Russia has launched its expected new offensive in the east of the country, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said on Monday after the attack on the western city of Lviv claimed the lives of up to seven.
“Russian troops have begun the battle for Donbass, for which they have been preparing for a long time. A significant part of the entire Russian army is now focused on this offensive, “Zelensky said in a video message.
“No matter how many Russian troops are deployed there, we will fight. We will defend ourselves. We will do it every day, “he said.
His comments came as Ukraine also prepared for a total offensive in the Eastern Donbass region after repelling a Russian attack in the north.
Military analysts say Russia is stepping up its strikes on arms factories, railways and other infrastructure in Ukraine to reduce the country’s ability to withstand such an attack.
On Monday, Ukraine said seven people had been killed and 12 injured in rocket attacks in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, local authorities said.
Numerous explosions were reported on Monday as Ukraine prepared for a total Russian attack on the other side of the country.
Lviv is considered a relatively safe haven during the invasion, as the city – along with the rest of western Ukraine – is less affected by fighting than the rest of the country.
However, to the Kremlin’s growing anger, Lviv has also become a major conduit for NATO-supplied weapons and foreign fighters joining the Ukrainian cause. It is located only about 80 km from Poland, a member of NATO.
Andriy Sadovi, the mayor of Lviv, said seven people were killed and 12 wounded in a series of rocket attacks during the night.
A hotel that houses Ukrainians fleeing battles in the east is among the buildings badly damaged in the attack, the mayor said.
District Governor Maxim Kozistky said three missiles hit military sites and another hit a tire shop. A child was among those injured in the strikes, he said.
After the explosions, streams of thick black smoke rose over the city.
Smoke can be seen on the horizon after Russian missiles hit Lviv
(Getty)
“The nightmare of war has hit us even in Lviv,” said Lyudmila Turchak, a 47-year-old mother of two who fled the eastern city of Kharkiv with her children.
“We are nowhere in Ukraine to feel safe.
The attacks came nearly two months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which devastated cities, killed hundreds of civilians and displaced millions more.
On Monday, Russia’s defense ministry said it had destroyed 16 military facilities overnight.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmihal has vowed to “fight to the end” in strategically vital Mariupol, where the last known pocket of resistance in the seven-week siege consisted of Ukrainian fighters hiding in a sprawling steel plant.
Proponents ignored the capitulation ultimatum or died on Sunday.
Irina Vereshchuk, deputy prime minister, said Ukraine was negotiating the move from cities in eastern and southeastern Ukraine, including Mariupol and other regions of Donbass. The government of the Luhansk region in Donbass said four civilians trying to escape were shot and killed by Russian forces.
Ms. Vereshchuk said Russia could be tried for war crimes for refusing to allow civilians to leave Mariupol.
“Your refusal to open these humanitarian corridors in the future will lead to the prosecution of all those involved in war crimes,” she wrote on social media. The Russians, for their part, accused “neo-Nazi nationalists” in Mariupol of obstructing the evacuation.
In addition, Ukrainian authorities said they had found 269 bodies dead in Irpin, near Kyiv, after the city was recaptured by Russian forces in late March as workers dug new graves on the outskirts.
New graves were dug in the cemetery and covered with wreaths. “So far, we have checked 269 bodies,” said Sergei Panteleev, first deputy chief of the General Police Investigation Department.
The forthcoming offensive in the east, if successful, will give Russian President Vladimir Putin a much-needed victory, highlighted by growing war casualties and economic hardship caused by Western sanctions.
“We are doing everything we can to ensure the defense of eastern Ukraine,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an evening address to the nation on Sunday.
The capture of Mariupol is seen as a key step in preparing for any eastern attack, as it would free up Russian troops for this new campaign.
Two British fighters captured in Mariupol appeared on Russian state television on Monday and demanded to be exchanged for an ally of Vladimir Putin, known as the “Prince of Darkness”.
Smoke rises over damaged Azovstal iron and steel plant in the southern port city of Mariupol
(Reuters)
Sean Piner and Aidan Aslin spoke separately after being invited by an unidentified man to footage broadcast on the state-run Russia 24 television channel. It was not clear how freely the two men could speak.
Mr Piner, 48, a former British Royal soldier, was captured in Mariupol while fighting Ukrainian Marines, and Mr Aslin, 28, a native of Nottinghamshire, defended the besieged city before having to surrendered after running out of food and ammunition.
The two men asked British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to help bring them home in exchange for Ukraine’s release of pro-Russian politician and oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, a close friend of Putin and the godfather of his youngest daughter, Darina.
Additional reporting by agencies
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