Russia is suffering heavy losses in continuous "fierce" attacks in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region and is preparing new attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said today.
"Very fierce Russian attacks on the Donetsk region continue. The enemy there is suffering serious losses," Zelensky said in his video address at night, according to Reuters.
Zelensky said that he believes that Russia is "gathering forces and means for a possible repetition of massive attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, primarily energy".
Today, the Ukrainian army accused Russia of large-scale destruction of civilian ships anchored on the banks of the Dnieper River in the occupied southern region of Kherson, which Kiev forces are trying to capture.
Ukrainian forces are putting pressure on Russian troops on the west bank of the Dnieper river that divides Ukraine, fueling speculation that Moscow's troops are preparing to withdraw to the other side, Reuters reports.
The spokesperson of the Ukrainian General Staff stated in a statement that the fuel from the destroyed ships leaked into the river delta and also accused the Moscow forces of having appropriated the engines and other equipment of the ships.
The Ukrainian General Staff did not provide an explanation for Moscow's actions.
Destroying the civilian ships would prevent Ukrainian forces from using them if they decide to move to the eastern side in the event of any Russian withdrawal.
There was no comment from the Russian Ministry of Defense.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, spoke with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, about macro-financial assistance to Ukraine and further sanctions against Iran.
Zelenski wrote on his Twitter account that he conveyed to the president of the commission "the importance of continuing the grain initiative" in order to avoid a food crisis.
"We also discussed increased sanctions and opposing actions against Iran, which supports aggression," Zelenski said.
The Russian administration in the Ukrainian region of Kherson announced today that numerous settlements, including the city of Kherson, were left without water and electricity after what it called an act of "sabotage".
The Moscow-appointed Kherson government said on Telegram that electricity and water supplies were "temporarily interrupted" after a "terrorist attack" damaged three power lines in the region, Reuters reports.
The statement stated that the attack was organized by Ukraine.
The emergency services announced that ten settlements in the region were left without electricity, including the city of Kherson, which had a population of 280 before the war.
In recent weeks, Russian officials have repeatedly warned civilians to leave Kherson, as they state that preparations for a Ukrainian offensive against the city are underway.
The Ukrainian army is piling up a large number of tanks and armored vehicles at the approaches to the Kherson region, the deputy head of that region, Kiril Stremousov, said today.
He is the deputy head of the administration that Moscow set up in Kherson after the occupation.
"Many units of equipment are being concentrated, with more and more armored vehicles, tanks," he said in a video posted on Telegram.
He added that the evacuation of residents to the left bank of the Dnieper River and to other Russian regions is continuing, reports TASS.
"People in the city are still free to leave the right bank," he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday publicly supported the evacuation of civilians from Kherson, as the Ukrainian army advances towards that strategic port city.
Kiev accuses the Russians of forcibly evacuating Ukrainians, which is considered a war crime, which Moscow denies.
The administration of US President Joseph Biden is privately encouraging Ukrainian leaders to show openness to negotiations with Russia, the Washington Post reported.
According to the newspaper, Kiev should drop its public refusal to engage in peace talks unless President Vladimir Putin is removed from power.
As anonymous sources familiar with the negotiations told the Washington Post, the goal of the US is not to force Ukraine to negotiate, but to keep Kiev with the support of other countries.
Although US officials believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not, for now, serious about negotiations, they acknowledge that President Vladimir Zelensky's ban on negotiating with Putin has caused concern in parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America, where the consequences of the war have been felt most in the form of availability and rising prices of food and fuel.
As anonymous interlocutors told the Washington Post, some countries are feeling serious "fatigue with Ukraine".
The talks illustrate how complex the position of the Biden administration has become, as US officials publicly promise to support Kiev with huge sums "as long as necessary", while hoping for a solution to the conflict that has disrupted the world economy and raised fears of nuclear war for the past eight months. The Washington Post.
It is the XNUMXth day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Iran of "lying" and "terrorist cooperation" because that country supports Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, the British BBC reported.
Zelensky said this after the Iranian authorities admitted for the first time today that they had delivered drones to Russia, but before the start of the invasion of Ukraine at the end of February.
Western countries believe that Russia used Iranian "kamikaze" drones in attacks on infrastructure in Ukraine. Iran and Russia denied this. However, Tehran admitted today that it has delivered a limited number of these drones.
"We delivered a limited number of drones to Russia in the months before the start of the war in Ukraine," Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said yesterday.
Last night, Zelenski assessed that Iran is still lying because Ukraine is hit by about ten Iranian drones almost every day, despite Tehran's claims that a small number were delivered.
The president of Ukraine said he had reliable information that Iranian instructors were training "Russian terrorists how to use drones", while Tehran is not saying anything about it.
"If Iran continues to lie about obvious things, it means that the world will make even more efforts to investigate the terrorist cooperation between the Russian and Iranian regimes and how Russia pays Iran for such cooperation," Zelensky added.
The US, the European Union and Great Britain imposed sanctions on Iran for supplying Russia with drones that it uses in the conflict.
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