Ukraine pleads for western help as Russian advance continues in Donbas

‘If you really care for Ukraine, weapons, weapons and weapons again,’ says Ukraine’s foreign minister

A young boy sits in front of a damaged building after a strike in Kramatorsk in the eastern Ukranian region of Donbas (AFP via Getty Images)

Russian forces pounded the last Ukrainian strongholds as they surrounded the towns of Sievierodonetsk and nearby Lysychansk in the Donbas, officials said on Friday.

As many as 1,500 people have been killed in fighting in the separatist-controlled eastern Ukrainian province, officials added, as Kyiv made an urgent plea for more weapons from western allies.

Ukraine’s foreign minister warned that without a new injection of foreign weapons, its forces would not be able to stop Russia from seizing Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk.