TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY Jonathan BROWN and Mykola ZAVGORODNIY
Ukrainian servicemen of the 43rd Artillery Brigade operate self-propelled artillery 2S7 Pion in an undisclosed area, in the Pokrovsk district, the eastern Donetsk region, on August 8, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The industrial Donbas region has long been a key prize for the Kremlin. A decade ago, Vladimir Putin fostered a rebellion by separatists who seized swathes of the industrial territory in battles that cost thousands of lives. After failing to capture the capital Kyiv with its February 2022 invasion, Russia set its sights on wresting all of Donbas, Ukraine's mining heartland. (Photo by Roman PILIPEY / AFP)