JAKARTA - 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Russia has been increasing its strength in eastern Ukraine using troops withdrawn from northern Ukraine and neighboring Belarus, a close ally of Russia.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 command of the Ukrainian armed forces said Russia's main military force was concentrating on taking control of 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.
VOIR éGALEMENT:
It is known that Russian reinforcements have set the stage for a protracted battle that, according to military analysts, is sure to inflict heavy losses on both sides, as Russia tries to encircle Ukrainian fighters fighting to defend the Donbas region.
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