Russian forces have started the battle for Donbas, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said in a video address, adding that Kyiv will defend itself.
"Russian forces have started the battle for Donbas for which they've been preparing for a long time and a considerable amount of the Russian forces are concentrated and focused on that offensive," Zelensky said, according to CNN.
"No matter how many Russian servicemen they're bringing into that area, we will keep on fighting and defending and we will be doing this daily. We will not give up anything that is Ukrainian but we don't need anything that is not ours," Zelenskyy added.
According to Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, Russian forces had launched an effort to break through Ukrainian front lines in three regions.
Today, almost along the entire front line of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kharkiv regions, the occupiers tried to break through our defenses," he said in remarks on television, CNN reported.
"Fortunately, our military is holding on, and only in two cities they (the Russians) have passed: Kreminna and another small town. But the fighting continues, we are not surrendering our territories and the attempt to start an active phase has begun this morning," he said.
Meanwhile, the US has sent four planes loaded with security assistance to Ukraine over the weekend and made one more delivery on Monday.
"There were four planes that arrived of military assistance over the course of the weekend, another one is supposed to arrive today if it hasn't already from the USD 800 million package the President announced," White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said during a press briefing today.
Moreover, the US Department of Defense said that America wants to see Ukraine as a winner in a fight against Russia, and Pentagon is doing everything possible to do that.
"We want Ukraine to win this fight (with Russia) and we are doing everything we can here, at the Department of Defense, to make sure they have the capabilities to do that," US Department of Defense press secretary John Kirby told CNN, as per Sputnik.
On February 24, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk requested help to defend them from intensifying attacks by Ukrainian troops.
( With inputs from ANI )
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