KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian authorities say Russian forces are stepping up their strikes in a fiercely contested region of eastern Ukraine. They say the attacks are worsening the already tough conditions for residents and the defending army following Moscow’s illegal annexation and declaration of martial law in Donetsk province. The region’s Ukrainian governor says the strikes have almost completely destroyed the power plants that serve the city of Bakhmut and the nearby town of Soledar. The Russians have spent months trying to capture the entire province. While Russia’s “greatest brutality” was focused in the Donetsk region, “constant fighting” continued elsewhere, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.