Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had begun a long-awaited major new offensive in the country’s eastern Donbas border region after its forces intensified attacks along the frontline, Financial Times reports.
Zelensky said in a late-night television address on Monday that Russia had concentrated a “significant part” of its forces in the region and vowed that Ukraine would defend itself “however many troops they send there”.
“We will fight. We won’t give up anything Ukrainian,” he added.
Ukraine’s armed forces said on Tuesday morning that Moscow was continuing offensive operations in the east to establish full control over the territory of the Donbas’s two administrative regions, Donetsk and Luhansk.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has said “liberating” the Donbas is Moscow’s main goal but Ukrainian officials worry that the new offensive could precede more attacks to capture territory in the rest of the country.
Zelensky also spoke about joining the European Union, emphasizing that in the history of Ukraine it will be an unprecedented opportunity for the country's reconstruction and modernization.
The President of Ukraine also described as historic the implementation of one of the important steps to join the European Union. He said that Kyiv had handed over the completed questionnaire received from the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen for the status of EU candidate received by the Head of European Diplomacy Josep Borrell.
In his speech, Volodymyr Zelensky once again called for pressure on Russia through sanctions.
