Ukraine War News
Ukrainian authorities are preparing for a major Russian offensive in the country's east. They say the latest push by Russian forces in eastern Donbas region has already begun.
Here's the latest:
New general: Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed a new general to direct the war. Officials told CNN that Army General Alexander Dvornikov, the commander of Russia’s Southern Military District, has been named as theater commander of the campaign in Ukraine. He was the first commander of Russia's military operations in
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia would launch full-scale combat actions in the east, but said: "we are ready." Speaking during a TV address, he also accused the Russian leadership of "lying" in an attempt to shift responsibility for the war.
The death toll from a Russian missile strike on a railway station in Kramatorsk on Friday has risen to 57. Another railway station in eastern Ukraine was hit by Russian shelling, the chairman of Ukraine's state railway company said
Russian-Ukrainian talks: Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Sunday that it would be "extremely difficult" to think about negotiations after alleged Russian atrocities, citing examples from Kramatorsk and the town of Bucha. However, Kuleba said that if talks can help prevent "at least one massacre ... I have to take that opportunity."
Russian forces continue to amass in the Donbas region, and a senior Ukrainian official has warned that Russia's latest offensive has already begun. Vadym Denysenko, an adviser to Ukraine's interior minister, said in remarks on national television, "From my point of view, this big offensive (in eastern Ukraine) has already started."
"We have to understand it's not going to be the repetition of Feb. 24, when the first airstrikes and explosions started and we said, 'The war has begun.' The big offensive de-facto has already started."
Ukrainian and Western officials have said in recent days they have observed the movement of Russian troops to Donbas following major setbacks for Moscow in a push to take Kyiv.
"Russians are assembling their forces," Denysenko said. "They continue to redeploy their troops and equipment to Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
"Yes, there are still no major battles that are being discussed so much in the past few days. But in general, we could say the offensive has already started."
Denysenko noted explosions overnight.
A railway station in eastern Ukraine was hit by Russian shelling, the chairman of Ukraine's state railway company said Monday.
"Last night another railway station in the east of Ukraine was shelled by Russian troops," chairman Oleksandr Kamyshin said on Telegram.
"They continue to hit, aiming at railway infrastructure. There are no casualties either among civilians or among railway workers."
Damage to the locomotives, tracks, and power lines is unfortunate, but we will restore what is lost, Kamyshin said.
Some context: A railway station in Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine that was being used by civilians trying to reach safety was hit in a Russian missile strike Friday, authorities said. At least 57 people were killed and 109 were wounded in the attack as of Sunday, according to Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the Donetsk regional military administration.
Russian forces have been repeatedly denying accusations of indiscriminately killing civilians in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, instead of blaming Ukrainian forces for staging provocations.
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