Eusebio R. Sheffield 
Zelenskyy: the Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine has begun
A powerful blast also rocked Vasylkiv, a town south of the capital of kyiv that is home to an airbase, residents say
Evgeny Maloletka, Associated Press
Yehor, 7, holds a wooden toy rifle next to destroyed Russian military vehicles near Chernihiv, Ukraine, Sunday, April 17, 2022.
LVIV, Ukraine — Russia on Monday launched its dreaded large-scale offensive to take control of eastern Ukraine, attacking across a broad front more than 300 miles (480 kilometers) long, officials said Ukrainians in what marked the opening of a new and potentially decisive phase of the war.
“Russian troops have started the battle for Donbass,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced in a video address. He said that a “significant part of the entire Russian army is now focused on this offensive”.
Donbas is the industrial heartland of mostly Russian-speaking Ukraine to the east, where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces for eight years and have declared two independent republics recognized by Russia.
https://www.startribune.com/zelenskyy-russian-offensive-in-eastern-ukraine-has-begun/600165757/
