According to Russian news sources:
The Russian military and its Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republic allies began an operation in Ukraine on Thursday amid unceasing attacks by the Ukrainian military and nationalist units of the Ukrainian National Guard targeting the Donbass with artillery, mortar and sniper fire. The conflict is the culmination of a crisis which began in 2014.
Russia didn’t start the years-old conflict in Ukraine, but is seeking to bring it to an end, Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov has said.
“Hostilities by the regime in Kiev and the systematic extermination of the inhabitants of the Donbass went on for eight years. In the course of this war, over 14,000 people, including hundreds of children, were killed. This had to be stopped. It was necessary to put an end to the endless threats from the regime in Kiev against Russia. And Russia will do so,” Konashenkov said in a briefing Monday.
Commenting on the situation at the front, the officer reported that Donetsk People’s Republic forces were completing the encirclement of the city of Mariupol, while Lugansk People’s Republic forces have advanced 23 km with fire support assistance from Russia, taking control of the settlements of Novaya Astrakhan and Borovenki.
Situated in southeastern Ukraine on the north coast of the Sea of Azov, Mariupol served as a major Ukrainian military and volunteer battalion outpost during the war in the Donbass. Today, the city is feared to contain a major concentration of forces from the Azov Regiment – an openly neo-Nazi volunteer unit of the Ukrainian National Guard. The city is also home to more than 400,000 civilians, and the Russian military has expressed concerns about their fate, citing indiscriminate Azov artillery attacks using Grad launchers against areas which their forces have fallen back from.
Konashenkov also clarified Monday that Russian conscripts are not involved in the military operation in Ukraine, and that only officers and contract servicemen from the ranks of private to sergeant are taking part.
He said further that “all settlements which have come under the control of the Russian military are continuing life as normal,” with critical infrastructure and transport remaining operational, and most city administrations, in agreements with the Russian command, agreeing to joint law enforcement to maintain order. On Sunday, the MoD issued footage of a joint operation by Russian and Ukrainian forces to ensure security around the Chernobyl nuclear plant, which is situated north of Kiev.
