INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russia has launched a major offensive into eastern Ukraine, authorities in Kyiv said, opening a new phase of its invasion after being
thwarted in efforts to capture the capital.The United States is due to hold a video meeting with allies Tuesday to discuss the conflict in
Ukraine, where Moscow's military campaign has refocused on the eastern region of Donbas, partly controlled by pro-Kremlin separatists since
2014."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."No matter how many Russian soldiers are brought here, we will fight
We will defend ourselves."Ahead of the widely anticipated advance, Ukrainian authorities had urged people in Donbas to flee west to
escape."The second phase of the war has started," Kyiv's presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak said.Control of Donbas would allow Moscow
to create a southern corridor to the occupied Crimean peninsula.In the south of the region, Russia continued its push to capture the
besieged port city of Mariupol, where the last remaining Ukrainian forces have taken a final stand.But despite the desperate situation in
in the country.Monday also saw the first shipments of a new U.S
military aid package arrive at Ukraine's borders to be handed over in its fight against the Russian invasion.The United States on April 13
unveiled an $800-million tranche of equipment for Ukraine, including helicopters, howitzers and armored personnel carriers.Strikes across
UkraineMoscow's forces on Monday pounded targets across the country, killing at least seven people in the far western city of Lviv.Lviv has
largely been spared bombardment since Russia invaded on Feb
24, and the city and its surroundings had become a haven for those seeking safety from the war zone.But "today we understood clearly that we
don't have any safe places in Ukraine
It's very dangerous," a bank employee who gave her name as Natalia told AFP after the strikes.Russia's Defense Ministry said Monday it had
hit 16 military targets across Ukraine.Among the sites struck was a depot near Lviv that Moscow said held weapons recently delivered to
Ukraine from the United States and Europe.Shortly before Zelensky's address, the regional governor of the Lugansk region Sergiy Gaiday also
announced the beginning of Russia's much-anticipated attack."It's hell
The offensive has begun, the one we've been talking about for weeks
There's constant fighting in Rubizhne and Popasna, fighting in other peaceful cities," he said on Facebook.Russian shelling killed at least
eight civilians in eastern Ukraine, according to local authorities.Gaiday said four people died as they tried to flee the city of Kreminna
in Lugansk as Russian troops moved in."The Russian army has already entered there, with a huge amount of military hardware..
Our defenders have retreated to new positions," Gaiday said in a statement on social media.But Ukrainian presidential advisor Oleksiy
Arestovich said Russian forces had not conquered the city.Nearby, in the village of Novodruzhesk, weary locals have borne the brunt of the
fighting."We are bombed everywhere
It's a miracle that we're still alive," said Nadya, 65, her voice trembling."We were lying on the ground and waiting
24 we've been sleeping in the cellar."There's no more water, electricity, nothing
towns and cities in the east for a second day, accusing Russian forces of having blocked and shelled escape routes.Deputy Prime Minister
Iryna Vereshchuk said Tuesday there would be no humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians in the country for a third consecutive day
because there has been no agreement from the Russian side.Vereshchuk previously said that Russia's "refusal to open these humanitarian
corridors will, in the future, be grounds for prosecuting all those involved in war crimes."The Mariupol city council has reported there are
over 1,000 civilians trapped in shelters under the Azovstal steel plant, where Ukrainian forces are waging a desperate last stand against
said he launched the military operation on Feb
24 to save Russian speakers in Ukraine from a "genocide" carried out by a "neo-Nazi" regime.He recognized the independence of two
self-proclaimed separatist republics in Donetsk and Lugansk shortly before the invasion began.On Monday, Putin lauded the 64th Motor Rifle
courage."Ukraine has alleged the brigade is guilty of war crimes while occupying the suburb of Bucha on the outskirts of Kyiv, where
residents were shot dead, some with their hands bound.The European Union condemned Russia's "indiscriminate" bombing of Ukrainian civilians
following the strikes on Lviv.Its foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pointed to "particularly heavy attacks" in eastern and southern Ukraine
and an offensive against second city Kharkiv, where officials said Russian shelling killed three people."Attacks on Lviv and other cities in
western Ukraine show that no part of the country is spared from the Kremlin's senseless onslaught," Borrell added.Seeking to strengthen ties
and accelerate admission to the 27-nation bloc, Zelensky said that Ukraine hoped to receive EU candidate country status within weeks.On
Monday, he handed the EU's envoy to Kyiv a two-volume response to a membership questionnaire brought by European Commission chief Ursula von
