Zelenskyy Says, ‘Donbas Battle Has Begun’, As Russia-Ukraine War Turns Towards Rebel Areas

As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its 55^th day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that ‘the battle for Donbass has begun’. Donbass refers to the area containing the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, or regions, where pro-Russian separatist enclaves have been functional since 2014. The Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics were recognized by Russia on February 22^nd. Ukraine treats this as a violation of its territorial integrity while Moscow said that it is impeding Ukraine's plans of forcibly annexing the separatist regions using the military by deploying its own troops as 'peacekeepers'. 

Conflict Intensifies Along Donbass Frontline In East 

Reports say that Russian offensives have begun in Nikolayev, Kharkiv & Gulaypole and other areas of the contact line between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces. Pro-Russian sources regularly post to Telegram purportedly showing Ukrainian surrenders and tactical defeats in the besieged southeastern port city of Mariupol. Explosions and shelling have been reported from Marinka, Slavyansk and Kramatorsk along the eastern frontline as per Reuters citing local media.

General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have said that the main efforts of Russia are breaking its defenses in the east: “The main efforts of the enemy are focused on breaking through the defence of Ukrainian troops in Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, as well as establishing full control over the city of Mariupol,” it said. Moscow, on the other hand, claims control of Mariupol. Its mayor, Vadym Boychenko, says 40,000 people have been “deported” to Russia or Russian-controlled areas.

Retuers also cited Russian media saying that Ukrainian military targets in Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions were attacked overnight by its forces. Ukrainian authorities say eight civilians have died in the Russian attacks in the east, and the mayor of Melitopol, a southeastern port city near the annexed Crimean peninsula, says that he underwent “hours of hard interrogation” by Russian forces for a week before being swapped in a prisoner exchange with Kyiv.

Ukraine reports that over 30% of its infrastructure has been destroyed in the war. In April 2022, 899,262 people were displaced from Ukraine to other countries as per the UNHCR, whereas it was upwards of 3.39 million in March.