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Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Tuesday accused the United States and other Western countries of trying to “delay” the course of the war in Ukraine by sending arms shipments to the Kyiv military.
Shoigu made the comment at a meeting with senior military officials. Meanwhile, the Russian military has launched a new, all-out offensive in eastern Ukraine.
“Increasing volumes of foreign arms shipments clearly demonstrate their intent to provoke the Kiev regime to fight to the last Ukrainian,” Shoigu said.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov attend a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin February 27 in Moscow, Russia.
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Shoigu also said that the Russian military “rigorously implemented the plan for the complete liberation of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.”
Moscow-backed separatists have been battling Ukrainian forces in the predominantly Russian-speaking eastern industrial heartland, Donbass, which includes the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, for eight years.
A Ukrainian soldier rides on an armored fighting vehicle in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday. (Press service of the Ukrainian Ground Forces/Handout via REUTERS)
They proclaimed two independent republics recognized by Russia.
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Rescue workers clear debris after an airstrike hit a tire shop in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Monday. (AP/Philip Crowther)
Ukrainian security official Oleksiy Danilov said on Tuesday that Russian troops are now trying to break through Ukrainian positions “almost along the entire front line”. [the] Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv regions,” Reuters reported.
Fresh explosions could be heard in the Donetsk region and in the cities of Kharkiv, Mykolaiv and Zaporizhia, while air raid sirens could be heard in populated areas near the front line, the news agency reported, citing officials and local media.
Fox News and Associated Press’ Amy Kellogg contributed to this report.