Ruthless Donbas drive ‘is biggest since WW2’
Ukraine’s urgent weapons plea
RUSSIA’S invasion of Donbas has been called “the largest one on European soil since World War Two”.
The description from Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba came as the attack on the eastern region reached its highest intensity yesterday.
Russian forces are trying to encircle Ukrainian troops in twin cities straddling the Siverskyi Donets River. The Donetsk region governor said three settlements, including the town of Svitlodarsk, were under Russian control.
Mr Kuleba pleaded with Ukraine’s allies to urgently speed up the supply of weapons and ammunition to his country – particularly multiple rocket launch systems, long-range artillery and armoured personnel carriers.
He said: “The Russian offensive in the Donbas is a ruthless battle.”
In Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, thousands gathered in Mykhailivska Square to look at destroyed Russian tanks and military equipment which were on display.
Meanwhile, images from Sevastopol in Crimea showed Russian tankers stealing Ukrainian grain at the Black Sea port. In the videos, tons of grain were being moved into the open hold of Russian ships before leaving the quay.
Ukraine is investigating how to break the Russian navy’s blockade to get crucial grain out of the country.
It is also trying to move the produce by land in convoys of hundreds of tankers. The war, together with western sanctions against Russia, has sent the price of grain, cooking oil, fertiliser and energy soaring. That in turn is threatening to spark a global food crisis.
In Russia, President Vladimir Putin was publicly humiliated by opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is appealing against his nine-year prison sentence for large-scale fraud and contempt of court.
Mr Navalny, 45, said: “This is a stupid war which your Putin started. This war was built on lies. What do you want to achieve – do you want short-term control, to fight with future generations, fight for the future of Russia?
“You will all suffer historic defeat. One madman has got his claws into Ukraine and I do not know what he wants to do with it – this crazy thief.” He added criminals running Putin’s Russia had become enemies of the Russian people.
This stupid war which your Putin began is built on lies
PUTIN POLITICAL RIVAL ALEXEI NAVALNY