DW News published this video item, entitled “Is Ukraine losing the artillery war in Donbas? | Ukraine latest” – below is their description.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said defending the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine was “vital” as the outcome would indicate “who will dominate in the coming weeks” of the war. “Hanging in there in Donbas is crucial,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram in his daily address to the Ukrainian people. Russian forces have made recent advances in the Donbas and control most of the Luhansk region, with fighting especially intense in the city of Severodonetsk. Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Wednesday on Twitter that Russian forces were now in control of the city of Sievierodonetsk. Elements of Ukraine’s Armed Forces and several hundred civilians are sheltering in underground bunkers in Azot Chemical Plant in the city, the report added. Russia told Ukrainian forces holed up in the chemical plant to lay down their arms by early Wednesday.
Russia told Ukrainian forces deployed at a chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk to “stop their senseless resistance and lay down arms” from 8 a.m. Moscow time (0500 GMT),” on Wednesday, Mikhail Mizintsev, head of Russia’s National Defense Management Center told the Interfax news agency. Civilians would be allowed to leave through a humanitarian corridor, he added. Ukraine says more than 500 civilians are currently trapped alongside soldiers inside the Azot chemical factory where its forces have defied weeks of Russian bombardment and assaults that have reduced much of the embattled city of Sievierodonetsk to ruins.
The West needs to send Ukraine “more heavy weapons” as it battles Russia’s “brutal invasion,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said.
NATO was already “stepping up” deliveries and officials would be meeting in Brussels on Wednesday to coordinate further support, Stoltenberg said at a news conference. On Tuesday, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said the country had only received a fraction of the arms it had requested and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the West was “not doing enough” to support Kyiv. Meanwhile, seven NATO nations pledged their support for Sweden and Finland’s bids to join the military alliance. The support was voiced after a gathering at Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s official residence in The Hague, co-hosted by his Danish counterpart, Mette Frederiksen. The other leaders in attendance were Romania’s president and the prime ministers of Belgium, Poland, Portugal and Latvia.
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Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Western Europe. It is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest.
It covers an area of 30,689 km2 (11,849 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.5 million, making it the 22nd most densely populated country in the world and the 6th most densely populated country in Europe, with a density of 376 per square kilometre (970/sq mi). The capital and largest city is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, Bruges, Namur, and Leuven.
Legally, Belgium is a sovereign state and a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system. Its institutional organization is complex and is structured on both regional and linguistic grounds. It is divided into three highly autonomous regions: the Flemish Region in the north, Wallonia in the south, and the Brussels-Capital Region.
The Donbas or Donbass is a historical, cultural, and economic region in south-eastern Ukraine, and bordering Russia.
In March 2014, following the Euromaidan and 2014 Ukrainian revolution, the Donetsk and Luhansk “People’s Republics” took control of areas within the region with support from Russia. Russia recognised their independence in February 2022. No other country recognises the independence of the areas.
Before the war, the city of Donetsk (then the fifth largest city in Ukraine) had been considered the unofficial capital of the Donbas. Large cities (over 100,000 inhabitants) also included Luhansk, Mariupol, Makiivka, Horlivka, Kramatorsk, Sloviansk, Alchevsk, Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk. Now the city of Kramatorsk is the interim administrative centre of the Donetsk Oblast, whereas the interim centre of Luhansk Oblast is Sievierodonetsk.
Finland is a Northern European nation bordering Sweden, Norway and Russia. Its capital, Helsinki, occupies a peninsula and surrounding islands in the Baltic Sea. The Northern Lights can be seen from the country’s Arctic Lapland province, a vast wilderness with national parks and ski resorts.
Latvia is a country on the Baltic Sea between Lithuania and Estonia. Its landscape is marked by wide beaches as well as dense, sprawling forests. Latvia’s capital is Riga, home to notable wooden and art nouveau architecture, a vast Central Market and a medieval Old Town with St. Peter’s Church.
Moscow, on the Moskva River in western Russia, is the nation’s cosmopolitan capital. In its historic core is the Kremlin, a complex that’s home to the president and tsarist treasures in the Armoury. Outside its walls is Red Square, Russia’s symbolic center. It’s home to Lenin’s Mausoleum, the State Historical Museum’s comprehensive collection and St. Basil’s Cathedral, known for its colorful, onion-shaped domes.
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country located in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces, covering an area of 312,696 square kilometres, and has a largely temperate seasonal climate.
Poland’s capital and largest metropolis is Warsaw.
Portugal is a southern European country on the Iberian Peninsula, bordering Spain. Its location on the Atlantic Ocean has influenced many aspects of its culture: salt cod and grilled sardines are national dishes, the Algarve’s beaches are a major destination and much of the nation’s architecture dates to the 1500s–1800s, when Portugal had a powerful maritime empire.
Romania is a southeastern European country known for the forested region of Transylvania, ringed by the Carpathian Mountains. Its preserved medieval towns include Sighişoara, and there are many fortified churches and castles, notably clifftop Bran Castle, long associated with the Dracula legend. Bucharest, the country’s capital, is the site of the gigantic, Communist-era Palatul Parlamentului government building.
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country located in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east, and from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea in the south.
Russia spans more than one-eighth of the Earth’s inhabited land area, stretching eleven time zones, and bordering 16 sovereign nations. Moscow is the country’s capital.
The Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991 and since 1993 Russia been governed as a federal semi-presidential republic. Russia is a major great power, with the world’s second-most powerful military, and the fourth-highest military expenditure. As a recognised nuclear-weapon state, the country possesses the world’s largest stockpile of nuclear weapons.
