Russia’s military operation in Ukraine is entering a new phase, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has told Indian media. In an interview aired on Tuesday, Lavrov said the goals of the military action in Ukraine had been declared by Moscow from the start, and one of those goals was the capture of the entire territory claimed by the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics as their sovereign territory. Russian Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov stated on Tuesday that a new phase of the special operation in Ukraine has begun.

“This endeavor will continue. Another stage of this operation is beginning,” he confirmed. “And I am sure this will be a very important moment of this entire special undertaking.”

There were reports of intensified hostilities in eastern Ukraine late on Monday. The Russian defense ministry reported on Tuesday morning that its troops had delivered artillery strikes at 1,260 Ukrainian military targets overnight, including 1,214 locations where Ukrainian troops amassed their forces.

In addition to the artillery strikes, Russian warplanes targeted 60 military sites in Ukraine, the update stated, including 53 locations with a large presence of Ukrainian troops and military hardware.

“We are not up for regime change in Ukraine,” Lavrov said in his interview with broadcaster India Today.

The diplomat stressed that Russia had no other choice but to start the operation, as Ukrainian forces had intensified attacks in Donbass, prompting mass evacuations of civilians from the region and forcing the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics to ask Moscow for help.

Once again, Lavrov stated that the Russian forces are targeting only Ukrainian military infrastructure. He said that Moscow is considering only the option of using conventional weapons during the military operation in at this stage.

Military hardware is pictured in Bugas, Donetsk People’s Republic. Tension began to escalate in Donbass on 17 February, with the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic reporting the most intense shellfire in months. Early on 24 February, Russia’s President Putin announced his decision to launch a special military operation in response to requests from the leaders of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic.

The minister also mentioned that Russia had changed the positioning of its forces in Ukraine after the Istanbul talks as a gesture of good will and commitment to peace. But this was not respected properly by Kiev, as Ukrainian authorities immediately staged a provocation in Bucha in a bid to slander Russia.

Russia launched its special operation back in February, aiming to stop the eight-year-long war in Donbass waged by Kiev. President Vladimir Putin called the conflict, which claimed thousands of lives, a genocide, and stressed that Russia’s goals are the de-Nazification and demilitarisation of Ukraine.

Russia attacked the neighboring state in late February, following Ukraine’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German and French brokered protocols were designed to give the breakaway regions special status within the Ukrainian state.

The Kremlin has since demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the two republics by force.

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