Ukraine says phase two of the war has begun as Russia begins offensive in the Donbas

Russia’s offensive in Ukraine has entered its second phase, a top Ukrainian official said.

“Donbas. The second phase of the war has begun, but I will tell you, believe in the Armed Forces,” Andriy Yermak, President Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, said in a Telegram post, according to a Google translation.

Zelenskyy, in a video address Monday night, vowed to fight back, saying: “No matter how many Russian troops are driven there, we will fight. We will defend ourselves. We will do it every day.”

— Natasha Turak

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.

“The Secretary-General strongly urges all parties to enact an urgent and immediate humanitarian ceasefire, which will enable the safe and secure functioning of humanitarian corridors, help evacuate civilian residents and also deliver life-saving humanitarian and medical assistance,” his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

“Genuine negotiations must be given a chance to succeed and to bring lasting peace,” he added.

Earlier, the U.N. said that humanitarian ceasefires in Ukraine were “not on the horizon right now” but could take place in a couple of weeks.

The U.N.’s relief chief Martin Griffiths will be in Turkey this week to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about hosting humanitarian talks between Russia and Ukraine.

The World Health Organization says 12 million people in Ukraine have been displaced, with 7.1 million still in Ukraine.

— Chelsea Ong

Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said there will be no humanitarian corridors on Tuesday for the third consecutive day.

“Today, 19 April, unfortunately there are no humanitarian corridors. Intense shelling continues in the Donbas. According to Mariupol: the Russians refuse to provide a corridor for civilians in the direction of Berdyansk,” she posted on Telegram.

“We continue difficult negotiations on the opening of humanitarian corridors in Kherson and Kharkiv regions.”

The news comes as Ukrainian officials say Russia has officially begun its major offensive in the Donbas. State and local leaders have for weeks been urging civilians to flee while they still can.

— Natasha Turak

Russia has begun the battle for Donbas, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation.

“A very large part of the entire Russian army is now focused on this offensive,” he said.

He also said that Russian forces were increasing pressure in some other regions, with continued rocket strikes.

“Today’s strikes at Lviv, at the Dnipropetrovsk region and any other Russian strikes mean only one thing: we, the world and history will take from Russia much more than Russian missiles will take from Ukraine,” he said.

He added that the none of the missile strikes have changed the situation for Russia “tangibly.”

Zelenskyy also said that Ukraine’s accession to the European Union is an “integral” part of post-war reconstruction and the country’s future development.

“The status of a candidate for membership in the European Union will open for us unprecedented opportunities in our history for the restoration and modernization of Ukraine,” he said.

— Chelsea Ong

Japan said it will send protective gear and drones to Ukraine as part of its support effort.

Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said the items will include masks and clothing meant to protect against chemical weapons, according to Kyodo News.

“We will continue to provide as much support as possible to the Ukrainian government,” Kishi told a press conference.

The supplies follow a previous shipment of bulletproof vests and helmets to Ukraine, which Japan’s Ministry of Defense had called a “first case for us.”

— Chelsea Ong

The Ukrainian military says Russia’s long-expected offensive push into eastern Ukraine has started, with intensified assaults Monday in the Slobozhansky and Donetsk operational districts in the north and east of the country.

Increased attacks were also recorded near the cities of Izyum in the Kharkiv district and Sloviansk in the Donetsk district, as well as around Severodonetsk and Popasna in the Luhansk region, farthest east.

Earlier on Monday, a senior U.S. Defense official told reporters on a conference call that 11 additional Russian battalion tactical groups moved into Ukraine over the weekend, bringing the total number of BTGs up to 76. The official added that the majority of Russia’s ground forces have repositioned in eastern and southern Ukraine.

Russia is expected to deploy the additional troops in part to support the fighting of the main forces and to protect administrative buildings and infrastructure in Kremlin-occupied territories, said Oleksandr Shtupun, a spokesman for the General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces.

The attacks mark the start of what many analysts and combatants on both sides believe will be the most brutal chapter in Russia’s nearly two-month campaign to seize control of Ukraine and its 44 million citizens.

That effort that has so far failed, and the shift underway to concentrate firepower in areas of Ukraine that are already under Russian control is widely viewed as a way for Russian President Vladimir Putin to extract a smaller victory from the Kremlin’s large-scale defeat.

— Christina Wilkie