The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the start of the second phase of the military operation and the launch of a massive air strike across eastern Ukraine.
Department of Defense Russia today said high-precision anti-aircraft missiles hit 13 Ukrainian positions in Donbass regionwhile other air strikes hit 60 military assets, including targets in towns close to the eastern front line.
A total of 1,260 military targets along the more than 480 km front line were hit with rockets, rockets and artillery on the first day of the second phase of the campaign. This is one of the largest Russian air strikes since the launch of the military operation in Ukraine on April 22.
Ukrainian forces also confirmed that the fighting was heating up along hundreds of kilometers of the eastern front, just hours after the President Volodymyr Zelensky Russia has begun a major offensive in Donbass, Ukraine’s industrial heartland.
“Russian forces have intensified their offensive along the entire demarcation line,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said this morning.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also confirmed that “a new phase is beginning and I am sure this is a very important moment in the whole special operation”. However, he insisted Russia has no plans for regime change in Ukraine and is only targeting military infrastructure.
A ruined building after fighting in the city of Mariupol, southern Ukraine on April 18. Image: Reuters.
Before the offensive, the Ukrainian authorities called on the people of the region Donbass evacuate to the west of the country. President Zelensky affirmed that his forces will fight to the end, no matter how large the Russian forces are facing.
Lugansk region governor Serhiy Gaidai says Russian forces have taken control of the city Kremlin in the east, the first objective fell in the new campaign phase.
City Kharkiv Eastern Ukraine has continued to suffer from non-stop shelling since April 17. Earlier, mayor Igor Terekhov said that Russian shelling was concentrated on the outskirts of Ukraine’s second largest city.
City officials said at least three people were killed and 21 injured in shelling on the city today.
In Lvivin western Ukraine, local officials say at least seven people have been killed and eight injured in fresh air strikes on the city, once seen as a safe haven for people fleeing conflict. .
The United Nations refugee agency estimates more than 4.9 million people have left Ukraine after Russia launched the operation, an increase of more than 46,000 from a day ago. In addition to refugees, the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that about 7.1 million people have lost their homes in Ukraine.
Russia also announced the destruction of an arsenal near Lviv filled with weapons recently supplied to Ukraine by the West.
In southern Ukraine, Russian troops and eastern separatists continue to step up their efforts to attack the last stronghold in the port city. Mariupol. Russian forces continue to call on the Ukrainian gunmen entrenched in the Azovstal factory to surrender and announce the opening of a humanitarian corridor for those who agree to lay down their arms.
Ramzan Kadyrov, leader of the Russian republic of Chechnya, announced that Russian forces will take full control of the Azovstal factory on April 19. However, Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the military junta of the Donetsk region, said fighting continued in Mariupol.
Control of Donbass and the port city of Mariupol would allow Moscow to create a land corridor from the Crimean peninsula to eastern Ukraine, while also controlling much of Kiev’s coastline.
“They look for weaknesses in our defenses. As soon as they find them, they will attack them,” said Oleksiy Arestovich, an adviser to Mr. Zelensky.
The first shipments of a new $800 million US military aid package began arriving at the Ukrainian border this week. Washington held an online meeting with its allies today to discuss the conflict, even as it increasingly incites Russian outrage.
“The US and Western countries are doing everything to prolong the war,” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said today, pointing to the growing volume of weapons that the US and its allies supply to Ukraine.
Moscow announced today expulsion 15 Dutch diplomats and gave them two weeks to leave Russia. Moscow also set a similar deadline for 21 Belgian diplomats. Four Austrian diplomats were also asked to leave Russia by April 24.
Russia said its decision to expel diplomats from three European countries was in retaliation for similar measures taken by members of its diplomatic mission.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has criticized Russia’s new offensive in eastern Ukraine and called on all sides to agree to a four-day humanitarian ceasefire, starting April 21, on the occasion of Easter. of Orthodoxy.
“Instead of celebrating a new life, Easter this year coincides with Russia’s new campaign in eastern Ukraine,” Guterres said. “The high concentration of forces and firepower makes this battle more violent, bloody and destructive.”
Thanh Tam (According to AFP, CNN)
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