Russian forces begin assault on two cities in eastern Ukraine
Russian forces began an assault Saturday on two key cities in the eastern Donetsk region and kept up rocket attacks and shelling on other Ukrainian cities, including one near Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, military and local officials said. from Ukraine.
Both cities, Bakhmut and Avdiivka, have been seen as key targets of Russia’s ongoing offensive in eastern Ukraine, with analysts saying Moscow needs to take Bakhmut if it wants to advance into the regional hubs of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.
Also Read:- US prepares new Ukraine weapons package worth $1 billion: Report 06Aug 2022
“In the Donetsk direction, the enemy is conducting an offensive operation, concentrating its main efforts in the Bakhmut and Avdiivka directions. It uses ground attack and military aviation,” the Ukrainian General Staff said on Facebook.
The last Russian attack on Sloviansk was on July 30, but Ukrainian forces are strengthening their positions around the city in anticipation of further fighting.
“I think there will be no calm for a long time. Eventually, there will be an assault,” Colonel Yurii Bereza, head of the national guard volunteer regiment, told The Associated Press.
Russian shelling killed five civilians and injured 14 others in the Donetsk region in the past day, Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko wrote on Telegram on Saturday, saying two people were killed in Poprosny, and one in Avdiivka, Soledar. and Pervomayskiy.
The governor of the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region said three civilians were injured after Russian rockets landed on a residential neighborhood in Nikopol, a city across the Dnieper River from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The nuclear plant has been under Russian control since Moscow troops seized it early in the war.
Also Read:- Ukraine’s nuclear plant is out of control: UN nuclear chief: Report 05Aug 2022
“After midnight, the Russian army hit the Nikopol area with (Soviet-era) Grad rockets and the Kryvyi Rih area with cannon artillery,” Valentyn Reznichenko wrote on Telegram.
Another Russian missile strike overnight damaged unspecified infrastructure in the regional capital of Zaporizhzhia. On Thursday, Russia fired 60 rockets at Nikopol, damaging 50 residential buildings in the city of 107,000 people and leaving residents without power.
Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, warned this week that the situation is becoming more dangerous by the day at the Zaporizhzhia plant.
“All nuclear safety principles have been violated” at the plant, he said. “What is at stake is extremely serious.”
He expressed concern about the way the plant is being operated and the danger posed by the fighting around it. Experts from the US-based Institute for the Study of War said Russia is intentionally shelling the area, “putting Ukraine in a difficult position.”
Also Read:- Zelensky wants direct talks with Xi Jinping to help end the war in Ukraine: Report 04Aug 2022
The Ukrainian company that operates the nuclear power plant said on Saturday that Russian troops are using the plant’s basement to hide from Ukrainian shelling and have banned its Ukrainian personnel from going there.
“Ukrainian personnel still do not have access to these facilities, so in case of further shelling, people have no shelter and are in danger,” Enerhoatom, a Ukrainian state-owned company, said on its Telegram channel.
Enerhoatom said on Friday that Russian rockets had damaged facilities at the plant, including a nitrogen-oxygen unit and a high-voltage power line. Russian-appointed local officials acknowledged the damage but blamed the Ukrainians.
#russian forces begin assault #russian forces begin assault #russian forces begin assault
Russian forces begin assault on two cities in eastern Ukraine
Also Read:- A daughter of a farmer from Manipur became India’s greatest judoka: Report 03Aug 2022
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by News East India staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
[…] Russian forces begin assault on two cities in eastern Ukraine: Report… […]