MYKOLAIV, Ukraine/KYIV — Ukrainian troops have attacked Russian positions along the entire front, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, while Russia halted gas supplies via a major pipeline to Germany citing the need for maintenance.
Separately, a team from the UN nuclear watchdog set off from Kyiv towards the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine’s south to assess any damage after shelling nearby sparked fears of a radiation disaster.
Ukraine, armed with sophisticated Western-supplied weapons, launched a fresh push this week to reclaim territory in its south. Zelenskiy, who urged Russian soldiers to flee for their lives, said his forces were also on the offensive in the east.
“Active military engagement is now happening along the whole front line: in the south, in the Kharkiv region, in Donbas,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly address on Tuesday.
Russia captured large tracts of southern Ukraine near the Black Sea coast in the early weeks of the six-month-old war, including in the Kherson region, which lies north of the Russian-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Ukraine sees recapturing the region as crucial to prevent Russian attempts to seize more territory further west that could eventually cut off its access to the Black Sea.
Kyiv has released few details of the offensive.
Britain, an ally of Ukraine, said Ukrainian formations in the south had pushed Russian front-line forces back some distance in places, exploiting relatively thin Russian defenses.
While it was not possible to confirm the extent of Ukraine’s advances, unverified reports, images and footage on social media suggest its forces may have taken back some villages and destroyed some Russian targets in the south.
Russia’s defence ministry, however, said its troops had routed Ukrainian forces, adding that air defence units had shot down dozens of missiles near Kherson.
Russia is methodically pressing on with its plans in Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.
“All of our goals will be reached,” he said.
Reuters could not verify the battlefield reports.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, captured by Russian troops in March but still manned by Ukrainian staff, has been a hot spot in the conflict with both sides trading blame for shelling in the vicinity.
“The situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and in Enerhodar and surrounding areas remains extremely dangerous,” Zelenskiy said. “The risk of a radiation disaster due to Russian actions does not decrease for an hour.”
The Russian defense ministry, however, said radiation levels were normal at the plant, Europe’s largest.
