New Delhi: A day after the missile attack in the western city of Lviv, Russian forces on Tuesday launched a large-scale offensive on the eastern front in the battle for Donbas.
“Russian forces have launched a large-scale offensive in the battle for Donbas. A significant portion of Russian forces are concentrated in the region,” Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence said.
“We can now confirm that Russian troops have begun the battle for the Donbas, which they have been preparing for a long time,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram late Monday.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Five powerful missile strikes hit the western city of Lviv.
- The Russian military on Sunday said it used high-precision missiles to destroy an ammunition factory in the Kyiv region
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that some 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers were killed and about 10,000 were injured in the course of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine.
- Russian troops hit a “military” factory outside Kyiv late Thursday using Kalibr sea-based long-range missiles.
- Russian Defence Ministry also said that the S-400 missile system shot down a Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter that carried out “an attack on civilians in the locality of Klimovo in Bryansk region on April 14”.
- Meanwhie, Kyiv has denied the helicopter attack, instead accusing Russia of staging the incidents to stir up “anti-Ukrainian hysteria” in the country.
- US announced an additional $800 million worth of military aid.
- The military aid includes 18 155mm howitzers and 40,000 artillery rounds, 200 M113 armoured personnel carriers, and 11 Mi-17 helicopters.
- The Biden administration is considering sending a high-level official to Kyiv to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
- No final decision on the deligation but it could be President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken or Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
- Ukraine told Russia to release prisoners of war if it wants President Putin’s most high-profile ally.
- Viktor Medvedchuk was captured by the Ukrainian authorities on Tuesday.
- Zelenskyy posted a photo of Medvedchuk on his Instagram account and wrote – “I propose to the Russian Federation: exchange this guy of yours for our guys and girls now held in Russian captivity.”
- The United States is likely to announce a new military aid package worth $750 million for Ukraine
- Putin on Tuesday clarified that the Russian offensive in east Ukraine will continue till his goals were met.
- The Russian president also claimed that photos and videos from the Bucha were fake.
- Putin also responded to the sanctions from the west by saying that it is impossible to isolate Russia.”We don’t intend to be isolated. It is impossible to severely isolate anyone in the modern world – especially such a vast country as Russia,” he was quoted as saying in reports.
🔲 #Ukraine️ | People in the besieged city of Mariupol try to survive as they cook food outside amid the ruins and rubble of destruction
(Source: Reuters) pic.twitter.com/Mzw3bqLywk
— NewsMobile (@NewsMobileIndia) April 19, 2022