Ukraine says 'Battle of Donbas' has begun, Russia pushing in east
A local resident rides a bicycle past a charred armoured vehicle during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the separatist-controlled town of Volnovakha in the Donetsk region, Ukraine March 15, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
April 18 (Reuters) - Russian forces launched a new offensive push along most of Ukraine's eastern flank on Monday and the "Battle of Donbas" has now begun, Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskiy and senior officials said.
Ukraine's army has been bracing for a new Russian assault on its eastern flank since Moscow withdrew its forces from near Kyiv and from Ukraine's north late last month in order to focus on an assault in the Ukrainian region of Donbas.
"We can now say that Russian forces have started the battle of the Donbas, for which they have long prepared," Zelenskiy said in a video address.
Ukraine Security Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said in televised comments: "They (Russian forces) began their attempt to start the active phase this morning.
"This morning, along almost the entire front line of the (eastern) Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv regions, the occupiers attempted to break through our defences," he said.
Russia has been bulking up its forces in the east of Ukraine using troops that it pulled out of Ukraine's north and neighbouring Belarus, a close Russian ally.
In a post on Facebook, the Ukrainian armed forces command said that Russia's main military force was concentrating on taking control of the entirety of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that make up the swathe of land known as the Donbas.
"The second phase of the war has begun... Believe in our army, it is very strong," the Ukrainian president's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Russia's reinforcements have set the stage for a protracted battle that military analysts say is certain to inflict heavy losses on both sides as the Russians try to encircle Ukraine's fighters dug in to defend the Donbas region.
Who's the invader in Donbass?
ReplyDeleteIt used to be a straightforward Ukraine civil war with Ukrainian nationalist army fighting the Donbass separationists.
With the declaration of the independence of Lugansk & Donetsk, recognised by the Russia, the situation has turned turtle.
The Ukraine nationalists r now the invaders. Together with their past 8yrs of criminally atrocities done on the Donbass populace, the sentiment of revolt has been very strong against the Ukrainian nationalists.
With the now heavy military inputs of Russia, the fight is going to be one-sided in favour of the separatists.
Just remember, the Ukrainian nationalists have been trying hard to crush the revolt for the past 8yrs w/o any successes - indicating the tough & difficult war facing the nationalists. & that's ONLY with Russia's indirect supports of weapons.
The remaining nationalists in Donbass would be toasted - with the normal Ukrainian conscripts, dying & surrendering in masses, under the current Russian encirclements of land & air.
The only remaining fighting troop would be the scattered die-hard nazified Azov soldiers. & they would be eliminated w/o mercy as their deeply indoctrinated f*cked nationalism WOULDN'T allow them to surrender to a group of people they despised!
Already these nationalists r in dire foods & HW supplies & fighting conditions, especially in Mariupol azovstal steelwork underground labyrinth complex! Multiple escapades to break through the Russian blockages have failed miserably. The Russian can be humane by just continuing the islandisation of the steelwork. Those remaining underground would soon dying of hunger & thirst!
Yup, the Russian Steam Roller Army is coming.
ReplyDeleteThe Russian Army still fights largely the same way it fought in World War II against the Wehrmacht.
Any obstacle it encounters will be subjected to Monstrous (wakakaka) artillery barrages to destroy the defending forces , followed by massive armoured assaults.
The Ukrainians, with flexible assymetric tactics, armed with advanced portable ATGWs have been exacting Very heavy costs on Russian armor, as well as hitting Russia's thin supply routes inside Ukraine, but they have been begging for ways to counter the gigantic Russian artillery barrages.
Last week Timid Biden finally agreed to provide Ukraine with the longest-range American artillery, 155mm as well as anti-artillery Radar and computers. I worry it may bee too late.
Wakakakakaka…
Delete"Any obstacle it encounters will be subjected to Monstrous (wakakaka) artillery barrages to destroy the defending forces , followed by massive armoured assaults"
Mfer, have u seen any such military moves utilized by the Russian hears in Ukraine?
Oooop… u have confused yr idol's scorched earth bombing tactics with the Russians!
BTW, 1st how soon can those 'heavy' artilleries reaching hands of the Ukrainian nationalists before they r been taken out by the precision missile attacks?
2nd, how many of those weaponry sent to the front lines r been sold through middlemen to 3rd party?
Well, keep to yr farts, otherwise u have would have nothing to ease it boring daily existence!
Read ALL these western MSM with a very big pinch of salt!
ReplyDeleteBy now, the missile attacks on the western Ukraine city of Lviv have been splashed through out the Western media.
Cruise missiles killed seven people and injured at least 11 people in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv as Russia stepped up its bombing campaign, bringing wartime death to a city that had avoided it.
Three hit military infrastructure facilities and a tire shop.
Most of the MSM news JUST shown the destroyed car repair/tire workshop as the expense of the missile attacks.
Yet there is a catch!
The truth is that the 4th precision cruised missile fired from Russia actually targeting the railway line at the SW side of that workshop. This railway links Lviv with the Przemysl Glowny in Poland & is the main military supply lifeline of the Ukraine nationalists from the NATO!
No video & or picture of the destructed railway has been shown. Instead the destroyed workshop is been used as an example of the russia wantonly targeting civilian structure in missile attacks!