Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 55 of the invasion

Ukraine says the ‘second phase of the war’ has begun as Russian forces start their offensive in the Donbas region in east Ukraine. Photograph: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images

• The Russian offensive to seize eastern Ukraine and the “battle for Donbas” has begun, Ukraine’s president, Volodymr Zelenskiy, said. “Now we can already state that the Russian troops have begun the battle for the Donbas, for which they have been preparing for a long time,” he said in a video address, adding that a “significant part of the entire Russian army is now concentrated on this offensive”.

• The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, confirmed Moscow was starting a new stage of what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine. He predicted it would be a significant development.

• Russia’s defence ministry said Russian missile and artillery forces struck 1,260 targets in Ukraine overnight, and that anti-aircraft forces downed a Ukrainian MiG-29 jet in the Donetsk region. However, Russia’s new offensive is going “very cautiously” and will fail because Moscow’s forces lack the strength to break through Ukrainian defences, Ukraine’s presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych has said.