Russia begins "Battle of the Donbas" in second phase of war in Ukraine

Russian forces tried to push through Ukrainian defences along almost the entire front line in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, launching what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the “Battle of the Donbas” – the long-awaited second phase of the war.

Ukrainian officials reported explosions, some powerful, along the front line in the Donetsk region, with shelling taking place in Marinka, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

In the first big reported success of Russia's new assault, Ukraine said the Russians had seized Kreminna, a front-line town of 18,000 people in Luhansk, one of the two Donbas provinces.

Moscow gave few details about its new campaign, but Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed that "another stage of this operation is beginning."

Russian missile and artillery forces struck 1,260 targets in Ukraine overnight, the Russian defence ministry said on Tuesday.

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