Russian soldiers are cut off in the occupied city of Kherson, and Ukrainian forces are now reporting hits on two strategic bridges. At the same time, both Russia and Ukraine claim that the other party is attacking a Ukrainian nuclear power plant.
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The important Antonovsky bridge was actually supposed to reopen this week, after fierce fighting at the end of July. Instead, the bridge is once again hit by Ukrainian counterattacks.
According to the Russian-appointed deputy mayor of Kherson, there is so-called “critical damage” to the bridge, reports the Russian news agency Interfax. reports Reuters.
The Russian state-run news agency Tass reports that the attack was carried out with American HIMARS missiles, which the Ukrainian government army received after the war broke out.
BACKGROUND: Kherson was the first large and important city to fall to the Russians. Now Ukraine is fighting back.
–Both sides confirm the attack
The bridge is one of two places where you can cross the river Dnipro. Ukrainian sources report that they have also attacked with bombs.
– What a night it must have been for the occupation authorities in Kherson county. Attack in the area around the Antonovsky bridge, writes Sergej Khlan, a Ukrainian military leader in the county, in social media.
Spokesperson Natalja Gumenjuk for the Ukrainian defense in the south confirms the attack, according to NTB.
– The firing system we have developed in recent days is showing results, she tells Ukrainian media on Monday.
– The effects of the attack have been significant for both bridges, both Antonovskij and Kakhovskij, she adds.
–The pro-Russian separatist authorities in Kherson have also confirmed the attack on the bridge, but deny that it caused significant damage.
– There was one attack, where a shed and a cement mixer caught fire. There is damage to the bridge floor, which means we will continue to restore it, the deputy head of the pro-Russian separatist authorities in Kherson, Kirill Stremusov, told the state news agency Ria Novosti.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also said that some Russian forces are being moved from the east of the country to the occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions in the south, where Ukraine is currently on the offensive.
– But it won’t help them there, he assured.
–Killed behind enemy lines
The Russian-backed separatists are also being attacked behind enemy lines: Vitalij Hura, who was deputy chairman of the board of Novaya Khakovka near Kherson in charge of housing and public services, died in hospital after being shot on Saturday.
Yekaterina Gubareva, who is the deputy head of the Russian Civil-Military Occupation Board, said that Hura was attacked in his home and shot several times.
Another Russian-detained official was killed in June when a bomb exploded in his car.
There have been a number of attacks and assassinations of Russian-appointed officials and Russian soldiers in the Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia. According to the Ukrainians, a resistance movement is active and responsible for the assassinations.
–– Suicide attack
Parallel to the fighting in Kherson, Russia accuses Ukrainian forces of firing on the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia and warns of “catastrophic consequences for Europe”.
“The shooting at the nuclear facility by the Ukrainian armed forces is a potentially extremely dangerous activity,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters on Monday.
He warns of “catastrophic consequences” for Europe as a result of the alleged attacks.
The nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhya is the largest of its kind in Europe and has been occupied by Russia since March. Parts of the power plant have been damaged in recent days, which has led to the shutdown of a reactor.
–Ukraine blames Russia for the attacks.
The president of the Ukrainian company Energoatom, which operates the power plant, is asking on Monday that the area around the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhya be declared a demilitarized zone.
– We must remove occupation forces from the power plant and create a demilitarized zone in the surrounding area. The fact is that the biggest threat going forward is an accident that leads to radiation, or even a nuclear disaster, says Petro Kotin.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres calls the attacks on the nuclear power plant a suicide attack.
At a press conference on Monday, he called for an end to the attacks. He also requested that the International Atomic Energy Agency be allowed to visit Zaporizhzhya.
Norwegian authorities concerned
The Norwegian authorities are also concerned about the development.
– Although nuclear power plants are robust, they are in no way built to be in areas of hostilities or to be able to withstand direct attack, writes Øyvind Gjølme Selnæs, section chief in the Directorate for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety, in an email to NTB.
Selnæs emphasizes that the Norwegian authorities are following the situation closely and have raised the level of preparedness.
– We assess the situation continuously and have good contact with international and other countries’ authorities. We also have good cooperation with the Ukrainian authorities, says Selnæs.
–Criticism of referendum
Russia is trying to force referendums to be held in occupied areas on incorporation into Russia.
In that case, there will be no negotiations with Ukraine on a ceasefire or peace agreement, says Ukrainian President Zelenkyj.
Russian forces and allied separatists hold large areas in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine and the south of the country. The occupying authorities in several places will hold referendums, similar to the one in Crimea before the peninsula was annexed by Russia.
That referendum has received massive criticism and is not recognized by Ukraine and Western countries.
– If the occupiers hold pseudo-polls, they close the door to themselves for talks with Ukraine and the free world, says President Zelenskyy according to Reuters.
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