LVIV, Apr 19 (AP/BBC): After days of regrouping and reinforcing, the Russian military began a new and potentially climactic phase of the war in Ukraine by launching its long-feared, full-scale ground offensive to take control of the country's industrial heartland, the Donbas, Ukrainian officials said.
The stepped-up assaults began Monday along a broad front of over 300 miles (480 kilometers), Ukrainian officials said.
"The Russian troops have begun the battle for the Donbas," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced in a video address. He said a "significant part of the entire Russian army is now concentrated on this offensive."
Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces for eight years in the mostly Russian-speaking Donbas and have declared two independent republics that have been recognized by Russia. Russia has declared the capture of the Donbas to be its main goal in the war since its attempt to seize the capital, Kyiv, failed.
"No matter how many Russian troops are driven there, we will fight," Zelenskyy vowed. "We will defend ourselves."
Before the offensive got underway, Russia bombarded the western city of Lviv and other targets in what appeared to be an intensified bid to grind down the country's defenses.
The Ukraine military's general staff said Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces had intensified assaults in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions - both part of the Donbas - and in the area of Zaporizhzhia.
On Monday morning, "almost along the whole front line of the Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv regions, the occupiers attempted to break through our defenses," Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's national security council, told Ukrainian media. "Fortunately, our military is holding out. They passed through only two cities. This is Kreminna and another small town."
There were street battles in Kreminna, and Russian forces took control of the city, according to Luhansk regional military administrator Serhiy Haidai. He told Ukrainian TV that heavy artillery fire set seven residential buildings on fire and targeted a sports complex where the nation's Olympic team trains.
Captured Britons appeal for
UK help on Russian TV
Two British men reportedly captured by Russian forces while fighting in Ukraine have appeared on Russian state TV appealing to Boris Johnson for help.
Shaun Pinner, 48, and Aiden Aslin, 28, were shown in two separate videos on Monday, asking to be exchanged with a pro-Russian politician held in Ukraine.
It is not clear if their pleas to the prime minister, shown on the Rossiya 24 channel, were made under duress.
The Foreign Office called on the Kremlin to treat prisoners humanely.
A source from the department condemned "the exploitation of prisoners of war for political purposes".
In the two clips, Mr Aslin and Mr Pinner address the prime minister, asking to be exchanged for pro-Kremlin politician Viktor Medvedchuk. In his video, Mr Aslin speaks while an unidentified man stands over him.
Mr Medvedchuk has also appeared in a video, released by Ukraine's intelligence service.
Both Britons had been living in Ukraine before it was invaded and have Ukrainian partners.
They had both been serving as marines in Ukraine's military.
