Russian forces attacked settlements in eastern Ukraine from the ground and air, officials said on Thursday, in support of the Kremlin's apparently scaled-back ambition of only securing the bulk of Ukrainian lands it has claimed in the war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has given conflicting statements on the goals of the war since his Feb. 24 invasion, but is now clear the aims include some expansion of Russia's borders, in contrast with comments made at the start of the"special military operation," when he said Moscow's plans did not include the occupation of Ukrainian land.
Near the city of Lysychansk, Russia deployed more troops to try to capture the village of Bilohorivka, Ukraine's governor of Luhansk region said, while a commander in another fought-over settlement described an intensifying Russian air offensive. Russian President Vladimir Putin has given conflicting statements on the goals of the war since his Feb. 24 invasion, but is now clear the aims include some expansion of Russia's borders, in contrast with comments made at the start of the "special military operation," when he said Moscow's plans did not include the occupation of Ukrainian land.
Warning that the war could be lengthy, Putin said Russia had made the Sea of Azov its "internal sea," now bounded by Russia and Russian-controlled territory in southern Ukraine including Crimea. In the settlement of Bakhmut and other parts of the Donetsk region that neighbors Luhansk, the assault killed nine civilians, the regional governor said. Ukrainian forces countered with barrages from rocket launchers, Reuters witnessed.On Thursday, Russian naval forces shot down a Ukrainian drone over the Black Sea, said the Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol, an important port and the largest city in Crimea.
A flurry of Russian diplomatic and military activity in Belarus in recent weeks has revived fears that Moscow is pressing its ally to get more involved in the Ukraine war.
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