© Reuters. An empty street is seen in Bakhmut, as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine August 14, 2022. REUTERS / Nacho Doce
2/4
By Natalia Zinets
KYIV (Reuters) – Ukrainian forces said Russia had heavily shelled and attempted to enter several towns in eastern Donetsk that have become the main focus of the nearly six-month war, but said They repelled many attacks.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine also said that Russia shelled more than a dozen towns on the southern front – in particular the Kherson area, which is controlled mainly by Russian forces, but where Ukrainian troops are located. gradually taking over the territory.
Much attention is focused on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine amid fears of a disaster caused by fresh shelling in recent days that Russia and Ukraine blame each other.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for a demilitarized zone to be established, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has warned Russian soldiers to shoot at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant or use it as a base to firing from which they would become “special targets” of Ukrainian forces.
The Zaporizhzhia tree dominates the southern bank of a vast reservoir on the Dnipro River. Ukrainian forces controlling towns and cities on the opposite bank have come under intense shelling from the Russian-held side.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, which is seeking to inspect the plant, has warned of a nuclear disaster unless hostilities stop. Nuclear experts fear the fighting could damage the plant’s spent fuel tanks or reactors.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine has repeatedly proposed different forms to the Russian leadership for peace talks, but no progress has been made.
“So we have to defend ourselves, we have to deal with every form of terrorism, every case of shelling – the fierce shelling leaves not a single day,” he said in a video comment at the end of the day. Sunday.
FIGHT IN THE EAST, SOUTH SOUTH
For weeks, Kyiv said it was planning a counter-offensive to retake Zaporizhzhia and neighboring Kherson province, the largest piece of territory Russia seized since the February 24 invasion and still holds.
Ukraine’s military command said early Sunday that Russian soldiers had continued to unsuccessfully attack Ukrainian positions near Avdiivka, which since 2014 have become one of the force’s outposts. Ukraine near Donetsk.
Ukrainian military expert Oleg Zhdanov said the situation was especially difficult in Avdiivka and neighboring towns, such as Pisky.
“We don’t have enough artillery power in place and our forces are asking for more support to protect Pisky,” he said in a video posted online. “But the town is basically under Ukrainian control.”
Reuters was unable to independently verify the battlefield accounts.
Russia called the invasion of Ukraine a “special military operation” aimed at demilitarizing and “demilitarizing” its smaller neighbour. The war has pushed Moscow-Washington ties to a low, with Russia warning it could sever ties.
While Russia has been largely isolated on the global diplomatic stage, North Korean state media on Monday reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin had told leader Kim Jong Un that the two countries would expand ties. comprehensive and constructive”.
In July, North Korea recognized as independent “people’s republics” the Russian-backed separatists of Donetsk and Luhansk, and officials raised the prospect that the country’s workers would be sent there to help with construction and other labor.
Ukraine immediately cut ties with Pyongyang because of this move.
GRAY TEAM
Amid the fighting, many Ukrainian grain ships have left or are preparing to do so as part of a late-July agreement aimed at easing the global food crisis.
A cargo from Ethiopia, the first since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is set to leave in the next few days, while sources say the first grain-carrying ship to leave Ukraine under a Union agreement. The United Nations is approaching Syria.
“The world needs Ukraine’s food,” Marianne Ward, deputy country director of the World Food Program, told reporters. “This is the beginning of what we hope is normalcy for the hungry people of the world.”
Aid agencies bought more than 800,000 tons of grain in Ukraine last year.
