Following a sharp attack by its forces there, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced an attack on Donetsk.
In a statement on Thursday, he added that his forces were delivering major strikes in an important strategic area.
Putin is in command!
It comes after a Ukrainian official today indicated that Russian President Vladimir Putin had given orders to take control of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions by March next year.
The orders of the owner of the Kremlin came at the end of the first year of hostilities launched by Moscow, on the 24th of this month.
And Andriy Chernyak, a spokesman for the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, said in a statement to the Kyiv Post newspaper that there are signs that Russia is preparing a new attempt at a large-scale offensive and capture of the country’s eastern regions.
He stated that Russian forces would redeploy additional offensive groups, units, weapons and military equipment to the eastern region, explaining that Russia uses the lands of Belarus to train mobilized soldiers.
Clashes escalate in Donetsk
Sudden Russian move is close
Notably, last year Putin announced the annexation of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions to the Russian Federation, along with the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, which was met with widespread condemnation from the West.
Recently, several reports have suggested the possibility of a surprise Russian maneuver in the coming period, as Moscow seeks to make headway in Ukraine once military operations are completed in the first year.
