Russia Begins Another Stage Of Special Military Operations In Ukraine, Foreign Minister Lavrov: A Very Important Moment

Menlu Russia Sergei Lavrov. (Wikimedia Commons/Kremlin.ru. Press Service of the President of the Russian Federation)

JAKARTA - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his military had started a new stage of special military operations in Ukraine, to liberate the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR).

On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the recognition of the sovereignty of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Lugansk People's Republic. Russia recognized the Donbas republic by the constitution of the DPR and LPR within the boundaries of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in early 2014.

"Another stage of this operation (in eastern Ukraine) is starting and I believe this will be a very important moment of this whole special operation", Foreign Minister Lavrov said in an interview with the India Today television channel, as reported by TASS April 19.

As reported earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and senior Ukrainian officials said Russian troops had started an offensive in the east of the country, calling it the 'battle of Donbas' that had begun on Monday.

The Ukrainian army has been anticipating a war in the east, following the withdrawal of Russian troops from near Kyiv and northern Ukraine late last month, to focus its attacks on the Donbas region.

"We can now say the Russian troops have started the battle in Donbas, which they have been preparing for a long time", President Zelensky said in a video speech.

Separately, Ukrainian Security Council Secretary, Oleksiy Danilov, said in televised comments: "They (Russian troops) started their efforts to start the active phase this morning.

"This morning, in almost all the front lines of the Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kharkiv regions, the invaders tried to break through our defenses", he said.

Russia has been increasing its strength in eastern Ukraine using troops withdrawn from northern Ukraine and neighboring Belarus, a close ally of Russia.

In a Facebook post, the Ukrainian armed forces command said Russia's main military force was concentrating on capturing the entire Donetsk and Lugansk regions that make up the swath of land known as the Donbas.

"The second phase of the war has begun. Trust in our army, it is very strong", wrote Ukraine's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, on the messaging app Telegram.