Ukraine says battle for Donbass has begun, series of massive explosions along the front lines

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on April 18 that Russian forces had begun the “battle of Donbass” after senior officials announced that Russia had launched new attacks along most of Ukraine’s eastern flank.

Ukrainian tanks in Donetsk on April 18 Reuters

At the end of March, Russia announced that it had completed the first phase of the operation and would withdraw its troops from the area near Kyiv and Chernihiv to focus on eastern Ukraine.

“A very large part of the entire Russian army is now focused on this offensive. No matter how many soldiers they send, we will fight. We will defend ourselves,” Zelensky said.

Reuters quoted Ukrainian media as saying a series of explosions occurred along the front lines in the Donetsk region, shelling occurred in Marinka, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. Besides, other explosions were also heard in Kharkiv, Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia provinces.

Earlier, Secretary of the Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov said that Russian forces on April 18 tried to break through Ukraine’s lines along almost the entire front line in Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv. Presidential chief of staff Andriy Yemak called this phase 2 of the war and assured the people that the armed forces could stop the advance.

The Guardian According to a senior US defense official, Russia has 76 battalion-level tactical groups in the Donbass region and southeastern Ukraine. Over the past several days, 11 more battalions have been added.

The Russian side has not announced anything about the opening of a new operation in eastern Ukraine. Russia’s RT station reported that the country’s Defense Ministry did not comment on any operations on April 18.