A missile attack in the city of Brovary, near Kyiv, damaged infrastructure, Igor Sapozhko, mayor of the city said. Details about the extent of destruction or casualties weren't immediately known. Russians have been continuing in their relentless attacks on Sunday morning in the south-eastern region of Donbas. The Russian forces have surrounded the region in the north, east and the south. According to Ukrainian authorities, the forces plan to surround the territory and cut off supply lines in the west.
Since Russia invaded in February, 70 per cent of the population in the region has fled, local mayors told The Guardian. Donbas has been in conflict for eight years. By capturing the city of Donbas, Russia hopes to gain the favour of the Russian-speaking population there. One-third of the region is under the control f Russia-backed forces. Despite Russian forces suffering heavy casualties in Kyiv, capturing Donbas will define President Vladimir Putin's invasion.
Gaining control of Donbas would not only appal the West but salvage Putin's invasion attempts. The region's historic and cultural similarity to Russia has dictated much of its existence so far. Dotted with factories and coal fields, “The Soviet Union intensively developed the Donbas as an industrial centre," Markian Dobczansky, an associate at Harvard University's Ukrainian Research Institute told CNN. "It was a place that set the tempo of Soviet industrialization."
The Donbas region consists of two-thirds of ethnic Ukrainians and one-third of ethnic Russians. Donbas being located far from metropolitan centres has created a sense of disconnect and given rise to several local movements, where pro-Russian separatists have attempted to seize control following Moscow's annexation of Crimea.
