Battle for Donbas begins, Russian forces launch assault in east, says Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy stated Russian forces launched a brand new offensive push alongside most of Ukraine’s japanese flank on Monday, signalling the start of the ‘Battle of Donbas.’

A Ukrainian serviceman fires an anti-tank weapon throughout an train within the Donetsk area, japanese Ukraine (AP photograph)

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 Zelenskyy and senior officers stated.

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 so as to give attention to an assault within the Ukrainian area of Donbas.

“We can now say that Russian forces have started the battle of the Donbas, for which they have long prepared,” Zelenskyy stated in a video tackle.

Ukraine Security Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov stated in televised feedback: “They (Russian forces) began their attempt to start the active phase this morning.

READ: As Russia shifts focus from Kyiv, Ukraine fights on a new front outside Donbas | Ground Report

“This morning, alongside nearly your entire entrance line of the (japanese) Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv areas, the occupiers tried to interrupt by 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 part of the struggle has begun… Believe in our military, it is rather sturdy,” the Ukrainian president’s chief of employees, Andriy Yermak, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Russia’s reinforcements have set the stage for a protracted battle that navy analysts say is definite to inflict heavy losses on either side because the Russians attempt to encircle Ukraine’s fighters dug in to defend the Donbas area.