From Reuters:
“Ukraine says 'Battle of
Donbas' has begun, Russia pushing in east”
Russian forces launched a new offensive push
along most of Ukraine's eastern flank on Monday and the "Battle of
Donbas" has now begun, Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskiy and senior
officials said. Ukraine's army has been bracing for a new Russian assault on
its eastern flank since Moscow withdrew its forces from near Kyiv and from
Ukraine's north late last month in order to focus on an assault in the
Ukrainian region of Donbas. "We can now say that Russian forces have
started the battle of the Donbas, for which they have long prepared,"
Zelenskiy said in a video address.
Ukraine Security Council
Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said in televised comments: "They (Russian
forces) began their attempt to start the active phase this morning. "This
morning, along almost the entire front line of the (eastern) Donetsk, Luhansk
and Kharkiv regions, the occupiers attempted to break through our
defences," he said. Russia has been bulking up its forces in the east of
Ukraine using troops that it pulled out of Ukraine's north and neighbouring
Belarus, a close Russian ally.
In a post on Facebook, the
Ukrainian armed forces command said that Russia's main military force was
concentrating on taking control of the entirety of the Donetsk and Luhansk
regions that make up the swathe of land known as the Donbas. "The second
phase of the war has begun... Believe in our army, it is very strong," the
Ukrainian president's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, wrote on the Telegram
messaging app. Russia's reinforcements have set the stage for a protracted
battle that military analysts say is certain to inflict heavy losses on both
sides as the Russians try to encircle Ukraine's fighters dug in to defend the
Donbas region.
^ Here’s hoping Ukraine wins in
the East and South as they have in the North. ^
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