Ukrainian forces reported heavy Russian bombardment and attempts to advance on several cities in Donetsk, a region in eastern Ukraine that became the main focus of the nearly sixmonth war, but said they repelled many of the attacks.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine also reported Russian bombing raids on more than a dozen towns on the southern front particularly the Kherson region, which is largely controlled by Russian forces but where Ukrainian troops are seizing territory.
The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine has received a great deal of attention amid fears of a catastrophe from renewed bombing raids in recent days, for which Russia and Ukraine have shared allegations.
UN SecretaryGeneral António Guterres has called for the establishment of a demilitarized zone around the plant, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Russian soldiers firing on or using the largest nuclear power plant in Europe as a base for shelling would become a “special target”. ” for Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The Zaporizhzhia Power Plant controls the southern shore of a huge reservoir on the Dnipro River. Ukrainian forces controlling towns on the opposite bank are heavily bombed by the Russian side.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which plans to inspect the facility, warns of a nuclear catastrophe if the fighting doesn’t stop. Nuclear experts fear the fighting could damage the plant’s fuel tanks or reactors.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine had often proposed various formats for peace talks to the Russian leadership, with no progress.
“So we have to defend ourselves, we have to respond to all forms of terror, to all cases of bombing heavy bombing that doesn’t stop for a single day,” he said in a video comment on Sunday.
Picture: UOL Art.No
east and south
Kyiv has for weeks said it is planning a counteroffensive to retake Zaporizhia and neighboring Kherson province, most of the territory Russia captured and still holds after the February 24 invasion.
Ukraine’s military command said on Sunday Russian soldiers continued to unsuccessfully attack Ukrainian positions near Avdiivka, which since 2014 has become one of the outposts of Ukrainian forces near Donetsk.
Ukrainian military expert Oleg Zhdanov said the situation in Avdiivka and nearby towns like Pisky is particularly difficult.
“We have insufficient artillery strength and our forces are asking for more support to defend Pisky,” he said in a video posted online. “But the city is basically under Ukrainian control.”