“The second phase of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is ‘starting now,'” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a television interview seen in India on Tuesday, stressing that Russia’s goal is “the complete liberation of the Donetsk and Luhansk republics.” His comments came hours after Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said Russia’s offensive in the east had begun.
“Russian troops have begun the battle for Donbass,” Zelensky said in a video message late Monday. Now “a significant part of the entire Russian army” is concentrated in this offensive.
Ukraine’s eastern Donbass is predominantly Russian-speaking. Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces there for the past eight years and have declared two independent republics recognized by Russia.
In recent weeks, after his attempt to storm Kyiv failed, the Kremlin said its main goal in the war was to take over the Donbass region. After withdrawing from the capital, Russia began to regroup and reinforce its ground forces to the east for a full offensive.
“No matter how many Russian troops are sent there, we will fight,” Zelensky said. “We will defend ourselves. We will do it every day.”
Moscow said it had hit 1,200 targets in Ukraine overnight and told the latest Ukrainian forces defending the giant Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol that if they surrendered before noon, they would “save their lives”.
Ukrainian troops, who had been defending the city for seven weeks, ignored previous similar proposals. The Azovstal plant, which covers an area of about 4 square miles, is the last big Ukrainian pocket of resistance in Mariupol. Mariupol is a strategic port on the Sea of Azov. Its capture is important for Russia because it stands in the way of a land bridge to Crimea.
Earlier on Tuesday, Eduard Basurin, a spokesman for Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas region, said assault groups had moved to Azovstal in an attempt to eradicate Ukrainian troops there after bombings and artillery shelling.
Reuters, meanwhile, reported that the governor of the eastern Luhansk region said Russian troops had taken the town of Kremina. If true, Kremina will look like the first city to be taken over by the new Russian offensive.
“Kremina is under the control of the Orcs (Russians). They entered the city. Our defenders had to withdraw. “They have established themselves in new positions and continue to fight with the Russian army,” Sergei Gaidai said at a briefing. according to Reuters.
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