Russian forces have launched their long-anticipated offensive in eastern Ukraine, attempting to push through defences along almost the entire front line early on Monday in what Ukrainian officials described as the second phase of the war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia had begun the “Battle of Donbas” in the east on Monday and a “very large part of the entire Russian army is now focused on this offensive”.
“No matter how many Russian troops they send there, we will fight. We will defend ourselves,” he said in a video address.
Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, assured Ukrainians their forces could hold off the offensive in “the second phase of the war”.
“Believe in our army, it is very strong,” he said.
Ukrainian media reported a series of explosions, some powerful, along the front line in the Donetsk region, with shelling taking place in Marinka, Slavyansk and Kramatorsk.
Air raid sirens were also going off in main centres near the front line.
Reuters was not immediately able to verify the reports.
Ukraine’s top security official, Oleksiy Danilov, said Russian forces attempted to break through Ukrainian defences “along almost the entire front line of Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv regions”.
Donbas has been the focal point of Russia’s campaign to destabilise Ukraine, starting in 2014 when the Kremlin used proxies to set up two separatist “people’s republics” in the ex-Soviet state. It is also home to much of Ukraine’s industrial wealth, including coal and steel.
Russia’s defence ministry said it had hit hundreds of military targets in Ukraine overnight.
