KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian forces on Friday claimed new success of their counteroffensive in opposition to Russian forces within the nation’s east, taking management of a large village and pushing towards an essential transport junction.
The United States’ high diplomat and the pinnacle of NATO famous the advances, however cautioned that the battle is more likely to drag on for months.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recommended the army for its good points within the east, saying in a nightly video handle that Ukrainian troops have reclaimed greater than 30 settlements within the Kharkiv area for the reason that begin of the counteroffensive there this week.
“We are gradually taking control over more settlements, returning the Ukrainian flag and protection for our people.” Zelenskyy stated.
Ukraine’s army stated it additionally launched new assaults on Russian pontoon bridges used to convey provides throughout the Dnieper River to Kherson, one of many largest Russian-occupied cities, and the adjoining area. Ukrainian artillery and rocket strikes have left all common bridges throughout the river unusable, the army’s southern command stated.
Anxiety elevated about Europe’s largest nuclear energy plant, which was working in emergency mode Friday for the fifth straight day as a result of battle. That prompted the pinnacle of the U.N. atomic watchdog to name for the institution of a direct security zone across the plant to stop a nuclear accident.
The six-reactor Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant got here beneath the management of Russian forces early within the battle however is being operated by Ukrainian employees. The plant and surrounding areas have been repeatedly hit by shelling that Russia and Ukraine blame on one another. The final energy line connecting the plant to the Ukrainian electrical energy grid was reduce Monday, leaving the plant with out an out of doors supply of electrical energy. It is receiving energy for its personal security programs from the one reactor — out of six whole — that continues to be operational.
In different advances, the Ukrainian army stated it took management of the village of Volokhiv Yar within the Kharkiv area and aimed to advance towards strategically beneficial city of Kupiansk, which might reduce off Russian forces from key provide routes.
Pro-Russian authorities within the Kupiansk district introduced that civilians had been being evacuated towards the Russian-held area of Luhansk.
“The initial signs are positive and we see Ukraine making real, demonstrable progress in a deliberate way,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated in Brussels, a day after visiting Kyiv.
“But this is likely to go on for some significant period of time,” he stated. “There are a huge number of Russian forces in Ukraine and unfortunately, tragically, horrifically, President (Vladimir) Putin has demonstrated that he will throw a lot of people into this at huge cost to Russia.”
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who met with Blinken, stated the battle is “entering a critical phase.”
The good points “are modest and only the first successes of the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian army, but they are important both in terms of seizing the military initiative and raising the spirit of Ukrainian soldiers,” Mykola Sunhurovskyi, a army analyst on the Razumkov Center in Kyiv, advised The Associated Press.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”