Indicating that the Moscow's campaign in Ukraine is entering a new stage, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Indian television broadcast on Tuesday that “the operation is continuing, and another phase of this operation is starting now.”
Lavrov's statement follows Ukrainian statements that Russia on Monday launched an offensive in the country's eastern industrial heartland, Donbas.
Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces for eight years in the mostly Russian-speaking region and have declared two independent republics that have been recognized by Moscow.
Lavrov alos added that the Russian operation is aimed at the “full liberation of the Donetsk and Luhansk republics.”
