Ukraine Russia Conflict: Russia accuses US and its Western allies of “doing everything to drag out” Russia's attack on Ukraine

Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, accused US and its Western allies of “doing everything to drag out” Russia's military operation in Ukraine by supplying Kyiv with arms. "We are gradually implementing our plan to liberate the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics" he said. 

"We are taking measures to restore peaceful life" he added. 

Russia launched a war on Ukraine on February 24. However, according to the latest updates, The Russian offensive to seize eastern Ukraine and the “battle for Donbas” has begun, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said. According to the senior US defence department, Russia has 76 battalion tactical groups in the Donbas region of Ukraine and in the country’s southeast with 11 of those added over the last several days. No fewer than 1,000 civilians are reportedly hiding in underground shelters beneath the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, according to the city council. Most of the civilians are believed to be women with children and elderly people. About 40,000 civilians in the city have been forcibly moved to Russia or Russian-controlled regions of Ukraine, the mayor added. Meanwhile, seven people were killed in strikes in the western city of Lviv.