Donbas ‘destroyed’

Russian forces bombarded areas of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region from land and air yesterday, destroying houses in residential districts and killing a number of civilians, Ukrainian officials said.

"The Donbas is completely destroyed," President Zelensky said. "It is hell there - and that is not an exaggeration."

In the southern port city of Mariupol, scene of the war's bloodiest siege, the last heavily wounded fighters from hold-out Ukrainian units had been evacuated from their bastion, the Azovstal steelworks, their commander said.

The Kremlin meanwhile said it was bolstering its forces on Russia's western border, saying that moves by Finland and Sweden to join Nato were part of an increase in military threats.

As the war neared its three-month mark, the Ukrainian military said massive artillery barrages, including from multiple rocket-launchers, had hit civilian infrastructure in the Donbas region bordering Russia.

"The Russian army has started very intensive destruction of the town of Sievierodonetsk, the intensity of shelling doubled, they are shelling residential quarters, destroying house by house," Luhansk governor Serhiy Gaidai said via his Telegram channel.

"We do not know how many people died, because it is simply impossible to go through and look at every apartment," he said.

Earlier reports had put the civilian death toll in the Luhansk area of the Donbas at 13 in the past day, with 12 of them in Sievierodonetsk, which lies on a river about 110 km northwest of the regional capital.

In Moscow, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the "liberation of the Luhansk People's Republic" would be completed soon.

According to the British military intelligence, Russia is likely to further reinforce its operations in the Donbas once it finally secures Mariupol.

A senior Pentagon official said that the war could continue for a long time despite Kyiv's forces recapturing the Kharkiv region and their use of substantial US artillery supplies.

Western powers, who have strongly condemned Russia's actions and sought to isolate Moscow with an array of sanctions, were stepping up support for Ukraine.

Finance ministers and central bank governors of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies said yesterday they have mobilised $19.8 billion for Ukraine and pledged to give more financial support if needed.

The US Senate approved nearly $40 billion in new aid, by far the largest US aid package to date, reports Reuters.

The White House is also working to get advanced anti-ship missiles to Ukraine to help defeat Russia's naval blockade, which has largely stopped Ukraine's food exports.

Meanwhile, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he will speak to Finland today, while maintaining his opposition to Finnish and Swedish Nato membership bids over their history of hosting members of groups Ankara deems terrorists.

Finland and Sweden formally applied to join Nato on Wednesday, following Russia's February 24 invasion of Ukraine.

Almost a third of Ukraine's people have fled their homes, including more than 6 million who have left the country, while others remain trapped in cities pulverised by Russian bombardments.