The Latest Breaking News from Donbas

Russian troops have begun the battle for the Donbas, Ukrainian president says in video address

Ukraine says it will be able to repel Russia’s attacks in the east

Pro-Russian separatist regions in Donbas declared independence from Kyiv in 2014

Vladimir Putin's forces have taken control of the city Kreminna in eastern Ukraine

Russia ratcheted up its battle for control of Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland, intensifying assaults on cities and towns along a front hundreds of miles long in what officials on both sides described as a new phase of the war. After a Russian push to the capital failed to overrun the…

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The Donbas region was one of the key points for Putin back when the "special military operation" was ordered on February 24

Footage appearing to be of heavy Russian shelling in the east of Ukraine has been shared online while Ukrainian officials have said there have been powerful explosions as the 'battle for Donbas' has started

This live blog is now closed, you can find our latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war in our new live blog

Russia's forces carried out dozens of air strikes in eastern Ukraine overnight after Ukrainian officials said Moscow had launched a major offensive, the defence ministry said on Tuesday. Read our live blog to see how all the day's events unfolded.

After days of regrouping and reinforcing, the Russian military began a new and potentially climactic phase of the war in Ukraine