Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Russia has begun their long-anticipated assault to take control of eastern Ukraine.
He said: “We can now confirm that Russian troops have begun the battle for the Donbas, which they have been preparing for a long time.
“A large part of the Russian army is now dedicated to this offensive.
"No matter how many Russian soldiers are brought here, we will fight. We will defend ourselves."
His comments came in a video address that followed a number of reports of Russia stepping up its attacks.
Zelensky's chief of staff said that the assault on Donbas marked the "second phase" of the war.
Ukraine's top security official also said that Russian forces had attempted to break through almost the entire frontline in Donetsk, Luhansk and the Kharkiv region.
His comments follow warnings from senior officials in Ukraine and the West that Russia was redirecting troops and resources to towards the country’s east.
Initially, Russia claimed it was pulling troops out of parts of northern Ukraine, especially around the capital Kyiv, as apart of the ongoing efforts to reach a diplomatic solution.
However, it quickly became apparent, Putin and the Kremlin were trying to reorganise their troops and resources after stoic Ukrainian resistance and poor tactics led to their invasion stalling.
This led to them focusing their troops in the East of Ukraine, where there is heavy pro-Russian sentiment.
And now fighting there, could end up looking like the Second World War, Ukraine's foreign minister has warned.
Dmytro Kuleba told NATO allies sent out the terrifying warning in the days before the second wave of attacks begun.
Speaking after talks with NATO foreign ministers at the alliance’s Brussels headquarters on April 7, he said: “The Battle for Donbas - and I regret to say it but this is true - will remind of the Second World War with large populations, manoeuvres, involvement of thousands of tanks, armoured vehicles, planes, artillery.”
This comes after Western Officials warned that Putin may have looked to double or even triple the number of Russian forces in the eastern Donbas region ahead of the assault.
One official told reporters on April 4: “I would imagine that, at outside estimates, what you’re looking at is a force which is probably the Russians looking to double or even treble the amount of force that they bring into that Donbas area.
“But I would note that that is going to take some considerable time to bring them up to that sort of number."
So far the conflict has displaced nearly five million Ukrainians and taken tens of thousands of lives.
After an initial push to seize Ukraine's cities and urban centres, Moscow pivoted to relentless air attacks and bombings on civilian targets.
Only today, Ukrainian offiicals have said at least 17 people have died.
This included seven in the western city of Lviv, which had been largely untouched until now.
