Sergey Lavrov confirmed that Russia began its large-scale offensive to occupy eastern Ukraine

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday that the next phase of Russia's military campaign in Ukraine has begun, focusing on the “complete liberation” of the pro-Russian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

“The operation in eastern Ukraine is aimed, as already announced, at the complete liberation of the Donetsk and Lugansk republics. This operation will continue, the next phase of this special operation is beginning,” he said in an interview with the India Today television network, broadcast by his department.

“And, it seems to me, now will be an important moment in this special operation,” added Lavrov, Russia's first senior official who publicly confirms that Russia's great battle for Donbas has begun.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces had earlier said on Tuesday that Russia is attempting to gain “full control” of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, after Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky said Monday that Moscow has launched its large-scale offensive in the Donbas.

“The Russian enemy is trying to continue offensive operations in the East Operational Zone to establish full control of the territory of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, as well as maintain a land corridor with temporarily occupied Crimea,” said the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army.

“The main efforts of the enemy are focused on breaking the defenses of Ukrainian troops in the Lugansk and Donetsk regions, as well as gaining full control of the city of Mariupol,” he stressed in a message on his official Facebook account.

He also stressed that “missile attacks and bombardments against civilian targets throughout Ukraine do not stop” and pointed to an “escalation” of these attacks in the west of the country on Monday, when the city of Lviv was attacked.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces also pointed out that Moscow “continues to send weapons and military equipment to Ukraine from the central and eastern regions of Russia.” “Together with combat units, move support units,” they said. Along these lines, they assured that Russian forces “are deploying logistics centers and creating field bases to repair and renovate damaged equipment.”

On the other hand, they have detailed that “the Russian enemy continues to partially block the city of Kharkiv” and added that “in the area of Izium, the Russian enemy is carrying out offensive operations on the western bank of the Siversky Donets River”.

(With information from EFE and Europa Press)

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