War in Ukraine: Russia bombs cities at the start of the eastern offensive

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia launched an offensive to take over the eastern Donbas region.

Moscow bombarded cities with rocket also artillery fire on Monday, and in a video speech, Zelenskyy said the battle "for the Donbas had begun."

Ukraine's top security official Alexei Danilov said Russia was trying to break through the Ukrainian front lines in the region.

The offensive was long overdue after Russia failed to seize Kyiv.

At first, it seemed like Russia wanted to take over Ukraine's big cities and overthrow the government.

But after facing stiff resistance, Russian defense officials said their primary objective was the "first phase of the operation" had been "generally achieved," and their troops had been removed from areas around the capital.

Russian President Vladimir Putin described the invasion as an attempt to demilitarize and "denationalize" Ukraine, which Ukraine also its allies have dismissed as a tactic for unprovoked attacks.

Throughout Monday, Russia launched rocket and artillery fire in several eastern areas, killing eight civilians in the city of Kremina Luhansk and the Donetsk region.

Seven people were killed also 11 others injured in four Russian attacks in western Lviv, a city that has been largely spared from attacks elsewhere in Ukraine.

Map of Russian-held Donbas territories

The governor of the Luhansk region said the situation was "hellish," with constant fighting being reported in several cities.

In Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, the district governor said the evacuation of civilians was underway in areas where fierce clashes were expected.

Russian defense officials said their troops hit hundreds of military targets in Ukraine on Sunday night, including 16 military bases in the Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Donetsk, and Dnipropetrovsk regions and a port at Nikolaev in southern and eastern Ukraine. In a video message late Monday, Zelenskyy said he and his troops "will defend themselves" and vowed, "to surrender nothing from Ukraine."

"Most of the entire Russian army is now focused on this attack," he added, but said that Ukrainian troops would fight, "no matter how many Russian troops are sent there, we will fight."

Moscow said last month that it controlled 93% of Luhansk and 54% of Donetsk, and its forces were expected to try to outflank other Ukrainian troops in the region.

But they faced a protracted battle with some of Kiev's most brutal troops. Ukraine has between 40,000 and 50,000 troops stationed in the Donbass, many of whom have spent years fighting Russian-backed separatists in the region.