A view shows a tank, which was destroyed during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine May 20, 2022. (REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko) KYIV/OSLO — Russia stopped providing gas to Finland in an escalation of a row over energy payments with the West on Saturday and intensified an offensive in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. After ending weeks of resistance by the last Ukrainian fighters in the strategic southeastern city of Mariupol, Russia is waging what appears to be a major offensive in Luhansk, one of two provinces in Donbas. Russian-backed separatists already controlled swathes of territory in Luhansk and the neighboring Donetsk province before the Feb. 24 invasion, but Moscow wants to seize the last remaining Ukrainian-held territory in Donbas. The end of fighting in Mariupol, the biggest city Russia has captured so far, could be crucial to that ambition and gives Russian President Vladimir Putin a rare victory after a series of setbacks … [Read more...] about Russia cuts gas flow to Finland, intensifies push for Donbas