Russian missiles hit Ukraine’s Odesa region as the war is about to mark half a year According to Reuters

(Reuters) – Artillery shells pounded a city near Europe’s largest nuclear plant overnight and Russian missiles hit targets near Odesa, a Black Sea port and hub for Ukraine’s grain exports. , as the war approached the six-month mark on Wednesday.

August 24 will also mark 31 years of Ukraine’s independence from Soviet rule, and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a nightly video speech called for vigilance, saying Moscow could try “something that’s particularly ugly.”

Russian authorities said on Sunday they were investigating a suspected car bomb attack outside Moscow that killed the daughter of Alexander Dugin, a Russian extremist nationalist. , supporters of Russia absorb Ukraine.

While investigators said they were looking at “all versions” when determining who was responsible, the Russian Foreign Ministry speculated there may be a connection to Ukraine, which an adviser to Zelenskiy has said. rejected.

Mykhailo Podolyak said on Ukrainian television: “Ukraine has nothing to do with this because we are not a criminal country, like the Russian Federation, and moreover we are not a terrorist state.” supporters of the invasion of Moscow.

As Ukraine prepares to mark its Independence Day, engaging in a war that has flattened towns and cities, killed thousands and forced millions to flee, military and regional officials The region has reported more Russian attacks on targets in the east and south of the country.

Of particular concern was the shelling of Nikopol, a city located across the Dnipro River from Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine’s and Europe’s largest nuclear plant. It has been held by Russian forces since March.

Regional governor Valentyn Reznichenko wrote on Telegram that Nikopol was shot on five different occasions during the night. He said 25 shells hit the city, causing a fire at an industrial facility and cutting power to 3,000 residents.

Fighting near Zaporizhzhia and Saturday’s missile attack on the southern Ukrainian town of Voznesensk, not far from Ukraine’s second-largest nuclear plant, have raised fears of a nuclear accident.

On Sunday, US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had a phone call highlighting the importance of ensuring the safety of nuclear facilities, while underlining their “unwavering commitment” to Ukraine.

CRISIS STORIES

Local authorities also reported missile attacks overnight in the Odesa region, home to ports vital to a United Nations-brokered plan to help export Ukrainian agricultural products, key to supplies. global food supply, access to world markets again.

A regional government spokesman said five Russian Kalibr cruise missiles were fired from the Black Sea into the area overnight, citing information from the southern military command. Two were shot down by Ukrainian air defenses and three hit an agricultural target, but there were no casualties.

On Sunday, Russia said the missile destroyed an ammunition depot containing US-made HIMARS missiles, while Kyiv said a granary had been hit.

There have been no new reports of incidents in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, following a series of explosions that have caused a stir in recent weeks.

In his speech, Zelenskiy mentioned explosions for which Ukraine did not claim responsibility, but analysts said at least some were possible thanks to new equipment used by its forces.

“You can feel Crimea in the air this year, that the occupation there is temporary and Ukraine is coming back,” Zelenskiy said.

In the latest incident, a drone attack on the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea fleet was thwarted Saturday morning, according to a Telegram post by Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian-appointed governor of Crimea. responsibility, who is not recognized by the West.

In a daily update on Facebook (NASDAQ:), the Ukrainian general staff also reported several Russian attacks in the last 24 hours in Donbas, the eastern region controlled by pro-Moscow separatists and Russia’s target in recent months.

To the south, Russian forces conducted a successful attack on the village of Blahodatne on the border between Kherson and Mykolaiv regions, it said. The city of Mykolaiv was hit by multiple S-300 missiles early Sunday morning, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said on Telegram.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces destroyed two M777 howitzers at combat positions in the Kherson region and a fuel depot in the Zaporizhzhia region.

Reuters was unable to independently verify the battlefield reports.