Seven people—including a baby just 23 days old, her brother, 12, and parents—were murdered by Russian shells in southern Ukraine on Sunday.
According to Interior Minister Igor Klymenko, bombs were dropped on their home in the Kherson settlement of Shyroka Balka.
Another villager and two men from nearby Stanislav were also among the deceased.
“We must put an end to terrorists. Force must be used to stop them, according to Mr. Klymenko. “They have no other understanding.”
The minister revealed images of the attack’s aftermath in Shyroka Balka, including bodies of some of the dead that had been digitally covered and black columns of smoke rising from buildings.
The western portion of the territory was retaken by Ukrainian forces in November of last year, but Russian forces have continued to shell the sector from the other side of the Dnipro River.
Russia had accused Ukraine of “terrorism” the day before for what it claimed was an attempt to launch a missile attack on the Kerch Bridge, which connects Russia’s mainland to the Crimean Peninsula.
Despite President Volodymr Zelensky’s assertion that the bridge is a lawful target because it serves as a military supply route, Ukraine has not confirmed the attack.
In a related development, Moscow claimed to have fired warning shots at a cargo ship travelling towards the Ukrainian port of Izmail in the southwest Black Sea.
Since pulling out of a historic grain deal mediated by the UN last month, this is the first time Russia has fired on merchant cargo outside of Ukraine.
In a statement, Russia claimed that its Vasily Bykov patrol ship had opened fire with automatic weapons on the Sukru Okan ship, which was flying the flag of Palau, after the captain of the latter failed to stop the ship for an inspection.
The Sukru Okan continued towards the port of Izmail after the inspection group finished its job on board, according to the defence ministry.
Meanwhile, a representative of the exiled Ukrainian mayor of Mariupol claimed that on Sunday, fighting among Russian soldiers resulted in the deaths of numerous Ukrainian residents.
According to Petro Andryshchenko’s message on Telegram, the victims of the “shoot-out” in the village of Urzuf were two adolescent girls, four young males, and a lady.
He claimed that a dispute between Chechen soldiers and staff from the local commandant’s office led to the gunfight.
The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) announced on Monday that a suspected Russian informant had been arrested in connection with a conspiracy to kill Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to a statement from the SBU, the detained woman has not been officially identified but is from the Mykolaiv region in southern Ukraine.
She had allegedly been “gathering intelligence” regarding Zelensky’s anticipated trip to Mykolaiv at the end of July, according to the SBU, in preparation for a Russian airstrike to assassinate the president.
However, SBU agents discovered the “subversive activities of the suspect” and implemented additional security measures, thwarting the scheme.
According to the SBU, it arrested the woman “red-handed” while she “was trying to pass intelligence to the invaders.”
The SBU discovered through the monitoring of the woman’s conversations that she was also tasked with locating military ammunition storage facilities and electronic warfare equipment.
She purportedly roamed the district’s land and recorded the locations of Ukrainian artefacts.
The investigation revealed that the offender was an Ochakov resident from the Mykolaiv district who had previously worked as a salesperson in a military supply store.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Zelensky’s nation began in February 2022, there are multiple known attempts on his life. At the beginning of the conflict, the Ukrainian president was to be killed by Russian special troops.
In an article released in April 2022, TIME magazine detailed how Russian troops had parachuted into Kyiv on February 24, the day the conflict started, to kill or kidnap Zelensky and his family.
The presidential guard attempted to enclose the area using police barriers and heaps of plywood as Ukrainian and Russian forces engaged in combat in the streets of Kyiv, according to TIME.
Rifles and bulletproof vests, according to military intelligence veteran Oleksiy Arestovych, were given to Zelensky and approximately a dozen aides as Russian troops made two attempts to invade the presidential compound.
Arestovych told TIME, “It was an absolute madhouse.” “Everyone needs automatics.”
Zelensky rejected the British and American offers to evacuate him as well as the suggestion of his bodyguards to leave the property. I need ammo, not a ride, he famously said in response.
Later, when Ukrainian soldiers fought Russians in the neighbouring streets, Zelensky left the facility to record a defiant video message on his phone.
In March of last year, Zelensky’s assistant to the Ukrainian president, Mykhailo Podolyak, claimed that Zelensky had escaped more than a dozen murder attempts.
“External sources mention two or three tries. There have, in my opinion, been more than a dozen such attempts. According to Podolyak, who was mentioned in Ukrainska Pravda, “We are continuously receiving information that some reconnaissance organisations are attempting to access government buildings and other places of similar importance.
Zelensky was Putin’s primary objective when he attacked government buildings and made an effort to assassinate the nation’s important leader, according to Western intelligence, he continued.
Shortly before this alleged assassination attempt, Zelensky discussed living with the knowledge that his death is still a top target for Russian troops in an interview with CNN in July.
“I’ll be honest with you and say that I’ve decided to shut myself down if I continue to think about it nonstop. Very similar to Putin right now, who never leaves his bunker,” Zelensky remarked.
Zelensky added that he thinks it’s crucial for Ukrainians to understand that their president is also under peril as they struggle to stave off the Russian invasion.
“If I choose to isolate myself, I won’t be able to comprehend what is happening in the nation around me. I’ll get disconnected from civilization. We would lose our society if I lost this link. I’m certain that society must realise that, if they are in danger, their President is, too. We must all be in danger, he remarked.
They are aware that I have protection, etc., of course, but I must stand by my people. You are aware that you are capable of locking yourself in a cage like an animal and remaining there permanently while feeling like your life is in danger.
Zelensky claimed that by leaving his personal security “to the professionals,” he is able to “free (his) mind to resolve the strategic issues.”
Russian soldiers may have put “objects resembling explosives” on the roofs of some buildings of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power facility in southern Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned.
On Tuesday, he suggested it in his nightly speech and added a warning about the dangers of radiation at the facility in the event of an explosion.
‘Different countries have their own intelligence and other capabilities to know exactly what is going on and who is to blame,’ cautioned Zelensky, adding that radiation “affects everyone.”
‘Now we have information from our intelligence that the Russian troops have placed objects resembling explosives to the roof of several power units of theZaporizhzhia nuclear power plant perhaps to simulate an attack on the plant.
‘The only source of danger to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is Russia and no one else.
‘Unfortunately there was no timely and large-scale response to the terrorist attack on the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant and this may incite the Kremlin to commit new evil.
‘It is the responsibility of everyone in the world to stop it, no one can stand aside as radiation affects everyone.’
Ukraine accused Russia of destroying the Kakhovka dam while Russia blamed Ukraine for destroying it at the beginning of June.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been under Russia’s control since March 2022 (Picture: Reuters)Zelensky is worried about the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (Picture: Telegram/Zelensky Official)
The devastation meant hundreds of towns and villages were flooded.
Satellite images released at the time showed the extent to which flooding water had impacted the surrounding areas.
Hundreds of animals had to be saved by volunteers following the catastrophic dam explosion.
The Zaporizhzhia power plant was captured by Russian forces in March 2022.
It was feared at the time Russian forces would destroy the plant to deter Ukraine’s advance.
Despite these fears, the nuclear power plant has stayed in operation under Russian energy company Rosatom.
The plant’s reactors were put into ‘cold shutdown’ mode in September 2022.
This was to prevent possible damage during the war, but explosions at the plant could still cause a nuclear meltdown, which would spread radiation.
Just last week, Zelensky warned the occupied plant remains under ‘serious threat’.
One soldier engaging in Kyiv’s counteroffensive in the south told CNN that because the minefields in the southern Ukraine are so numerous, the troops aiming to free the area can only move “tree by tree.” He claimed that throughout his years of duty, he had never seen this many mines.
According to the soldier, who requested anonymity and went by the call sign “Legion,” his men’ actions were “quite successful and effective.” Yet most of the world tends to believe that he and other Ukrainian forces are advancing fairly slowly as they navigate mined terrain, come across heavily defended defences, and endure aircraft bombardment.
Ukraine’s Western allies are getting nervous about the fact that the progress of Kyiv’s long-awaited counteroffensive is being measured in meters, rather than kilometers. Kyiv’s allies are well aware that Ukraine cannot defeat Russia without their help. But the slower than expected pace of the counteroffensive means their support could become increasingly unsustainable if the conflict drags on.
Many of the countries that are supporting Ukraine’s war efforts are struggling with high inflation, rising interest rates and sluggish growth. Their leaders – some of whom are facing elections in the next year and a half – need to justify the huge amount of resources they’ve poured into Ukraine when their own voters are struggling to make ends meet. That can become difficult if there isn’t much battlefield success to show for it.
For now though, the support appears unfaltering.Multiple Ukrainian and Western officials have admitted that the counteroffensive has so far failed to yield major advances – but most were quick to add that the slow progress was justified.
The front lines in southern and eastern Ukraine have not moved much over the past months, giving Russian troops plenty of time to dig in and prepare for a counteroffensive.
According to an assessment by the Washington-based think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW), some of the most strategic sections of the front line are guarded by multiple lines of defense, making it very difficult for the Ukrainians to break through.
Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said that the pace is not surprising, given that Ukrainian soldiers were fighting “for their life.”
“We are giving them as much help as humanly possible, but at the end of the day, Ukrainian soldiers are assaulting through minefields and into trenches,” he said.
“So yes, sure, it goes a little slow, but that is part of the nature of war,” Milley said at the National Press Club on Friday.
Milley stressed that, while slowly, the Ukrainians were pushing ahead. “(The offensive) is advancing steadily, deliberately, working its way through very difficult minefields … you know, 500 meters a day, 1,000 meters a day, 2,000 meters a day, that kind of thing,” he said.
While Ukraine’s forces work their way through deadly minefields on the ground, they are still lacking air superiority and are under frequent attacks from above.
Legion, a master-sergeant in Ukraine’s 47th Brigade which is involved in the fighting in the south, said it was clear that Russian forces have been preparing for this moment for months.
“They knew that this area is where the main attack will take place, so they prepared thoroughly. They have artillery and aviation here, and both fighters and helicopters are working regularly,” he said.
Legion told CNN the fighting in the area was comparable to “what it was like in Bakhmut during the hottest phase.”
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly said that while the counteroffensive is under way, the main push is yet to come.
Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar said last month that Ukraine was holding back some of its reserves and that the “main strike” was still ahead.
ISW also said that information published by Russian military bloggers about the situation along the front lines suggests that “Ukrainian forces are not currently attempting the kind of large-scale operations that would result in rapid territorial advances.”
Instead, Ukrainian military appears to be launching smaller attacks in different directions along the nearly 1,000-kilometer-long front line (or 621 miles), trying to exhaust Russian reserves before launching a major push.
Meanwhile, the country’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he wanted to be strategic about where troops are being sent.
“Every meter, every kilometer costs lives,” he said. “You can do something really fast, but the field is mined to the ground. People areour treasure. That’s why we are very careful.”
Zelensky acknowledged on Monday that last week was difficult for the troops on the front lines. “But we are making progress. We are moving forward, step by step!” he said in a statement.
Milley urged observers to remain patient, saying he expects the counteroffensive to last as long as 10 weeks.
“What I had said was this is going to take six, eight, 10 weeks. It’s going to be very difficult. It’s going to be very long, and it’s going to be very, very bloody. And no one should have any illusions about any of that,” he said.
Ukraine and Russia have traded blame for missile strikes and shelling in various parts of the south and east, according to Reuters.
Ukraine’s military said Russian forces had launched dozens of missile attacks and air strikes on military and civilian targets, including 35 settlements, in the past 24 hours.
Russia also used drones to attack the centre of the southern city of Odesa, Ukraine’s military said. No casualties were reported.
Russia denies targeting civilians.
Its RIA state news agency reported Ukrainian forces bombed a hotel in the city of Kherson, killing two people. Russian forces have occupied the southern city since the early days of the invasion.
RIA also said Ukrainian forces shelled a granary and fertiliser warehouses in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region.
Neither side’s claims have been verified by Reuters.
