<span style="color: #222222;">Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Russia has launched an assault to seize the eastern Donbas region. Moscow bombarded cities with rocket and artillery fire yesterday and in a video address, Mr. Zelensky said, the battle for the Donbas has begun.<br />''<br />''Ukraine's top security official Oleksiy Danilov said that Russia tried to break through Ukrainian front lines in the region. The offensive has been long-expected after Russia failed to seize Kyiv. Russia initially appeared to want to capture major Ukrainian cities and topple the government. But, after facing stiff resistance, Russian defence officials said that its main objectives in the first stage of the operation had been generally accomplished and its forces were moved from areas around the capital.</span><br />