According to a report launched on Wednesday, Ukrainian forces within the northeastern Kharkiv area have retaken elements of Russian-held territory as a Ukrainian retaliation within the south depleted a few of Moscow’s sources within the area.
Ukrainian forces within the Kharkiv area are “potentially exploiting the redistribution of Russian forces” within the areas close to the occupied metropolis of Kherson within the south, within the province “to launch an opportunistic yet highly effective retaliation”, a Washington-based assume tank Institute for the Study of War stated.
A view of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Plant and the Dnipro River on the opposite aspect of Nikopol, Ukraine, on August 22, 2022. (AP picture/Evgeny Maloletka, file)
The report stated Ukrainian forces used a “tactical surprise” on Wednesday to advance not less than 12 miles (20 kilometers) into Russian-occupied territory within the Kharkiv area, about 155 sq. miles (400 sq. kilometers) of land. Occupied.
Vitaly Ganachev, the Moscow-backed mayor of the town of Kupiyansk within the Russian-occupied Kharkiv area, stated on Thursday that authorities had begun evacuating girls and kids from the town and surrounding areas on account of continued shelling by Ukraine.
In his nightly video handle on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky additionally reported success within the Kharkiv area, however didn’t give particulars on its scope.
“This week now we have excellent news from Kharkiv area. You have most likely already seen studies in regards to the exercise of the Ukrainian defenders, and I believe that each citizen is pleased with our warriors,” stated Zelensky.
The features got here as Ukraine continued a counteroffensive within the southern Kherson area, the place Ukrainian forces have been attempting to retake the realm from the Russians and claimed to have captured an unspecified variety of cities.
The Institute for the Study of War studies that Ukraine’s ongoing operations close to Kherson have compelled Russian forces to shift their focus to the south, permitting Ukrainian forces to assault Ukraine’s second largest metropolis, Kharkiv. The move can launch a neighborhood however extremely efficient counterattack.
Zelensky’s presidential adviser, Oleksey Erestovich, additionally spoke of Ukrainian features close to Kharkiv late Wednesday, saying they might assist intercept provides to Russian forces within the area and doubtlessly fall beneath their siege.
Meanwhile, tensions continued round Europe’s largest nuclear energy plant, the place Ukraine and Russia have accused one another of threatening nuclear catastrophe by shelling close to the power.
A mattress lined with damaged glass is seen from the shattered window of a psychiatric hospital closely broken after the Russian assault in Krematoresk, Ukraine, Wednesday, September 7, 2022. (AP picture/Leo Korea)
Dnipropetrovsk governor Valentin Reznichenko stated the cities of Nikopol and Marhanets, which face the Zaporizhzhya nuclear energy plant throughout the Dnieper River, had been uncovered to Russian shelling in a single day, leaving condo buildings, a college, some industrial amenities and electrical energy. traces had been broken. province.
“The nuclear threat due to Russia’s insane actions is not diminishing and we need to consider all possible scenarios, including the worst,” Reznichenko stated in televised remarks.
The head of the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, has warned that “something very, very catastrophic could happen” on the Zaporizhzhia plant and urged Russia and Ukraine to determine “nuclear security and security protection zones”. did. This.
The worry is that the combating might set off a catastrophe on the size of the Chernobyl catastrophe in Ukraine in 1986. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk urged residents of Russian-occupied areas close to the ability plant to evacuate, including that Ukrainian authorities have urged Russians to determine humanitarian corridors to evacuate native residents. not discovered
“The Russians continue to blackmail Ukrainians and the whole world,” Vereshchuk stated. “The Russian state engages in nuclear terrorism, setting the first such precedent in the history of mankind.”
Ukraine’s Enerhotom firm, which oversees the nation’s nuclear crops, stated staff on the Zaporizhzhya plant had been persevering with restore work Thursday to revive not less than one of many seven energy traces on the plant, which permit cooling. continues to function with solely one of many six reactors working to be operated. system pumps.
Enerhoatom chief Petro Kotin stated proposals to enhance safety on the IAEA plant might solely be carried out if Russian troops had been launched and changed by a peacekeeping drive.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
