Natalia Zinets & Jonathan Landay

KYIV/SLATYNE (Reuters) – Ukraine’s Donbas industrial region has been destroyed. President Volodymyr Zeleskiy stated that the US and other world leaders pledged billions to support Kyiv.

Russia’s retreat from Ukraine’s capital has seen it use massed artillery, armour, and machine guns to attempt to seize additional territory in Donbas. It includes Donetsk-Luhansk regions, which Moscow asserts on behalf of separatists.

“The occupiers try to exert more pressure. Zelenskiy stated that it is “hell there” in an address on Thursday night.

“(There are) continuous strikes on Odesa, the Odesa Region and on central Ukraine’s cities. He said that the Donbas was completely destroyed.

Moscow refers to the invasion as a “special military operations” in order to exterminate fascists from Ukraine. Kyiv and Western allies claim that this is an absurd pretext for a unprovoked war.

According to the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, Russia intensified its assault and offensive operations in Donetsk.

According to Pavlo Kyrylenko, the regional governor of Donetsk, five civilians died in Donetsk Thursday. He said that the enemy was destroying civil infrastructure, even those located far away from the frontline.

Reuters couldn’t immediately confirm the information. Moscow claims that it is not targeting civilians.

Russia has achieved its greatest victory since invasion. Kyiv announced that it had given its order to its garrison at a Mariupol steelworks to surrender after an extended siege.

Russian forces, however, have been driven back from the outskirts Kharkiv, the second-largest Ukrainian city. Ukraine has claimed that it captured 23 settlements in and around Kharkiv over the past two week.

Nearing the end of the invasion, Ukraine agreed that the Group of Seven richest nations would provide $18.4 Billion to cover its expenses. The money was said by Ukraine to speed up the victory against Russia, and it is just as crucial as the weapons that you supply.

Janet Yellen (US Treasury Secretary) told reporters, “The message was: ‘We support Ukraine. “We’re going together with all the resources they require to overcome this.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal wrote on Twitter (NYSE : ) “Support from partners will speed up our victory… We will prevail, despite Russia’s attempts to ruin our economy!

According to the United States, $100 million was also authorized for Ukraine’s additional equipment, arms and supplies. Officials have confirmed that the White House plans to give advanced anti-ship weapons to Ukrainian fighters as part of its efforts to defeat Russia’s naval blockade.

Five foreign vice-presidents from Russia’s Rosneft resigned as a result of EU sanctions that forbid European citizens, or Russians, living in Europe, to work in the company, sources claimed.

While the EU stated that it was looking at ways to use the assets of Russian oligarchs frozen for reconstruction purposes in Ukraine, the United States is not ruling out the possibility of imposing sanctions against countries which purchase Russian oil.

NATO DIVISION

The West has also shown its divisions with NATO member Turkey opposing Sweden/Finland joining the alliance. A move like this would reverse the decades-old pattern of non-alignment and military strength in Europe’s largest security shake-up since decades.

Ankara claims that the Nordic countries harbour Kurdish militants. However, Joe Biden (the U.S. president) and European leaders stated they are confident Turkey will be addressed.

Biden, hosting Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö at the White House, told reporters: “I think we’re going to be OK.”

Niinisto claimed that Finland would support Turkey’s safety and added: “We condemn all forms of terrorism, and are actively engaged to combat it.”

Mariupol: The final result of Europe’s most bloody battle for over a decade has been elusive. There is also uncertainty about the fates of many Ukrainian defenders.

Moscow announced on Thursday that 1 730 Ukrainian fighters surrendered, of which 771 within the 24 hour period.

Officials from Ukraine, which have requested a prisoner exchange, declined to respond, claiming it might endanger rescue efforts.

Sviatoslav Palmar, deputy chief of the Azov Regment protecting the steelworks released an 18-second clip in which, he claimed that he and the other commanders were still within the plant’s territory.

He said, “An operation is underway. The details of which I won’t disclose”

International Committee of the Red Cross, based in Switzerland, claimed it had registered hundreds of Russian prisoners at the plant currently held by Russia. However it did not give a specific number.

Russian-backed separatists controlling the region claimed that nearly half of their fighters still remained in the steelworks where they had been protected from Russian bombardment over weeks.

Denis Pushilin said to the Solovyov Live television channel that more than half of those who had laid their arms down have been able to do so.

His words were that wounded people received medical care, while the fit ones were sent to prison and given good treatment.

Russia claims it did not agree to the prisoner swap. Moscow claims that the Azov regiment, with its far-right roots, is Nazis. It also says it must be prosecuted.