Russia begins offensive in eastern Ukraine
Russia has launched its long-foreshadowed eastern Ukraine offensive, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Monday, vowing that his people will continue to fight and “defend ourselves.”
“Now we can already state that the Russian troops have begun the battle for the Donbas, for which they have been preparing for a long time,” Zelenskyy announced Monday in a video address, stating that a significant portion of the Kremlin’s army was concentrated in the effort.
He added: “No matter how many Russian troops are driven there, we will fight. We will defend ourselves. We will do it every day.”
In recent days, Russia has reinforced its invading force in Ukraine, adding about 11 battalion tactical groups, a senior U.S. Defense Department official said Monday.
The reinforcements, as many as 11,000 troops, came as Russia continued to build up for its offensive to take control of eastern Ukraine, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe intelligence assessments.
Russia continues to move more heavy artillery, helicopters and command and control units into the region as heavy fighting continues, including near the strategic city of Izyum, the official said.
In all, there about 76 Russian battalion tactical groups in Ukraine. About 12 of those battalions are engaged in heavy fighting around the besieged Black Sea port city of Mariupol, which remains contested and isolated from other Ukrainian forces, the official said.
Russian bombers have also launched long-range cruise missiles at Kyiv and Lviv, the official said. The targets appeared to be military facilities, but the regional governor in Lviv said at least seven people were killed and 11 more, including a child, were injured.
“Many of the Russian strikes we’ve seen in recent days have targeted military installations, military adjacent installations,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said at a Monday news conference. “But the fact is that Russia, more than just launching an invasion, more than just launching a war, is undertaking a campaign of terror, a campaign of brutality, a campaign of despicable aggression against the people of Ukraine.”
As part of the $800 million military assistance package approved last week, U.S. troops will begin training Ukrainian forces on Army and Marine howitzer artillery. The training will take place outside of Ukraine.
There were also lifeboats seen after Ukraine sank the warship Moskva last week, a 600-foot guided missile cruiser, the official said. It’s unclear how many sailors survived the attack.
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Latest developments:
►Germany’s employers and unions joined together in opposing an immediate European Union ban on natural gas imports from Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. They say a boycott would lead to factory shutdowns and job losses in the bloc’s largest economy.
►Ukraine took another step in its bid for European Union membership, completing a questionnaire that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen handed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier this month.
►For a second day, Ukraine’s government halted civilian evacuations. Government officials said Russian forces were targeting humanitarian corridors with shelling and blocking routes.
►Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Monday that the city risks losing about 200,000 jobs as foreign companies leave the country. Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, dismissed the impact of Western sanctions, saying his country “has withstood the unprecedented pressure.”
►Russia is creating separatist states and introducing the Russian ruble in occupied parts of Ukraine’s Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday.
►The Russian military forcibly removed over 100 children from Mariupol, many taken from hospitals without parents, the Crimean Human Rights Group reported, citing Mariupol’s mayoral adviser Petro Andryushchenko.
At least 1,000 sheltering in Mariupol steel plant amid bombing: reports
About 1,000 civilians are hiding in a makeshift shelter inside the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, the southeastern Ukrainian port city that has been the site of the war’s heaviest fighting.
Reports from CNN and Reuters say Russian forces have been advancing on the plant and fights have broken out on the streets surrounding it.
Those sheltering include women, children and elderly, Myhailo Vershynin, the chief of the Mariupol patrol police, told CNN. He added while the plant had reserves of food and water, supplies were quickly running out.
The New York Times reported Ukrainian forces were also holed up in the structure, one of the last strongholds held by Ukrainians in the city. Russia has concentrated on taking Mariupol for its strategic positioning as…