“Go home”: Volodymyr Zelensky tells Russians as Ukraine begins offensive: Report 31Aug 2022

“Go home”: Volodymyr Zelensky tells Russians as Ukraine begins offensive

The attack in Ukraine comes after weeks of stalemate in the war that has left thousands dead and millions displaced.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on Russian troops to flee an offensive launched by his forces near the southern city of Kherson, saying the Ukrainian military is retaking their territory, although Russia says the offensive has failed.

The Ukraine attack comes after weeks of stalemate in the war that has killed thousands, displaced millions, destroyed cities and caused global energy and food shortages amid unprecedented economic sanctions.

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It has fueled fears of a radiation disaster following shelling near the Zaporizhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine.

In his nightly speech late on Monday, Zelensky promised that Ukrainian troops would chase the Russian army “to the border”.

“If they want to live – it’s time for the Russian military to flee. Go home,” he said.

“Ukraine is taking its own back,” Zelensky said.

Oleksii Arestovich, a senior adviser to Zelensky, said Russian defenses “collapsed within hours”.

Ukrainian forces were shelling ferries that Russia was using to supply a pocket of territory on the west bank of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region, he added.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukrainian troops attempted to attack the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions but suffered significant casualties, the RIA news agency reported.

“The enemy’s offensive efforts have failed miserably”, it said.

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But a barrage of Ukrainian rockets left the Russian-held town of Nova Kakhovka without water or electricity, Russian-appointed authorities officials told the RIA news agency.

Reuters could not verify the battlefield report.

Russian shelling of the port city of Mykolaiv, which remains in Ukrainian hands despite repeated Russian bombardment, has killed at least two people, wounded about 24 and destroyed homes, city officials and witnesses said Monday.

A Reuters correspondent said the strike directly hit a family home next to a school, killing a woman.

The owner of the property, Alexander Shulga, said he had lived there all his life and that his wife died after being crushed by the rubble. “It hit and the shockwave came. It destroyed everything,” he said.

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 in what it called a “special military operation” to liberate Ukraine from nationalists and protect the Russian-speaking community. Ukraine and its allies describe it as an unprovoked war of aggression.

The conflict, the largest attack on a European state since 1945, has escalated into a war characterized by artillery bombardment and airstrikes, mainly in the south and east. Russia initially occupied parts of the south.

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Ukraine’s Southern Command said its troops had launched an offensive in several directions, including the Kherson region in the north of the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Ukraine struck more than 10 sites last week and “undoubtedly weakened the enemy”, according to a spokesman who declined to give details of the attack, saying Russian forces in the south remained “quite strong”.

IAEA Nuclear Mission

The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, seized by Russian troops in March but still operated by Ukrainian workers, has been a hotspot of conflict, with both sides blaming nearby shelling.

A mission from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is headed to Europe’s largest nuclear plant and is scheduled to inspect and assess any damage later this week.

Led by IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, the mission will assess working conditions and examine safety and security measures, the Vienna-based agency said.

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It will also perform “emergency safeguard operations”, a reference to keeping track of nuclear material.

A top Russian diplomat said Moscow hoped the mission would dispel misconceptions about the plant’s alleged poor conditions.

The Kremlin said the IAEA mission was “necessary” and called on the international community to pressure Ukraine to reduce military tensions at the plant. The mission must act politically neutral, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The United Nations, the United States and Ukraine have called for the withdrawal of military equipment and personnel from the complex to prevent it from being targeted.

“We continue to believe that a controlled shutdown of the Zaporizhia nuclear reactors would be the safest and least risky option in the near term,” said John Kirby, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council.

But the Kremlin has again denied vacating the site.

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“Go home”: Volodymyr Zelensky tells Russians as Ukraine begins offensive

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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by News East India staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)