Ukraine war: Russia forces continue advance into Donbas region

Russia claims its forces have now completely captured a key town in eastern Ukraine after days of fighting – while fierce street battles are taking place in another strategic city, Severodonetsk as Moscow tries to advance further into Donbas.

Amid a flurry of telephone diplomacy –  Boris Johnson promised Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the West was working hard to break what he called Russia’s “despicable blockade” of Ukrainian ports and avert a global food crisis.