On Tuesday, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said the war in Ukraine had entered a “prolonged phase”, reminding that Russia is trying to control the entire Donbass region and occupy the south of the country.
Speaking to the European Union (EU) defense ministers and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Reznikov said, “Russia is preparing for a long-term military operation.” The transcript was published on his Facebook account.
According to Reznikov, Russian troops are strengthening their positions in the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions to “switch into defensive mode if necessary” in the occupied territories. The concentration of Ukrainian armed forces in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions is partly in the hands of pro-Russian separatists.
Reznikov said Moscow’s aim was to “create a land corridor connecting Russia to Crimea, a peninsula it annexed in 2014” and to occupy “all of southern Ukraine”. The minister urged Western allies to better coordinate arms deliveries to Kiev, “to liberate our regions as soon as possible.”
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense said that Russian forces carried out attacks in the Donetsk region and partly in neighboring Lugansk, near Popasna and “along the entire line of contact” as they tried to advance towards one of the main cities, Severodonetsk. According to the regional governor, Sergei Gaidai, Ukraine is under his control.
The governor also reported that “bombings against the civilian population intensified”, particularly in Girske.
source: Noticias
