“The Russian troops have started the battle for Donbas, for which they have been preparing for a long time. “A significant part of the entire Russian army is now concentrated in this attack,” Zelensky said in a video clip. “No matter how many Russian troops are led there, we will fight. We will defend ourselves. “We will do it every day,” he said. His comments came as Ukraine also prepared for a full-scale offensive in the eastern Donbass region after repelling a Russian attack in the north. Military analysts say Russia is stepping up its strikes on arms factories, railways and other infrastructure targets across Ukraine to deplete the country’s ability to withstand such an attack. On Monday, Ukraine claimed that seven people had been killed and 12 wounded in rocket attacks in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, local officials said. Multiple explosions were reported Monday as Ukraine prepares for a full-scale Russian offensive on the other side of the country. Lviv has been considered a relatively safe haven during the invasion, as the city – along with the rest of western Ukraine – has been less affected by the fighting than the rest of the country. However, in the Kremlin’s growing anger, Lviv has also become a major pipeline for NATO-supplied weapons and for foreign fighters involved in the Ukrainian cause. It is only 50 miles (80 km) from Poland, a NATO member. Andriy Sadovyi, the mayor of Lviv, said seven people had been killed and 12 injured in a series of overnight rocket attacks. A hotel hosting Ukrainians fleeing fighting further east was among the buildings severely damaged in the attack, the mayor said. Maksym Kozystkiy, the regional governor, said three rockets hit a military facility and another a tire shop. One child was among those injured in the strikes, he said. Dense, black smoke rose over the city after the explosions. Smoke appears on the horizon after the attack of Russian missiles in Lviv (Getty) “The nightmare of war has reached us even in Lviv,” said Lyudmila Turcak, a 47-year-old mother of two who had fled with her children from the eastern city of Kharkiv. “There is no place in Ukraine where we can feel safe.” The attacks come almost two months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has destroyed cities, killed hundreds of civilians and displaced millions more. On Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that it had destroyed 16 military installations overnight. Meanwhile, Ukrainian Prime Minister Dennis Smihal has vowed to “fight to the end” in the strategically important Mariupol, where the last known resistance pocket in the seven-week siege consisted of Ukrainian fighters trapped in an extensive steel plant. The detainees ignored an ultimatum of surrender or death by the Russians on Sunday. Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Ukraine was negotiating transit through cities and towns in eastern and southeastern Ukraine, including Mariupol and other areas of Donbas. The Luhansk region government in Donbas said four civilians trying to escape were shot and killed by Russian forces. Ms Vereshchuk said Russia could be prosecuted for war crimes because of its refusal to allow civilians to leave Mariupol. “Your refusal to open these humanitarian corridors will in the future be a reason to prosecute all those involved in war crimes,” he wrote on social media. The Russians, in turn, accused the “neo-Nazi nationalists” in Mariupol of obstructing the evacuation. Ukrainian officials also said they had found 269 bodies in Irpin, near Kyiv, since the city was recaptured by Russian forces in late March as workers dug new graves in the vicinity. New graves had been dug in a cemetery and filled with wreaths. “So far, we have inspected 269 bodies,” said Serhiy Panteleyev, the first deputy head of the main police investigation department. The impending attack on the east, if successful, would give Russian President Vladimir Putin a much-needed victory amid growing war losses and economic hardship caused by Western sanctions. “We are doing everything we can to ensure the defense” of eastern Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his overnight address to the nation on Sunday. The occupation of Mariupol is considered a key step in the preparations for any eastern attack, as it would free the Russian troops for this new campaign. Two British fighters captured in Mariupol appeared on Russian state television on Monday and demanded to be exchanged for an ally of Vladimir Putin, known as the “Prince of Darkness”. Smoke rises over damaged Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant in the southern port city of Mariupol (Reuters) Shaun Pinner and Aiden Aslin both spoke separately after being motivated by an unknown man in footage broadcast by state television channel Rossiya 24. It was unclear how freely the two men could speak. Pinner, a 48-year-old former British Army soldier, was arrested in Mariupol while fighting Ukrainian Marines, and Nottinghamshire native Aslin, 28, was defending the besieged city before it had to surrender after food and fire ran out. The two men asked UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to help bring them home in exchange for the release of pro-Russian politician and oligarch Victor Medvetsuk, who is a close friend of Putin and godfather of his youngest daughter. Additional reports from agencies The Independent has a proud campaign history for the rights of the most vulnerable and we first launched our “Welcome Refugees” campaign during the war in Syria in 2015. Now, as we renew our campaign and start this report on In the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we call on the government to move faster and faster to secure aid. To learn more about our Refugee Campaign, click here. To sign the application click here. If you would like to donate, click here for our GoFundMe page
