Russian foreign minister: ‘Another stage of this operation is beginning’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a new interview aired on Tuesday that “another stage of this operation is beginning” in reference to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Another stage of this operation is beginning, and I’m sure this will be a very important moment of this entire special operation,” Lavrov said in an interview with India Today, which was shared by Yahoo! News and Reuters.

The development comes as Ukraine continues to battle to ward off Russia, which launched its invasion into the neighboring nation more than 50 days ago. 

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry warned in an update on Tuesday that Russia “is trying to continue offensive operations in the Eastern Operational Zone in order to establish full control over the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, as well as to maintain a land corridor with the temporarily occupied Crimea.”

Russian forces are launching a renewed offensive in eastern Ukraine after Russia was unsuccessful at seizing the capital city of Kyiv during the start of the conflict. 

“The main efforts of the enemy are focused on breaking through the defence of Ukrainian troops in Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, as well as establishing full control over the city of Mariupol. In the Zaporozhzhia oblast, the concentration of units of the russian occupying forces continues in certain areas,” the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said. 

Officials, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, have also warned about the possibility that Russia could resort to using nuclear weapons if necessary, with the president’s remarks providing a shift of tone from last month when he had previously called a nuclear threat a “bluff.”

“They could do it, for them the life of the people [means] nothing,” Zelensky told CNN’s Jake Tapper in an interview. “We should think, not be afraid, be ready. But that is not a question … only for Ukraine but for all the world, I think so.”