The Battle to Liberate Donbass from Nazified Occupation Begun?

by Stephen Lendman

Since Monday, Russian military operations in and around Donbass greatly increased.

While its Defense Ministry hasn't announced the start of ground operations to liberate what remains of Ukrainian occupation of Donbass territory, what's ongoing looks like the train left the station.

Sergey Lavrov indicated that the liberation of what remains of occupied Donbass began, his remarks quoted in a same-day article. 

The liberation of Donbass throughout its territory is just a matter of time.

Only the duration and tactics of Russia's operation remain unknown.

Most likely, Russian forces will take care of business with increased intensity to declare mission accomplished as soon as possible — though triumph may be weeks away.

For what it's worth, puppet Zelensky said the following on Monday from his Polish hideout:

"We can now confirm that Russian troops have begun the battle for Donbass," his so-called chief of staff adding:

The "second phase of (conflict) has started in the east."

Defying indisputable reality otherwise, he added:

Ukrainians should "believe in our army (sic). It is very strong (sic)."

More on this below.

Related to the battle for Donbass and demilitarizing Ukraine, Russia's Defense Ministry spokesman General Igor Konashenkov announced the following on Monday.

"On the morning of 18 April, air-launched missiles fired by the Russian Aerospace Forces delivered a precision strike against the 124th Joint Logistics Center of the Logistics Forces Command of the Ukrainian armed forces near Lvov." 

"The logistics center and a large batch of foreign weapons delivered to Ukraine over the past six days from the US and European countries was destroyed."

On the same day, a large Ukrainian ammo depot was destroyed near Kiev.

So was a tactical missile repair facility.

Concentrations of Ukrainian troops, weapons, munitions and equipment were also struck in and around Donbass.

Last week, the Kremlin warned the Biden regime to stop sending weapons to Ukraine or face "unpredictable consequences."

What's reported above with more of the same ahead is what Moscow meant — notably how its demilitarization and deNazification of Ukraine intensified.

According to analyst Larry Johnson, Russian forces control Ukraine's "southern coast…with a combination of naval and ground forces."

The fall of Odessa is sure to follow, cutting off Ukraine entirely from the 

Black Sea.

In Western Ukraine, Russian forces destroyed three sites where US/Western weapons were stored.

At this time, "Russian tanks reportedly are bombarding Ukrainian positions" around Donbass.

Notably, Ukrainian forces are not counter-attacking.

It had the means, it would surely be used.

No counter-attack is clear evidence of Ukrainian units on their back foot.

In Mariupol and elsewhere, hundreds of Ukrainian forces have been laying down their arms and surrendering — thousands throughout April.

Johnson noted the following:

"The limited ability of Ukrainian forces to respond in kind means the units are hunkered down and taking a brutal beating." 

"If they poke their heads out of their bunkers, they are likely to lose their noggin."

"Besides physically killing Ukrainian soldiers, Russian sustained bombardments are also killing the will to fight among some of the units." 

"Significant numbers are surrendering to Russian units."

They'd rather live than fight and die.

Johnson also stressed that if Ukrainian forces were achieving battlefield successes, they'd be press briefings to tout them.

Their absence signifies defeats, not triumphs.

Russia destroyed Ukrainian command and control capabilities.

The inability of its military to "communicat(e) with front line units and ensure they are fully supplied with ammunition, weapons and food is a death spiral for any military organization," Johnson stressed.

Rosy scenario reports by Kiev, its state-controlled media and US/Western MSM are pure fiction.

Notably their fake news is unaccompanied by video and/or other evidence of Ukrainian battlefield successes.

It's clearly because they haven't occurred since Russia's campaign began on Feb. 24.

It's proceeding as planned to demilitarize and deNazify Ukraine, along with achieving other stated objectives.

It's just a matter of time before mission accomplished is announced by Moscow.

To minimize embarrassment for fake news reporting while pretending otherwise, MSM will likely to shift to a new narrative — while continuing all-out Russia bashing based on state-supplied talking points.