Ukraine launches a counteroffensive in the south

In a significant new counteroffensive in the south, Ukraine claims to have breached Russian lines as its soldiers advance against the invaders.

The pro-Russian separatist forces had “retreated,” according to the Ukrainian military unit “Kakhova,” from their positions in Kherson.

On March 3, Russian soldiers took Kherson, the first significant city to fall as a result of Putin’s heinous invasion.

Today’s announcement by the southern military command that the long-awaited manoeuvre had been completed reflects Kyiv’s rising confidence as a result of the influx of Western military supplies.

According to Sergey Khlan, a local lawmaker and the regional governor’s advisor, “today there was a tremendous artillery strike on enemy positions throughout… the whole area of the seized Kherson region.”

This news marks the start of the de-occupation of the Kherson area, something we have been anticipating since the spring.

On the southern front, Ukrainian forces, according to Khlan, currently have “the edge.”

Bridges in the area have been the focus of many attacks in recent weeks in an effort to disrupt Russian military supply.

Khlan predicted that the area will be retaken by Kyiv’s troops by the end of September in late July.

Natalia Humeniuk, a spokeswoman for the Southern Command, said that recent Ukrainian attacks on Russian logistical networks in the south had “unquestionably crippled the adversary,” adding that more than 10 Russian ammo depots had been targeted in the previous week.

She didn’t want to be dragged into discussing the new attack, however.

She said that Russia’s troops in the south are “very formidable” and have been developed over a long period of time, adding that “any military operation requires quiet.”

In sharp contrast to its abortive effort to seize the capital Kyiv, Russia quickly took large portions of Ukraine’s south along the Black Sea coast, notably Kherson.

Ukraine has been attacking Russian ammo stores and disrupting supply lines using high-tech weaponry provided by the West.

In a briefing on Monday, Humeniuk said that Ukraine had destroyed more than 10 such munitions storage facilities in the previous week, adding that these strikes had “unquestionably damaged the adversary.”

Russian soldiers in southern Ukraine are still “very formidable,” she said, declining to provide further information about the counteroffensive.

The declaration of a counteroffensive on Telegram was rejected by Sergei Aksyonov, the governor of the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia has occupied from Ukraine, as “another phoney of Ukrainian propaganda.” Kherson is close to the Crimean Peninsula.

The announcement came as a delegation from the U.N. nuclear watchdog prepared to go to Ukraine to investigate the Zaporizhzhia nuclear station, which has become a flashpoint in the conflict after being taken by Russian troops in March but is being operated by Ukrainian personnel.

In response to concerns of a radiation catastrophe in a nation still troubled by the 1986 Chornobyl disaster, Moscow and Kyiv have swapped charges of shelling near the nuclear facility, Europe’s biggest and close to frontlines in the conflict.

The expedition, according to the IAEA, would examine plant personnel working conditions, assess physical damage, and “determine operation of safety & security systems.” Additionally, it would “conduct essential safeguards actions,” which alludes to monitoring nuclear material.

The Kremlin declared the IAEA mission “essential” on Monday and pleaded with the international community to put pressure on Ukraine to ease military tensions near the facility.

To prevent it from becoming a target, the United States, Ukraine, and the United Nations have demanded the removal of military hardware and people from the nuclear complex. However, the Kremlin once again rejected leaving the area.

Authorities in Zaporizhzhia are distributing iodine pills and instructing locals on how to utilise them in case of a radioactive leak as concerns about a nuclear catastrophe grow.

Nine further villages on the opposite bank of the Dnipro from the plant were shelled earlier, according to the Ukrainian military.

According to Russian news outlets, the Russian defence ministry said that its troops had shot down a Ukrainian drone that was attempting to strike the nuclear power plant. It said that radiation levels were normal and there was no significant harm.

The claims could not be independently confirmed by Reuters.

Last week, shelling caused two of the plant’s reactors to be disconnected from the electrical grid.

Energoatom, the state-owned nuclear enterprise of Ukraine, said that it was still unaware of any recent assaults on the facility.

Russian soldiers bombarded military and civilian infrastructure close to Bakhmut, Shumy, Yakovlivka, Zaytsevo, and Kodema in the Donetsk area of eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian military said early on Monday.

According to the governor of Donetsk province, Pavlo Kyrylenko, eight people were killed by Russian attacks on Sunday.

Russian officials deny targeting civilians.