Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned on Friday of fighting in Donbas that could lead to the biggest war in centuries. Speaking to the German newspaper BILD, owned by Axel Springer, the parent company of Insider, Zelenskyy predicted intense fighting in the coming days. “It could be a big war in Donbass – as people have not seen in hundreds of years,” Paul Ronzheimer told BILD. “We will continue to defend our country until the end,” he said. This creepy prediction echoes what Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said to NATO members on Thursday. “The battle for Donbass will remind you of World War II,” Kuleba said. He used this warning to immediately call on Western allies to provide more heavy weapons, including air defense systems, artillery, armored vehicles and jets. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces are regrouping for a new eastern offensive in the Donbas region after failing to occupy Kyiv. President Zelensky was speaking after a Russian rocket attack struck a train station in eastern Ukraine that was full of people who had fled their homes. More than 50 people were killed. The bomber struck shortly after noon in front of a rally in Kramatorsk, a town in Donetsk, which also houses pro-Russian separatist forces. Donetsk is part of the Donbas region. Donbass integrates Luhansk and Donetsk, which extends from outside Mariupol to the southern to northern borders. Even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Ukraine had been fighting Russian-backed separatists in the region since 2014. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday that “they expect a major attack” on Donbass. Stoltenberg told reporters that a battle could last for “weeks, but also months, and possibly years.” The United States is providing information to Ukraine about an operation in Donbas before the battle, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Thursday. Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk has encouraged Ukrainians living in the east to escape as long as they can. He said civilians would “come under fire” if they did not flee.
