Russian forces pound Ukraine’s Donetsk as Kremlin mobilises for long war
- Ukraine reports heavy shelling around eastern Donetsk region and in towns on the southern front
- Areas near Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant have been subject to shelling for weeks
Ukrainian forces reported heavy Russian shelling and attempts to advance on several towns in the eastern region of Donetsk that has 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.
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.
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 February 24 invasion and still holds.
On Sunday, Ukraine said Russian troops who have crossed the Dnipro river during their offensive in the region were facing growing difficulties after strategic bridges were damaged.
Ukraine targets Russian soldiers threatening nuclear power plant
Moscow’s forces seized the southern city of Kherson on the Dnipro early in their invasion of Ukraine, the only regional capital they have conquered so far.
Their westward offensive in the region has made some progress, but the three bridges they control in the area – two for road traffic and another carrying a railway – have been bombarded repeatedly in recent weeks.
The most important crossing is the Antonivski bridge in Kherson’s suburbs, which has been targeted by missiles since late July.
Regional lawmaker Sergiy Khlan told Ukrainian television that the only way for Russian soldiers to cross the river were pontoons near the Antonivski bridge that “cannot totally meet their needs”.
Russia is moving its command centres to the left bank of the river knowing that they would not be able to evacuate them in time if fighting escalated, he added.
But Khlan said the 20,000 Russian troops on the right bank could still cross the bridges on foot for now.
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Smoke billows near Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant after fresh round of shelling in Russia-Ukraine war
The Nova Kakhovka bridge, around 50km (31 miles) to the northeast of Antonivski bridge, was targeted last week.
Khlan on Saturday said Ukrainian forces struck the bridge days earlier, preventing the Russians from moving ammunition, equipment and food across it to resupply their troops.
A briefing by Britain’s defence ministry said the two road bridges leading to Russian-controlled territory on the west bank of the Dnipro were “probably” out of use.
Ukraine envoy warns war fatigue would embolden Putin further
Elsewhere, Ukraine’s military command said 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,” he said in a video posted online. “But the town is basically under Ukrainian control.”
Russia calls its invasion of Ukraine a “special military operation” to demilitarise and “denazify” its smaller neighbour, while Ukraine and its Western allies regard Moscow’s actions as a war of aggression.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky 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.
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The Kremlin is reportedly attempting to mobilise industry to support prolonged war efforts in Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War said, citing Ukrainian intelligence.
Russia’s government in early August banned some employees and the entire leadership at the state industrial conglomerate company Rostec from taking leave, the US military think-tank said in a report.
Russia’s Military-Industrial Commission, which President Vladimir Putin chairs, is preparing to change the state defence order programme by early September to increase spending by about US$10 billion, ISW said.
Meanwhile, the leadership in the Russian republic of Chechnya said that it was sending new troops as well as “volunteers” to fight in Ukraine.
In a video purporting to be from the airport of the Chechen capital Grozny, uniformed men were ordered to carry out the “destruction” of Ukrainian nationalists.
Reuters, Agence France-Presse, dpa and Bloomberg
