In late-night remarks on Sunday, Zelensky thanked his forces for capturing two settlements in the south and a third, along with additional territory, in the east, citing “good reports” from military commanders and the intelligence chief. read more Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy chief of the president’s office, earlier released an image of soldiers raising the Ukrainian flag over a village he said was in the southern region that is the main focus of the counterattack. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up “Vysokopillya. Kherson region. Ukraine. Today,” Tymoshenko wrote on Facebook above a photo of three soldiers on rooftops, one of whom pinned a Ukrainian flag to a post. Ukraine launched a counteroffensive last week targeting the south, particularly the Kherson region, which Russia captured early in the conflict. Following heavy shelling by Ukrainian forces against clusters of Russian troops in the area, the Russians have banned the movement of residents, barring them from crossing the Dnipro River, Ukraine’s general staff said on Monday. Russia has launched 25 missile strikes and more than 22 airstrikes against military and civilian targets in Ukraine in the past 24 hours, the statement added, maintaining its focus on full control of the Donetsk region. Zelensky’s remarks came a day after he warned Europeans that Russia was preparing “a decisive energy strike” in the cold months ahead. Moscow has cited Western sanctions and technical issues for the energy outages. European countries, which have backed Kyiv with diplomatic and military support, have accused Russia of rigging energy supplies. Some analysts say shortages and rising living costs as winter approaches risk eroding Western support for Kyiv as governments try to appease disgruntled populations. Last week Moscow said it would keep the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, the main natural gas route to Germany, closed, while G7 countries announced a planned price cap on Russian oil exports. The Kremlin said it would stop selling oil to countries that adopted the cap. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Sunday that his government was planning to completely cut off natural gas deliveries in December, promising measures to lower prices and link social benefits to inflation. “Russia is no longer a reliable energy partner,” Solz told a news conference in Berlin. Svitlana Dmtrieva, MD and Chief of Pediatrics at a Primary Care Center and Family Clinic, with her colleague, inspects her office and ward that was destroyed by a military strike, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, September 4, 2022 REUTERS/Umit Bektas read more In response, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev accused Germany of being Russia’s enemy. “In other words, he declared a hybrid war on Russia,” he said. On Sunday, Finland and Sweden announced plans to offer billions of dollars to power companies to stave off the threat of insolvency amid the crisis. read more Separately, the US embassy in Moscow said John Sullivan, the ambassador appointed by former President Donald Trump in 2019, had left his post and retired. A State Department official said Sullivan had been on a standard tour. read more
LOOK AT THE ZAPORIZZIA NUCLEAR FACILITY
Russian authorities said the situation was calm around the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine after UN inspectors said on Saturday it had again lost external power. Three loud explosions were heard in Energodar, the city where the plant is under curfew, but there were no immediate details of damage or casualties, Russia’s official TASS news agency reported on Monday. Ukrainian troops have made two attempts to deploy assault groups in the city area, it said, adding that they are using drones, heavy artillery and rocket launchers. The last main external power line was cut, although a backup line maintained power to the grid, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said. read more Only one of its six reactors remained operational, he said. Russian troops seized the plant shortly after President Vladimir Putin sent his army over the border on February 24. It has become the focus of conflict. Each side has blamed the other for bombings that have raised fears of a nuclear holocaust. Vladimir Rogov, a pro-Russian official in the Zaporizhzhia region, told Komsomolskaya Pravda radio that there had been no shelling or incursions and that IAEA experts were expected to work at the plant at least until Monday. Last week, an IAEA mission toured the plant, which is still operated by Ukrainian personnel, and some experts remained there pending the release of an IAEA report. read more Russia has resisted international calls to demilitarize the region. On other battlefronts, Ukrainian Telegram channels reported explosions on the Antonivsky Bridge near the city of Kherson, which was captured by Russian forces. Ukrainian missiles have severely damaged the bridge in recent weeks, but Russian troops have been scrambling to repair it or create a water crossing or barges to keep supplies to their units on the right bank of the Dnipro River. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Reporting by Tom Balmforth in Kyiv. Additional reporting by Michael Shields, Ron Popeski, Elaine Monaghan and Reuters. Written by Patricia Zengerle and Clarence Fernandez. Editing: Lisa Shumaker and Simon Cameron-Moore Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
