Putin’s forces pound eastern Ukraine as West promises Kyiv new weapons

RUSSIA has pounded eastern Ukraine as the US defence secretary promised to “keep moving heaven and earth” to get Kyiv the weapons it needs to repel the new offensive even as Moscow warned such support risked widening the war.

Two months into the devastating conflict, Western arms have already helped Ukraine stall Russia’s invasion – but its leaders have said they need more support fast.

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said that help was on the way, as he convened a meeting of officials from around 40 countries at the United States’ Ramstein Air Base in Germany to pledge more weapons.

Germany announced it has cleared the way for delivery of Gepard antiaircraft guns to Ukraine.

“This gathering reflects the galvanised world,” Mr Austin said in his opening remarks.

He added that he wanted officials to leave the meeting “with a common and transparent understanding of Ukraine’s near-term security requirements because we’re going to keep moving heaven and earth so that we can meet them”.

After fierce defence by Ukrainian forces thwarted Russia’s attempt to take Ukraine’s capital early in the war, Moscow now says its focus is the Donbas, the mostly Russian-speaking industrial region in eastern Ukraine.

That move is already having a devastating effect on civilians trapped in the conflict.

In the small city of Toretsk, residents are struggling to survive, collecting rainwater for cleaning and washing up and fervently hoping for an end to the fighting.

“It’s bad. Very bad. Hopeless,” said Andriy Cheromushkin.

“You feel so helpless that you don’t know what you should do or shouldn’t do. Because if you want to do something, you need some money; and there is no money now.”

With the potentially pivotal battle for the Donbas under way, the US and its Nato allies are scrambling to get artillery and other heavy weaponry to that area in time to make a difference.

German defence minister Christine Lambrecht said her government decided on Monday to clear the delivery of Gepard self-propelled armoured anti-aircraft guns to Ukraine, though she did not give details.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has faced mounting pressure, including from within his governing coalition, to approve sending heavy weapons such as tanks and other armoured vehicles to Ukraine.

Mr Austin also noted yesterday that more than 30 allies and partners have joined the US in sending security assistance to Ukraine and more than five billion dollars’ worth of equipment has been committed.

The meeting in Germany comes after Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking on Russian television, warned weapons supplied by Western countries “will be a legitimate target”, and accused Nato of “pouring oil on the fire” with its support for Ukraine, according to a transcript on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website.

Mr Lavrov also warned against provoking a third world war and said the threat of a nuclear conflict “should not be underestimated”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has cited Nato’s expansion and the risk that Kyiv could join the alliance as reasons for his invasion.

UK Armed Forces Minister James Heappey rejected Mr Lavrov’s accusations of Nato aggression as “utter