A local man rides a bicycle past a charred armored car during the Ukraine-Russia conflict in the separatist-controlled town of Volnovakha in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, March 15, 2022. REUTERS / Alexander Ermochenko
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April 18 (Reuters) – Russian forces launched new offensive pressure on most of Ukraine’s eastern flank on Monday, and the “battle for Donbass” has already begun, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and senior officials said.
Ukraine’s army has been preparing for a new Russian attack on its eastern flank since Moscow withdrew its troops near Kyiv and northern Ukraine late last month to focus on an attack in Ukraine’s Donbass region.
“Now we can say that the Russian forces have started the battle of Donbass, for which they have been preparing for a long time,” Zelensky said in a video message.
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The Secretary of the Security Council of Ukraine Alexei Danilov said in television comments: “They (Russian forces) began their attempt to begin the active phase this morning.
“This morning, along almost the entire front line of the (eastern) Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv regions, the occupiers tried to break through our defenses,” he said.
Russia is increasing its forces in eastern Ukraine, using troops it has withdrawn from northern Ukraine and neighboring Belarus, a close ally of Russia.
In a Facebook post, the Ukrainian Armed Forces Command said Russia’s main military force was concentrating on taking control of the entire Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which make up the land known as Donbass.
“The second phase of the war has begun … Believe in our army, it is very strong,” Ukrainian President Andriy Ermak’s chief of staff wrote in a telegram.
Russia’s reinforcements have paved the way for a protracted battle that military analysts say will surely inflict heavy losses on both sides as the Russians try to encircle Ukrainian fighters dug in to defend the Donbass region.
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Report by Maria Starkova in Lviv; edited by Jonathan Oatis and Sandra Mahler
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