Russia on Tuesday started a new phase in the war against Ukraine, both governments agreed on this after the increase in attacks in the eastern Donbass region.
“Now we can already see that Russian troops have started the battle for Donbass, for which they have been preparing for a long time,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Monday.
For its part, the Kremlin left no room for doubt and stated that its main goal was the conquest of Donbass, a vital part of Ukraine. He added that his forces struck more than 1,200 missile and artillery targets overnight, including dozens in eastern Ukraine.
The seizure of the eastern region would split Ukraine in two and deprive it of its main industrial bases concentrated in the east, including coal mines, smelters and machine shops, underlines a report by the AP news agency.
Russian forces “continue to prepare the ground for future successes on the ground by deploying more forces, more enablers and more command and control capabilities for upcoming operations,” Russian Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Monday.
Meanwhile, fighting continued in Mariupol, a port city in the region that Moscow’s forces have besieged since the first days of the war. Russia issued a new ultimatum on Tuesday to demand the surrender of Ukrainian troops holed up there, but as on all previous occasions it received no response other than resistance.
By capturing Mariupol, Russia will free up troops for deployment elsewhere in the Donbass, deprive Ukraine of a key port and establish a land link between Russia and Crimea, annexed by Ukraine in 2014, the AP warns.
UN calls for humanitarian break
Amid the new Russian offensive, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres this Tuesday called for a four-day “humanitarian pause” in hostilities in Ukraine, which ended on Thursday 21 Easter for Orthodox Christians.
“The violent attack and horrific toll on civilians we have seen so far may pale in comparison to the terror to come. This must not happen,” Guterres said, urging the parties to the conflict to “silence the guns and pave a path to safety for so many who are imminently at risk.”
The lull in hostilities would allow humanitarian aid to reach places like Mariupol, Donetsk, Lugansk and Kherson, where around four million people are in dire need of such assistance, the United Nations top official said.