MYKOLAIV, Ukraine — Intense fighting was raging on Tuesday across the southern Ukrainian
region of Kherson occupied by
Russia, Kyiv’s presidency said, as its troops
pressed counteroffensives “in various directions”.
اضافة اعلان
Most of the
region of Kherson bordering the
Black Sea — and its provincial capital of the
same name — were seized by Moscow’s military at the start of the invasion six
months ago.
With the war in
the eastern Donbas region largely stalled, analysts have said for weeks that
combat is likely to shift south to break the stalemate before winter comes.
Also on Tuesday,
fresh Russian strikes in the northeast city of Kharkiv killed at least five
people, prompting officials to urge people to stay indoors.
But much of the
attention remained on the counteroffensive in the south.
In its morning
update, the president’s office in Kyiv said “heavy fighting is taking place in
almost the entire territory of the Kherson region”.
“Powerful
explosions continued throughout the day and throughout the night” and “the
Armed Forces of
Ukraine launched offensive actions in various directions,” it
added.
In his nightly
address on Monday, President Volodymyr Zelensky was coy about Ukraine’s
overarching strategy whilst striking a bullish tone.
“You won’t hear
the specifics from any person in charge because this is war.”
“But the
occupiers should know that we will push them to our borderline,” he added.
“If they want to
survive, it is time for the Russian military to flee. Go home.”
‘Stay inside’
Russia’s defense ministry claimed Ukraine suffered “large-scale losses”
of more than 1,200 soldiers and dozens of pieces of equipment during the
“defeat” of its southern attack.
Britain’s
defense ministry warned that since the start of August, Russia has made
“significant efforts” to reinforce troops on the western bank of the Dnipro
River which splits Kherson city.
But the Ukrainian
presidency claimed its forces had destroyed “almost all large bridges” and that
“only pedestrian crossings remain” in the Kherson region.
The British
ministry said “most of the units around Kherson are likely under-manned and are
reliant upon fragile supply lines by ferry and pontoon bridges across the
Dnipro”.
But “it is not yet possible to confirm the extent of
Ukrainian advances,” the ministry said on Tuesday.
Grain reaches Djibouti
The war has contributed to a
global food and energy price crisis.
Russia blockaded Ukraine’s ports on the Black Sea at
the start of the war, choking off the major harvest exporter from world markets
and punishing poorer nations.
On Tuesday, the first UN-chartered vessel
transporting grain to relieve the food crisis made port in Djibouti, after
Turkey and the UN brokered a deal to relax the embargo last month.
Some 23,000 tonnes of wheat aboard the MV Brave
Commander is bound for Ethiopia, where millions are at risk of starvation.
Meanwhile, German
Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the
nation — which along with the EU bloc has pledged to wean itself off Russian
gas — is well prepared for curbs on supply.
Germany is set to meet an October target to
replenish stocks early, Scholz said Tuesday, a day before Moscow is due to cut
off gas supplies for three days.
He said Germany is “in a much better position in
terms of security of supply than was foreseeable a couple of months ago”.
Challenging offensive
Moscow’s troops seized
Kherson, a town of 280,000 inhabitants, on March 3. It was the first major city
to fall following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
In an update early Tuesday, Ukraine’s Southern
Command said the situation remained “tense” in its area of operations.
“The enemy attacked our positions five times, but
was unsuccessful,” it said.
The city of Mykolaiv, just northwest of Kherson, had
come under “massive bombardment” from Russian anti-aircraft missiles, with two
civilians killed and 24 wounded, it said.
But a senior Pentagon official said Russia was
struggling to find soldiers to fight in Ukraine and that many new recruits were
older, in poor shape and lacking training.
The fresh fighting came as students across Ukraine
prepared to return to classrooms on Thursday after schools were shut by the
Russian invasion, now in its seventh month.
Only those schools with air-raid bunkers will be
permitted to reopen, with the rest reverting to online learning.
“We just want to live our life fully,” 16-year-old
student Polina told AFP in Kyiv.
“We are not afraid, we have already lived enough.
Our generation has decided to live in the present moment.”
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