Why ‘The Battle For The Donbas’ Was A Significant New Stage Of The Russia-Ukraine War

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky announced on Monday night that a new phase of war between Russia and Ukraine has begun.

“Now we can say that Russian troops have started fighting for Donbass,” he said in a video speech about a long-term, full-scale attack to control eastern Ukraine.

“A significant part of the entire Russian army” is now assigned to the region, Zelensky said. Here’s what you need to know about what can be the tipping point in conflict.

What has happened so far?

Russia’s aggression damaged or destroyed up to 30 percent of Ukraine’s $ 100 billion infrastructure, Ukrainian officials said, as the United Nations revealed that the number of civilian deaths now exceeds 2,000. About 4 million Ukrainians have fled the country.

But Russia’s rapid march towards victory was not fulfilled. By fighting Ukraine in the north, Moscow canceled a ground offensive in two eastern provinces known as DonbassOn other targets, including the capital Kiev, while making scope attacks.

Why is Donbass important?

Donbass is Ukraine’s predominantly Russian-speaking industrial center in the east, where Moscow-backed separatists have fought Ukrainian forces for the past eight years and declared two independent republics recognized by Russia.

In recent weeks, the Kremlin has declared the capture of Donbass as the main target of the war after a failed attempt to attack Kiev. After he retired from the capital, he began to regroup and strengthen the ground forces to the east, which could be the culmination of a battle.

On Monday, Ukrainian military generals said Russian forces were stepping up attacks in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions – both parts of the Donbas – as well as in the Zaporizhia region.

They also claim that Russia is sending troops to the Crimean peninsula – taken from Ukraine in 2014 – and to the Rostov -on -Don region, which borders Ukraine.

Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Ermak, called it the “second phase of the war” and assured the Ukrainians that their forces could prevent the attack. “Believe in our army, it’s very powerful,” he said.

The Associated Press reports that a senior U.S. defense official said Russia now has 76 combat units in eastern and southern Ukraine, up from 65 last week. This could translate to approximately 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers.

Russia’s lightning campaign means control over eastern Ukraine is more important and could lead to tighter fighting. Russia needs some kind of “victory” – recognizing that Russia’s claims to the Donbas and Crimea were also the focus of Vladimir Putin’s demands during the failed peace negotiations – and Putin will no longer think more more difficulties after the sinking of one of the main ships of the Black Sea ..

How did Russia prepare for the attack?

The new attack in the east came after a Russian missile strike killed seven people in Lviv, the first civilian killed in the western city, about 40 miles from Poland. It is one of the other targets across Ukraine, which appears to be a rising attempt to destroy the country’s defense.

Lviv has only witnessed sporadic attacks during the nearly two months of the war and has become a haven for civilians fleeing fighting elsewhere.

In other developments, Ukrainian troops remained confined to an iron mill in Mariupol, the last known pocket of resistance in the destroyed southern port city.

The capture of Mariupol, where approximately 21,000 people have been killed in Ukraine, is critical, and not only because it will take over Ukraine’s important port and complete the bridge between Russia and the Crimean peninsula.

General Richard Danat, a former British Army commander, told Sky News that Russia was launching a “softening” campaign before the attack on Donbass.

A U.S. defense official said that if Russian forces succeed in taking full control of Mariupol, they could release nearly a dozen combat units for use in the Donbas.

Is Western support likely to increase?

Given the changing dynamics of the war, Ukraine is calling for an increase in the supply of Western weapons.

Last week, U.S. President Joe Biden announced an additional $ 800 million in military aid to Ukraine, expanding aid, including heavy artillery, in preparation for Russia’s imminent attack on eastern Ukraine.

In the coming days, the U.S. military will begin training Ukrainians with Howit artillery as they train outside Ukraine.

UP. It has been reported that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson intends to provide Ukraine with a tank-mounted Stormer weapon, which is another sign that the West is ready to offer as much military equipment as possible. possible without a broader NATO-Russia battle.