Heavy "street fighting" reported: According to Kyiv, Russia is launching a major offensive in eastern Ukraine

Created: 04/18/2022, 20:26

By: Patrick Mayer

Ukrainian artillery shells Russian positions near Luhansk.

© Anatolii Stepanov/AFP

According to the General Staff in Kyiv, the Russian invasion troops have started the expected offensive in eastern Ukraine.

Heavy fighting is reported from several small towns.

Munich/Kyiv - In the Russia-Ukraine War*, the expected major offensive by the Russian invasion troops in the Luhansk, Kharkiv and Donetsk areas has apparently started.

Heavy fighting is reported.

Ukraine war: According to Kyiv, Russia starts a major offensive in the east

According to the General Staff in Kyiv, Moscow has started the offensive in the east of its western neighbor.

"Indications of the start of the offensive in the Eastern Operational Zone are being identified," the General Staff announced in Kyiv on Monday evening (April 18).

The Kharkiv and Donetsk regions were highlighted.

Advances towards Barvinkove and Sloviansk in the Donetsk region are expected from Izyum in the Kharkiv region.

Barwinkowe has around 8,000 inhabitants, and around 110,000 people lived in Slowjansk before the Ukraine conflict * finally escalated.

The governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Hajdaj, also spoke of Russian attacks: “Control over the city of Kreminna has just been lost.

Street fights are taking place.” Evacuation of the small town is no longer possible.

"The situation is getting worse every hour," the governor said.

In Kreminna about 4,000 of the 18,000 inhabitants before the war are said to be still holding out.

Heavy fighting is also taking place around the cities of Rubischne and Popasna, sources in Kyiv say.

In the video: Compact - The news about the Russia-Ukraine war

The Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych had previously informed about Russian advances in the direction of Hulyaipole in the Zaporizhia region in the south-east.

Around 10,000 Russian soldiers are said to be in action.

The Russian war of aggression on the neighboring country has been going on for more than seven weeks.

Russia-Ukraine War: Moscow begins major offensive over separatist areas in east

After initial military failures in front of the capital Kyiv, Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin and his army withdrew troops from northern Ukraine to gather them for a new offensive across the separatist areas in the east.

This had also been expected by international observers for days.

Most recently, Moscow had announced increased attacks after, among other things, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the missile cruiser "Moskva", was apparently sunk by Ukrainian anti-ship missiles.

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