INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Ukraine pleaded with Western governments Wednesday to decide quickly on sending heavy weapons to shore up its faltering defenses, as Russia
Russia focuses its offensive on the Donbas region in an effort to secure a swathe of eastern and southern Ukraine.Moscow's forces have
intensified efforts to cut off beleaguered Ukrainian troops remaining in the city, and have said that they will open a corridor to allow
civilians to flee the besieged factory.Western defense ministers, including U.S
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, were meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, under pressure to step up weapons shipments to
when to expect the weapons?'" he said.'Critical situation'But NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, hosting the meeting of around 50 allies and
partners, warned it would take time to get the latest hardware into service with trained Ukrainian troops."Ukraine is really in a very
West has poured arms into Ukraine, but Kyiv complains it has only received a tenth of what it needs and is clamoring for heavier
weaponry.Stoltenberg said the allies had moved from sending older equipment to delivering "more long-range, more advanced air defense
systems, more advanced artillery, more heavy weapons."But he added "there will also be some time needed to just make the Ukrainians ready to
use and operate these systems."He said NATO members, such as the Netherlands, plan to offer training to Ukrainian forces to get them up to
summit in Madrid later this month.About 500 civilians are taking shelter in Severodonetsk's Azot chemical plant, according to the head of
the city's administration.The Russian Defense Ministry announced a humanitarian corridor would be established on Wednesday for evacuations
from the plant, saying it was "guided by the principles of humanity."Evacuees would be transported to the city of Svatovo in the
separatist-held region of Lugansk, Moscow said, urging those holding out at the plant to cease their "senseless resistance."There was no
Hanging in there in Donbas is crucial
Donbas is the key to deciding who will dominate in the coming weeks."After its February invasion, Russia was repelled from Kyiv, prompting
it to focus its offensive on Donbas, a mainly Russian-speaking region partly held by pro-Kremlin separatists since 2014.Capturing
Severodonetsk has become a key goal, as it would open the road to Sloviansk and another major city, Kramatorsk.NATO urges heavy
rising from the Azot factory in Severodonetsk and another area in the city.The Ukrainian military is using the high ground to exchange fire
with Russian forces fighting for control of Severodonetsk, just across the water.Lysychansk pensioner Valentina sat on the porch of her
ground-floor apartment, where she lives alone, her two walking sticks to hand."It's scary, very scary," said the 83-year-old former farm
transporting more weapons systems to the front, while specialist vehicles carried tanks for repair.In the town of Novodruzhesk, close to
Lysychansk, there was still a smell of burning and smoke from houses that had been destroyed by fire from shelling at the weekend."It's not
safe anywhere, it just depends on the time of day, that's all," said a soldier standing at a fire station with a skull logo on his
sleeve.The Kremlin, meanwhile, said it had not received a request from London to intervene in the case of two Britons sentenced to death by
pro-Moscow separatist authorities in eastern Ukraine.Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, along with Moroccan Brahim Saadun, were convicted of
acting as mercenaries for Ukraine by the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic.
