As Russia Intensifies Attack on Ukraine’s Donbas, Volunteers Try to Help Civilians in Leveled Cities

We get an update on the Donbas region of Ukraine, where Russian forces are now focused. Russia has backed a separatist movement in the Donbas since 2014 and used protecting the Russian-speaking population there as a justification for its invasion in February. Democracy Now! speaks with Brian Milakovsky, who lived in the Donbas town of Severodonetsk before he evacuated to Croatia in January and is now fundraising for people trying to flee Russian attacks. The Russian obsession with annexing the Donbas region is part of a “fanatical belief that the East must be a part of Russia,” says Makovsky. “They’re leveling these cities,” and “it’s not clear for what purpose except for bolstering their narrative,” he adds.

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