প্রকাশ: 15/08/2022
Ukrainian forces reported heavy Russian shelling and attempts
to advance on several towns in the eastern region of Donetsk that have become a
key focus of the near six-month war, but said they had repelled many of the
attacks.
The General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces also reported
Russian shelling of more than a dozen towns on the southern front -
particularly the Kherson region, mainly controlled by Russian forces, but where
Ukrainian troops are steadily capturing territory.
Much attention has been focused on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear
plant in southern Ukraine amid fears of a catastrophe over renewed shelling in
recent days that Russia and Ukraine blame on each other.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for the
establishment of a demilitarized zone and Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelenskiy has warned Russian soldiers who shoot at Europe's largest nuclear
power station or use it as a base to shoot from that they will become a
"special target" of Ukrainian forces.
The Zaporizhzhia plant dominates the south bank of a vast
reservoir on the Dnipro River. Ukrainian forces controlling the towns and
cities on the opposite bank have come under intense bombardment from the
Russian-held side.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, which seeks to
inspect the plant, has warned of a nuclear disaster unless the fighting stops.
Nuclear experts fear fighting might damage the plant's spent fuel pools or
reactors.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine had many times proposed different
formats to the Russian leadership for peace talks, without progress.
"So we have to defend ourselves, we have to answer
every form of terror, every instance of shelling - the fierce shelling which
does not let up for a single day," he said in video remarks late on
Sunday.
Fighting in east, south
Kyiv has said for weeks it is planning a counteroffensive to
recapture Zaporizhzhia and neighbouring Kherson province, the largest part of
the territory Russia seized after its Feb 24 invasion and still holds.
Ukraine's military command said early on Sunday that Russian
soldiers had continued unsuccessfully to attack Ukrainian positions near
Avdiivka, which, since 2014, has become one of the outposts of Ukrainian forces
near Donetsk.
Ukrainian Military Expert Oleg Zhdanov said the situation
was particularly difficult in Avdiivka and nearby towns, such as Pisky.
"We have insufficient artillery power in place and our
forces are asking for more support to defend Pisky. But the town is basically
under Ukrainian control," he said in a video posted online.
Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield
accounts.
Russia calls its invasion of Ukraine a "special
military operation" to demilitarize and "denazify" its smaller
neighbour. The war has pushed Moscow-Washington relations to a low point, with
Russia warning it may sever ties.
While Russia has been largely isolated on the global
diplomatic stage, North Korean state media on Monday said Russian President
Vladimir Putin told leader Kim Jong Un the two countries would expand
"comprehensive and constructive" ties.
In July, North Korea recognized as independent states the
Russian-backed breakaway "people's republics" of Donetsk and Luhansk,
and officials raised the prospect of its workers being sent there to help in
construction and other labour.
Ukraine immediately severed ties with Pyongyang over the
move.
Grain ships
Amid the fighting, more ships carrying Ukrainian grain left
or prepared to do so as part of a late July deal to ease a global food crisis.
An Ethiopia-bound cargo, the first since Russia's invasion
of Ukraine, was getting ready to leave in the next few days, while sources said
the first grain ship to leave Ukraine under a UN deal was nearing Syria.
"The world needs the food of Ukraine," Marianne Ward,
the deputy country director of the World Food Program, told reporters.
"This is the beginning of what we hope are normal operations for the
hungry people of the world," she added.
The relief agency bought more than 800,000 tons of grain in
Ukraine last year.
- Reuters
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