Russia's forces carried out dozens of air strikes in eastern Ukraine overnight after Ukrainian officials said Moscow had launched a major offensive, the defence ministry said Tuesday.

The ministry said that "high-precision air-based missiles" had hit 13 Ukrainian positions in parts of the Donbas, including the key town of Slovyansk, and that other air strikes "hit 60 military assets of Ukraine", including in towns close to the eastern frontline.

It said Russian troops destroyed two warehouses containing warheads of Tochka-U tactical missiles in Chervona Polyana, in the region of Lugansk, and in Balakliia in the Kharkiv region.

A total of 1,260 military targets were hit by rockets and artillery overnight, the ministry said in a statement.

"Russian air defence systems shot down a Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter near the village of Malynivka in the Donetsk region," the statement added.

Late Monday, authorities in Kyiv said that Russia had launched a major offensive in eastern Ukraine, opening a new phase of its nearly two-month military campaign.

Russian forces capture Kreminna in east Ukraine; As Putin lauds tainted brigade
Novodruzhesk, Ukraine (AFP) April 18, 2022 – Russian troops on Monday captured the east Ukraine town of Kreminna, local authorities said, as Kyiv's armed forces launched salvoes on Russian forces in the nearby settlement of Rubizhne.

"There was a major attack in the night" from Sunday to Monday in Kreminna, the Lugansk regional governor Sergiy Gaiday said in a statement on social media.

"The Russian army has already entered there, with a huge amount of military hardware… Our defenders have retreated to new positions," he added.

Ukraine's security and defence council secretary Oleksiy Danilov confirmed the Russian offensive in the east.

"Almost along the entire front line in the territory of Donetsk, Lugansk and Kharkiv regions, the invaders tried to break through our defences," he said.

"Fortunately, our military is holding on."

They had however broken through in two places, he added: "Kremennaya and another small town. But the fighting continues. We do not surrender our territories."

Kreminna, with a pre-war population of nearly 20,000 people, is around 50 kilometres (31 miles) northeast of Kramatorsk, the region's administrative centre, and is a strategic target for invading Russian forces.

Rubizhne, which is under Russian control, was under intense fire from Ukrainian artillery and mortars, AFP journalists reported.

Powerful explosions could be seen in Rubizhne, sometimes followed by fires and plumes of white or black smoke.

In Kharkiv meanwhile, fresh Russian shelling killed three people and wounded 15 others, said the region's governor Oleg Sinegubov.

Russian forces have stepped up their offensive to capture the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine having pulled back troops deployed around the capital Kyiv at the beginning of the invasion in late February.

Putin honours brigade accused by Ukraine of 'war crimes'
Moscow (AFP) April 18, 2022 –

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday bestowed an honorary title on a brigade accused by Ukraine of "war crimes" and mass killings in the town of Bucha.

The announcement was made on the 54th day of Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine, with thousands killed and 12 million people fleeing their homes or country in the biggest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.

A decree signed by Putin gave the 64th Motor Rifle Brigade the title of "Guards" for defending the "Motherland and state interests" and praised the "mass heroism and valour, tenacity and courage" of its members.

In early April, the Ukrainian defence ministry said the unit occupied the town outside the capital Kyiv and committed "war crimes".

The Ukrainian defence ministry's Intelligence Directorate published the names, ranks and passports details of members of the brigade, saying they will face justice.

A majority of the people killed in Bucha died from gunshot wounds, Ukrainian police said last week.

After the departure of Russian troops, bodies of men dressed in civilian clothes, some with their hands tied, were found scattered in the streets, according to AFP.

The Kremlin has rejected accusations that Russian forces were responsible for killing civilians near Kyiv and suggested images of corpses were "fakes".