Russia focuses on Ukraine region of Donbas as it says campaign is going to plan

Mr Putin said Moscow “had no other choice” and that the invasion aimed to protect people in parts of eastern Ukraine and to “ensure Russia’s own security”.

Julia Surypak shows a position of Russian troops in a yard of her house in Yahidne, near of Dnipro, Ukraine (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP)

Russia vowed to continue its bloody offensive in Ukraine as the war neared its seventh week, as President Vladimir Putin insisted the campaign was going as planned despite a major withdrawal and significant losses.

Thwarted in their push toward the capital, Kyiv, Russian troops focused on the eastern region of Donbas, where Ukraine said it was investigating a claim that a poisonous substance had been dropped on its troops.