Russia launches 'battle for the Donbas' in Eastern Ukraine, Zelensky says

The latest:

• Zelensky says battle to seize control of Donbas has begun.
  
• At least 7 dead in missile strikes in western city of Lyiv, Ukrainian officials say.
  
• Shelling in eastern city ofKharkiv kills at least 3, journalists on scene report.

• What questions do you have aboutRussia's invasion ofUkraine? Send an email toask@cbc.ca.

Russia launched its long-feared, full-scale offensive to take control of Ukraine's easton Monday, attacking along a broad front more than 480 kilometreslong, Ukrainian officials saidin what marked the opening of a new and potentially climactic phase of the war.

"Now we can already state that the Russian troops have begun the battle for the Donbas, for which they have been preparing for a long time," Ukrainian President VolodymyrZelensky said in a video address. He said a "significant part of the entire Russian army is now concentrated on this offensive."

The Donbas is Ukraine's mostly Russian-speaking industrial heartland in the east, where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces for the past eight years and have declared two independent republics that have been recognized by Russia.

In recent weeks, the Kremlin declared the capture of the Donbas its main goal of the war after its attempt to storm Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, failed.After withdrawing from the capital, it began regrouping and reinforcing its ground troops in the east for what could be a climactic battle.

"No matter how many Russian troops are driven there, we will fight," Zelenskyvowed. "We will defend ourselves. We will do it every day."

The Ukrainian military's general staff said Russian forces on Monday were increasing assaults in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions both of which are part of the Donbas as well as in the area of Zaporizhzhia.

"This morning, almost along the whole front line of the Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv regions, the occupiers attempted to break through our defences," Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's national security council, was quoted as telling Ukrainian media. "Fortunately, our military is holding out. They passed through only two cities. This is Kreminna and another small town."

He added: "We are not giving up any of our territories."

The White House said U.S. President Joe Biden would hold a call with allies including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday to discuss the Ukraine crisis, including on how to co-ordinate on holding Russia accountable.

A Ukrainian military official said street battles had begun in Kreminna and that evacuation was impossible.

Luhansk regional military administrator Serhiy Haidai said heavy artillery fire set seven residential buildings on fire and targeted the sports complex where the nation's Olympic team trains.

Haidai later told Ukrainian television that Russians took control of the city after "levelling everything to the ground," so his forces retreated to regroup and keep on fighting.

Bombs dropped on Mariupol

Meanwhile, in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, Denys Prokopenko, commander of the Azov Regiment of the Ukrainian National Guard that was holding out against Russian forces, said in a video message that Russia had begun dropping bunker-buster bombs on the Azovstal steel plant where the regiment was holed up.

The sprawling plant contains a warren of tunnels where both fighters and civilians, including children, are sheltering. It is believed to be the last major pocket of resistance in the shattered city.

An estimated 100,000 people remainin the city out of a prewar population of 450,000, trapped without food, water, heat or electricity.

The relentless bombardment ofMariupol including on a maternity hospital and a theatrewhere civilians were sheltering along with street fighting have killed at least 21,000 people, by Ukrainian estimates.

WATCH |Ukraine'sholdout in Mariupol buys time, says retired U.S. army general:

Ukrainian holdout in Mariupol buys time, says retired U.S. army general

2 years ago

Duration 10:07

The longer Ukrainian soldiers can hold out in Mariupol, the more time they buy for the Donbas, says retired U.S. army general Peter Zwack.

Assault on Lviv

The message from Zelensky came hours afterRussian forces launched missile attacks on the western city of Lviv and pounded a multitude of other targets across Ukrainein what appeared to be an intensified bid to grind down the country's defences ahead of the all-out assault on the east.

At least seven people were reported killed in Lviv, where plumes of thick black smoke rose over a city that has seen only sporadic attacks during almost two months of war and has become a haven for large numbers of civilians fleeing intense fighting elsewhere. To the Kremlin's increasing anger, Lviv has also become a major conduit for NATO-supplied weapons and for foreign fighters joining the Ukrainian cause.

The governor of the Lviv region, Maksym Kozytskyy, said the Russian missile strikes hit three military infrastructure facilities and an auto mechanic shop. He said the wounded included a child and that emergency teams battled fires caused by the attack.

WATCH | Russia bombards the city of Lviv:

Russian missile strikes hit Lviv

2 years ago

Duration 6:17

CBC's Katie Simpson reports from Lviv, where officials say Russian missile strikes have shaken the western Ukrainian city that has been relatively safe during the Russian invasion.

'Nightmare of war has caught up with us'

A Lviv hotel sheltering Ukrainians who had fled the fighting in other parts of the country was also badly damaged, Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said. The city has seen its population swell with elderly people, mothers and children trying to escape the war.

"The nightmare of war has caught up with us even in Lviv," said Lyudmila Turchak, 47, who fled with two children from the eastern city ofKharkiv. "There is no longer anywhere in Ukraine where we can feel safe."

Lviv is the biggest city and a major transportation hub in western Ukraine. It sits roughly 80 kilometresfrom Poland, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

A powerful explosion also rocked Vasylkiv, a town south of Kyiv that is home to a military airbase, according to residents. It was not immediately clear what was hit.

One of the dead was a woman who appeared to be going out to collect water in the rain. She was found lying bloodied with a water canister and umbrella by her side.

Military analysts say Russia is increasing its strikes on weapons factories, railways and other infrastructure targets across Ukraine to wear down the country's ability to resist a major ground offensive in the Donbas.

The Russian military said missiles struck more than 20 military targetsin Eastern and central Ukraine in the past day, including ammunition depots, command headquarters and groups of troops and vehicles.

It claimed itsartillery hit an additional315 Ukrainian targets, and warplanes conducted 108 strikes on Ukrainian troops and military equipment. The claims couldn't be independently verified.

A senior U.S. defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the Pentagon's assessments of the war, said there are now 76 Russian combat units, known as battalion tactical groups, in eastern and southern Ukraine, up from 65 last week.

That could translate to around 50,000 to 60,000 troops, based on what the Pentagon said at the start of the war was the typical unit strength of 700 to 800 soldiers, but the numbers are difficult to pinpoint at this stage in the fighting.

The official also said that four U.S. cargo flights arrived in Europe on Sunday with an initial delivery of weapons and other materials for Ukraine as part of a $800-million package announced by Washington last week. And training of Ukrainian personnel on U.S. 155 mm howitzers is set to begin in the next several days.

Putin says sanctions have failed

Putin on Monday repeated his insistence that the Western sanctions "blitz" against Russia had failed.

The Russian leader said the West had not managed to "upset the financial-economic situation, provoke panic in the markets, the collapse of the banking system and shortages in stores," though he acknowledged a sharp hike in consumer prices in Russia, saying they had risen by 17.5 per centas of April.

Earlier on Monday, Zelenskysubmitted a filled-out questionnaire in the first step toward obtaining accelerated membership in the European Union a desire that has been a source of irritation to Russia for years. Zelensky, though, has offered to drop any effort to join NATO, one of the Kremlin's key demands.