(Reuters) – Russian forces launched a brand new offensive push alongside most of Ukraine’s japanese flank on Monday and the “Battle of Donbas” has now begun, Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskiy and senior officers mentioned.
Ukraine’s military has been bracing for a brand new Russian assault on its japanese flank since Moscow withdrew its forces from close to Kyiv and from Ukraine’s north late final month in order to concentrate on an assault in the Ukrainian area of Donbas.
“We can now say that Russian forces have began the battle of the Donbas, for which they’ve lengthy ready,” Zelenskiy mentioned in a video tackle.
Ukraine Security Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov mentioned in televised feedback: “They (Russian forces) started their try to begin the energetic section this morning.
“This morning, alongside virtually the whole entrance line of the (japanese) Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv areas, the occupiers tried to interrupt by way of our defences,” he mentioned.
Russia has been bulking up its forces in the east of Ukraine utilizing troops that it pulled out of Ukraine’s north and neighbouring Belarus, an in depth Russian ally.
In a submit on Facebook, the Ukrainian armed forces command mentioned that Russia’s most important army pressure was concentrating on taking management of the whole lot of the Donetsk and Luhansk areas that make up the swathe of land generally known as the Donbas.
“The second section of the struggle has begun… Believe in our military, it is extremely robust,” the Ukrainian president’s chief of workers, Andriy Yermak, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Russia’s reinforcements have set the stage for a protracted battle that army analysts say is definite to inflict heavy losses on each side because the Russians attempt to encircle Ukraine’s fighters dug in to defend the Donbas area.
(Reporting by Maria Starkova in Lviv; modifying by Jonathan Oatis and Sandra Maler)
