Ukraine: What happened today, Tuesday, April 19?

Ukrainian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has said Russia is 'methodically' carrying out its plan to 'liberate' Donetsk and Luhansk, provinces which Moscow demands Kyiv cede fully to Russian-backed separatists

Russian military vehicles move on a highway in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces near Mariupol, Ukraine. Picture: AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov

Russia launched an all-out assault on the east of Ukraine on Tuesday, seizing its first town after unleashing thousands of troops in what Ukraine has described as the Battle of the Donbas, a campaign to take control of two provinces.

Ukrainian officials insist their troops can withstand the new assault, which they said began overnight.