“Now we can say that the Russian troops have started the battle for Donbass, for which they have been preparing for a long time,” he said in a video clip. Zelensky said that “a significant part of the entire Russian army is now concentrated in this attack.” He added: “No matter how many soldiers are taken there, we will defend ourselves. We will fight. “We will not give up anything Ukrainian.” The president’s comments follow a dramatic escalation of attacks by Russia in anticipation of the long-awaited operation. Vladimir Putin has said he intends to seize Donbass, the industrial heart of the east of the country already controlled in part by pro-Russian separatists. Zelensky made it clear that the Ukrainian army would fight any attempt to advance from Moscow. “No matter how many Russian troops are led there, we will fight,” he said. “We will defend ourselves. We will do it every day. “ Earlier on Monday, Russia fired a barrage of long-range missiles across Ukraine in what analysts described as a “softening” exercise before its military push. The bombings in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region also killed four people, Governor Pavlo Kirilenko said. Map Ukrainian government officials have warned that Russian warplanes were preparing to drop five-ton bombs on the Azovstal plant in the besieged city of Mariupol. Ukrainian soldiers stand in tunnels under the factory for seven weeks. The basement complex is also used as a shelter by hundreds of citizens, including children. They were ready to disappear, officials said. Earlier Monday, four Russian missiles struck the western city of Lviv, killing seven people and wounding at least 11. Three hit military infrastructure. But the fourth seemed to miss his target and landed in a car repair shop. The city, which is located near the Polish border, has become a refuge for civilians fleeing fighting elsewhere. To the growing anger of the Kremlin, Lviv has also become an important gateway for NATO-provided weapons. Zelensky also submitted a completed questionnaire on the first step towards EU membership – a desire that has been a source of tension with Moscow for years. Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that it had fired rockets at Ukrainian munitions and other military targets. It said it had hit areas across the country, including the cities of Kharkiv and Zaporizhia, as well as the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions and the southern port of Mykolaiv. According to residents, a powerful explosion shook Vasylkiv, a city south of Kiev that hosts a military air base, according to residents. There were also further deadly bombings in Kharkov. In the last four days, 18 people have been killed and 106 injured. A senior US defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the Pentagon’s estimates of the war, said there were now 76 Russian battle units, known as regular battalions, in eastern and southern Ukraine, up from 65 last week. . That could translate to about 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 troops, but the numbers are hard to pinpoint at this stage of the battle. The official also said that four U.S. cargo flights arrived in Europe on Sunday with an initial delivery of weapons and other supplies to Ukraine as part of a $ 800 million (15 615 million) package announced by Washington last week. And the training of Ukrainian personnel in US 155 mm shells is to begin in the coming days. The occupation of Mariupol, where Ukraine estimates 21,000 people have been killed, is considered significant, not least because it would deprive Ukraine of a vital port and complete a land bridge between Russia and the Crimean peninsula occupied by Moscow eight years ago. years. The U.S. defense official said that if Russian forces were able to take full control of Mariupol, it could release nearly a dozen regular battalions for use elsewhere in Donbass.