Russia cuts off gas to Finland amid wider push into Ukraine’s east

KYIV, Ukraine — Russian troops pressed their offensive into the Donbas region on Saturday, aiming to encircle the easternmost point of Ukrainian control in what one official said would be a repeat of Moscow’s assault on the beleaguered city of Mariupol.

Meanwhile, Moscow cut off natural gas exports to Finland, and the Russian Defense Ministry said it destroyed a consignment of U.S.- and European-supplied weapons meant for Ukrainian fighters in the Donbas.

Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai said Saturday that Russian troops were throwing “all their forces and efforts” into assaulting Severodonetsk in Luhansk province, aiming to cut off the main supply route to the city. Six people were killed and three others wounded in Russian attacks on Severodonetsk, Haidai said, along with at least two others killed in shelling on neighboring towns.

“The Russians are destroying Severodonetsk, like Mariupol. The enemy’s plans