's Office.
Two children, ages 4 and 16, are among the injured.
Ukraine has amassed a million-strong fighting force equipped with western weapons to recover its southern territory from Russia, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in an interview with The Sunday Times.
According to Reznikov, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had ordered Ukraine’s military to retake occupied coastal areas which are vital to the country’s economy.
Reznikov said on Friday that “more than a million defenders protect Ukraine.” The majority of these forces -- around 700,000 troops -- is made up of Ukrainian soldiers, Reznikov said at an online conference.
The remaining units consist of policemen, border guards and members of the National Guard, the official added. Reznikov also said that Ukraine has turned into a certain kind of training ground where new types of weapons and innovative solutions are being used.
Ukraine has “passed the test” with its successful use of recently delivered American long-range artillery systems, Reznikov told The Wall Street Journal .
But as the war shifts primarily to an artillery battle, the defense minister added, more longer-range weapons will be needed to recapture lost Ukrainian territory.
“We need to refresh our platoons, change them and make replacements because we also have a lot of losses,” Reznikov said. “We are waiting for more armor, more weaponry from our partners.”
Russia recruits prisoners with combat experience
Russian forces are recruiting prisoners with combat experience to fight in Ukraine, a local prisoner's rights group said on Monday.
The Moscow-linked Wagner private military contractor and Russia’s Federal Security Service were reportedly offering convicts work in occupied Ukrainian territories.
Recruitment campaigns were run at penal colonies in several Russian cities, including St. Petersburg and Rostov, the group said. Several hundred prisoners had allegedly agreed to join Russian forces in Ukraine, the rights group said. The group said it obtained the information from relatives and prisoners who had reached out to the NGO themselves via its hotline.
The group's report appeared to corroborate independent media investigations detailing Wagner recruiters offering high salaries and compensation to their families in case of their deaths.
-ABC News' Edward Szekeres, Yulia Drozd, Fidel Pavlenko and Max Uzol
Russian strikes targeted several Ukrainian cities, including Kharkiv, Mykolaiv and Odesa, on Sunday night and Monday morning.
A strike in Kharkiv on Sunday night hit a residential building downtown, a school and a warehouse. The emergency service said it rescued a woman from beneath the debris.
Another attack that hit the city late in the morning left at least three people dead and 31 wounded, including two children, officials said.
At least six missiles hit Mykolaiv on Monday morning, local authorities said, injuring three people.
A missile strike also targeted Odesa on Monday morning, local officials said. Russian jets in Crimea fired four missiles at the city, with one missile striking a residential building. The number of casualties was unknown.
-ABC News' Edward Szekeres, Yulia Drozd, Fidel Pavlenko and Max Uzol
