The fight for Donbas, Ukraine's mostly Russian-speaking industrial heartland in the east, has commenced. According to Ukraine president Volodomyr Zelenskyy, Russian army has launched a full-scale invasion in the region. "Most of their military strength is now channelled towards Donbas. Regardless of the number of forces, we will fight, we will never cease to defend Ukraine. We will never surrender any part of Ukraine, and we do not seek to take any land that is not ours," Zelenskyy said.
In Donbas, Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces for the past eight years and have declared two independent republics that have been recognised by Russia. In recent weeks, the Kremlin declared the capture of the Donbas its main goal of the war after its attempt to storm Kyiv failed. After withdrawing from the capital, it began regrouping and reinforcing its ground troops in the east for what could be a climactic battle.
The Ukraine military's general staff said Russian forces Monday were increasing assaults in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions both of which are part of the Donbas as well as in the area of Zaporizhzhia.
Earlier, Russian forces launched missile attacks on the western city of Lviv and pounded a multitude of other targets across Ukraine on Monday in what appeared to be an intensified bid to grind down the country's defenses ahead of an all-out assault on the east.
At least seven people were reported killed in Lviv, where plumes of black smoke rose over a city that has seen only sporadic attacks during almost two months of war and has become a haven for civilians fleeing the fighting elsewhere. To the Kremlin's increasing anger, Lviv has also become a major gateway for NATO-supplied weapons and foreign fighters joining the Ukrainian cause.
-Inputs from