Ukraine Russia Conflict: Russia's full capture of Donbas region ‘within reach’, says former army chief

Vladimir Putin's full capture of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region is "within reach", a former army chief has said.  Lord Richard Dannatt, a retired British Army officer and crossparty peer, told the news agency. His comments came as Ukraine ramped up calls for more weapons from the West and the EU agreed a watered-down package of oil and gas sanctions against the Kremlin.

'Their more limited objective of controlling the Donbas is within their reach.'

Lord Richard Dannatt says the Russian military's effort to control Luhansk and Donetsk is "costing them dearly, in terms of manpower, ammunition and equipment". #KayBurleyhttps://t.co/lmZNHra7Vppic.twitter.com/2bXIMpaPge

— Sky News (@SkyNews) May 31, 2022

Meanwhile, Russia on 24th February launched its invasion of Ukraine. And, according to the latest updates, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy earlier lamented the delay in EU leaders imposing heavier sanctions against Vladimir Putin. “The pause in agreeing on new sanctions in Europe has been too long,” he said. Zelenskiy claims that Russia is blocking the export of 22m tons of grain from Ukraine’s ports and warned it posed a threat of famine. “Russia’s blockade of our exports is destabilising the situation on a global scale,” he said in his latest national address. Also, the latest sanctions package also includes removing access to Swift payments for Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank; banning three more Russian state-owned broadcasters; and further sanctions against “individuals responsible for war crimes in Ukraine”.