Analysis: Front line will move into heart of cities unless Ukraine gets more weapons that can target Russian artillery

Burning apartment blocks across Mariupol; shattered buildings in Kharkiv. Film and photographs circulating on Monday show the brutal consequences of Russia’s onslaught in eastern Ukraine, the result of a succession of air, missile and above all artillery strikes that frequently fall on civilian targets.

Russian forces are still struggling to capture more of Ukraine’s cities – but while the defending forces are stocked with shoulder-mounted anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons, they do not appear to have a counter to the indiscriminate artillery shelling from which civilians are desperate to escape.

Red Cross chief says ‘history is watching’ as UN confirms almost 3 million people have fled country

• Russia-Ukraine war: latest updates

Russian forces have kept up their relentless bombardment of Ukraine’s major cities as the number of people fleeing the country neared 3 million, with the Red Cross describing conditions for those left behind as “nothing short of a nightmare”.

As Russian airstrikes and artillery fire continued to pound residential areas across the country, Ukrainian prosecutors said 90 children had now died in the conflict. The UN said it had confirmed 636 civilian deaths, but the real toll would be much higher.