World News: Russia launches ‘Battle of Donbas’ on eastern front, Ukraine says – Gulf Digital News

World News: Russia launches ‘Battle of Donbas’ on eastern front, Ukraine says – Gulf Digital News

LVIV/KYIV: Russian forces have launched their anticipated offensive in eastern Ukraine, attempting to push through defences along almost the entire front line early on Tuesday in what Ukrainian officials described as the second phase of the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia had begun the "Battle of Donbas" in the east and a "very large part of the entire Russian army is now focused on this offensive".

"No matter how many Russian troops they send there, we will fight. We will defend ourselves," he said in a video address on Monday.

Zelenskiy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, assured Ukrainians their forces could hold off the offensive in "the second phase of the war".

"Believe in our army, it is very strong," he said.

There was no immediate comment from Russia's defence ministry on the latest fighting. The governor of the Russian province of Belgorod said Ukrainian forces had struck a border village wounding one resident.

Ukrainian media reported a series of explosions, some powerful, along the front line in the Donetsk region, with shelling taking place in Marinka, Slavyansk and Kramatorsk.

Blasts were also heard in Kharkiv in the northeast, Mykolaiv in the south and Zaporizhzhia in the southeast while air raid sirens were also going