Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Russia has started to bombard the Donbas region of Ukraine - warning that a "battle has begun".
In a video message on Monday evening, the leader of Ukraine told supporters and viewers that his country would not give up, no matter how hard Russia attacked.
The Donbas region was one of the key points for Vladimir Putin back when the "special military operation" was ordered on February 24.
Luhansk and Donetsk are the two main areas that the Kremlin have been focusing on for years, claiming they are "independent" from Ukraine. Zelenskyy said he and his forces "will defend ourselves" and pledged "not give up anything Ukrainian".
"A very large part of the entire Russian army is now focused on this offensive," he added, but said that Ukraine's forces will fight on "no matter how many Russian troops are driven there, we will fight".
Ukraine is believed to have between 40-50,000 soldiers in the Donbas, having spent years fighting there. Russia had initially targeted a number of Ukrainian cities with airstrikes and fighting, including Kyiv, Dniper and Lviv.
But after claiming their aims had been "generally accomplished", Putin withdrew his troops and changed the plan - leading to the increased level of attacks on the Donbas.
The Kremlin's defence officials said on Sunday that they had hit "hundreds" of military targets across the country.
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