Kyiv: Russia begins offensive in east
Created: 04/18/2022Updated: 04/18/2022 18:54
Part of an artillery shell stuck in the ground in Kharkiv.
Russian troops had shelled the city center.
© Alex Chan Tsz Yuk/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
Preparations for a new major Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine had been feared for some time.
The first attacks on cities are now being reported.
Kyiv - According to the Ukrainian general staff, Russia has started the expected offensive in the east of the neighboring country.
"Signs of the start of the offensive in the Eastern Operational Zone are being identified," the General Staff said in Kyiv on Monday evening.
The Kharkiv and Donetsk regions were highlighted.
Advances towards Barvinkove and Sloviansk in the Donetsk region are expected from Izyum in the Kharkiv region.
Street fights in Kreminna
The governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Hajdaj, also spoke of Russian attacks.
“The 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." In Kreminna, of the 18,000 inhabitants before the war, around 4,000 are said to be holding out.
There was also heavy fighting around the cities of Rubishne and Popasna.
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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.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had previously warned that the Russian military was preparing an offensive in the Donbass industrial region in eastern Ukraine in the near future: “Just as Russian troops are destroying Mariupol, they also want to destroy other cities and towns in the Donetsk and Oblast regions Level Luhansk to the ground.” dpa