Fighting Intensifies In Russian Held Areas Of Southern Ukraine

Ukraine claimed to have destroyed bridges and ammunition depots and pounded command posts in a flare-up of fighting in the Russian-held south, fueling speculation on Tuesday that its long-awaited counter-offensive to turn the tide of war was underway. Russia said it repelled the attack and inflicted heavy casualties. The clashes took place in the country’s Kherson region, where Moscow’s forces made significant gains early in the war. But Ukrainian authorities kept the world guessing about their intentions. While independent verification of action on the battlefield has been difficult, the British Ministry of Defense said in an intelligence report that several Ukrainian brigades had stepped up their artillery fire in front-line sectors in southern Ukraine. The port city of Kherson, with a pre-war population of around 300,000, is a major economic hub near the Black Sea and the first major city to fall to the Russians in the war that began six months ago. The port remains at the heart of Ukraine’s efforts to maintain its vital access to the sea, while Russia sees it as a key point in a land corridor that runs from its border to the Crimean peninsula, which it seized in 2014. The occupying forces have spoken of plans to hold a referendum to make the Kherson region part of Russia and have pressured residents to take Russian citizenship and stop using Ukraine’s currency. Ukraine’s presidential office reported that “strong explosions continued throughout the day and night in the Kherson region. Fierce fighting continues almost throughout the region. Ukrainian forces, the office said, destroyed ammunition depots and all major bridges across the Dnieper River vital to supplying Russian troops. The Ukrainian military also said it destroyed a floating bridge on the Dnieper River that Russian forces were building and hit a dozen command posts with artillery fire. Russia’s state-run Tass news agency reported that explosions rocked Kherson on Tuesday morning – likely caused by air defense systems. Addressing talk of a major counterattack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly video address on Monday that “we will not hear details from any really responsible person” about Kiev’s intentions, “because this is a war.” The British said most of the Russian units around Kherson “are probably undermanned and dependent on fragile supply lines”, while its forces there are undergoing major reorganisation. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said its forces were holding up well and that Ukraine had lost hundreds of troops, tanks and other armored vehicles in Monday’s action. His claim could not be independently verified. Ukrainian independent military analyst Oleh Zhdanov told The Associated Press that “it will be possible to talk about the effectiveness of Ukrainian actions only after the major cities are recaptured.” He added that Ukrainian forces had breached the first and second lines of defense in the Kherson region several times in the past, “but it did not bring results.” “The most important thing is the work of the Ukrainian artillery on the bridges, which the Russian army can no longer use,” Mr. Zhdanov said. The war has reached a stalemate in recent months, with casualties and destruction mounting and the population bearing the brunt of the suffering during relentless bombing in the east and south. In other battlefield reports, at least nine civilians were killed in more Russian shelling, Ukrainian officials said, from the Black Sea port of Mykolaiv to the northeastern industrial center of Kharkiv, where five were killed in the city center. Amid fears that fighting around the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant could lead to disaster, a team from the UN atomic energy agency has launched a mission to inspect and protect the complex. Ukraine and Russia accuse each other of repeatedly bombing the region. Nikopoli, a town just across the Dnieper from the plant, was again hit by a barrage of heavy shelling, local authorities said, with damage to a bus station, shops and a children’s library. And a Russian missile attack targeted the city of Zaporizhzhia, about 50 kilometers from the plant, Ukraine said. In other developments:

The first ship carrying grain from war-torn Ukraine for people in the world’s hungriest ports has docked at the port of Djibouti in the Horn of Africa as deadly drought and conflict grip East Africa. The wheat goes to Ethiopia. European Union ministers discussed ways to increase arms production, boost military training for Ukraine and impose heavier costs on Russia. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his country is well prepared to face a potential energy shortage due to Russia’s pressure on European gas supplies. Russia has cut off or reduced the flow of natural gas to a dozen EU countries, raising fears ahead of winter.

Ukraine said it broke enemy lines at several points near the southern city of Kherson as it pressed a new campaign to recapture territory, while Moscow said Kiev’s counteroffensive had failed as Russia bombed the port of Mykolaiv. Jayson Albano reports. Reuters Our Morning Update and Afternoon Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.

title: “Fighting Intensifies In Russian Held Areas Of Southern Ukraine Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-08” author: “Juan Rowe”

Ukraine claimed to have destroyed bridges and ammunition depots and pounded command posts in a flare-up of fighting in the Russian-held south, fueling speculation on Tuesday that its long-awaited counter-offensive to turn the tide of war was underway. Russia said it repelled the attack and inflicted heavy casualties. The clashes took place in the country’s Kherson region, where Moscow’s forces made significant gains early in the war. But Ukrainian authorities kept the world guessing about their intentions. While independent verification of action on the battlefield has been difficult, the British Ministry of Defense said in an intelligence report that several Ukrainian brigades had stepped up their artillery fire in front-line sectors in southern Ukraine. The port city of Kherson, with a pre-war population of around 300,000, is a major economic hub near the Black Sea and the first major city to fall to the Russians in the war that began six months ago. The port remains at the heart of Ukraine’s efforts to maintain its vital access to the sea, while Russia sees it as a key point in a land corridor that runs from its border to the Crimean peninsula, which it seized in 2014. The occupying forces have spoken of plans to hold a referendum to make the Kherson region part of Russia and have pressured residents to take Russian citizenship and stop using Ukraine’s currency. Ukraine’s presidential office reported that “strong explosions continued throughout the day and night in the Kherson region. Fierce fighting continues almost throughout the region. Ukrainian forces, the office said, destroyed ammunition depots and all major bridges across the Dnieper River vital to supplying Russian troops. The Ukrainian military also said it destroyed a floating bridge on the Dnieper River that Russian forces were building and hit a dozen command posts with artillery fire. Russia’s state-run Tass news agency reported that explosions rocked Kherson on Tuesday morning – likely caused by air defense systems. Addressing talk of a major counterattack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly video address on Monday that “we will not hear details from any really responsible person” about Kiev’s intentions, “because this is a war.” The British said most of the Russian units around Kherson “are probably undermanned and dependent on fragile supply lines”, while its forces there are undergoing major reorganisation. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said its forces were holding up well and that Ukraine had lost hundreds of troops, tanks and other armored vehicles in Monday’s action. His claim could not be independently verified. Ukrainian independent military analyst Oleh Zhdanov told The Associated Press that “it will be possible to talk about the effectiveness of Ukrainian actions only after the major cities are recaptured.” He added that Ukrainian forces had breached the first and second lines of defense in the Kherson region several times in the past, “but it did not bring results.” “The most important thing is the work of the Ukrainian artillery on the bridges, which the Russian army can no longer use,” Mr. Zhdanov said. The war has reached a stalemate in recent months, with casualties and destruction mounting and the population bearing the brunt of the suffering during relentless bombing in the east and south. In other battlefield reports, at least nine civilians were killed in more Russian shelling, Ukrainian officials said, from the Black Sea port of Mykolaiv to the northeastern industrial center of Kharkiv, where five were killed in the city center. Amid fears that fighting around the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant could lead to disaster, a team from the UN atomic energy agency has launched a mission to inspect and protect the complex. Ukraine and Russia accuse each other of repeatedly bombing the region. Nikopoli, a town just across the Dnieper from the plant, was again hit by a barrage of heavy shelling, local authorities said, with damage to a bus station, shops and a children’s library. And a Russian missile attack targeted the city of Zaporizhzhia, about 50 kilometers from the plant, Ukraine said. In other developments:

The first ship carrying grain from war-torn Ukraine for people in the world’s hungriest ports has docked at the port of Djibouti in the Horn of Africa as deadly drought and conflict grip East Africa. The wheat goes to Ethiopia. European Union ministers discussed ways to increase arms production, boost military training for Ukraine and impose heavier costs on Russia. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his country is well prepared to face a potential energy shortage due to Russia’s pressure on European gas supplies. Russia has cut off or reduced the flow of natural gas to a dozen EU countries, raising fears ahead of winter.

Ukraine said it broke enemy lines at several points near the southern city of Kherson as it pressed a new campaign to recapture territory, while Moscow said Kiev’s counteroffensive had failed as Russia bombed the port of Mykolaiv. Jayson Albano reports. Reuters Our Morning Update and Afternoon Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.

title: “Fighting Intensifies In Russian Held Areas Of Southern Ukraine Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-19” author: “Michael Blake”

Ukraine claimed to have destroyed bridges and ammunition depots and pounded command posts in a flare-up of fighting in the Russian-held south, fueling speculation on Tuesday that its long-awaited counter-offensive to turn the tide of war was underway. Russia said it repelled the attack and inflicted heavy casualties. The clashes took place in the country’s Kherson region, where Moscow’s forces made significant gains early in the war. But Ukrainian authorities kept the world guessing about their intentions. While independent verification of action on the battlefield has been difficult, the British Ministry of Defense said in an intelligence report that several Ukrainian brigades had stepped up their artillery fire in front-line sectors in southern Ukraine. The port city of Kherson, with a pre-war population of around 300,000, is a major economic hub near the Black Sea and the first major city to fall to the Russians in the war that began six months ago. The port remains at the heart of Ukraine’s efforts to maintain its vital access to the sea, while Russia sees it as a key point in a land corridor that runs from its border to the Crimean peninsula, which it seized in 2014. The occupying forces have spoken of plans to hold a referendum to make the Kherson region part of Russia and have pressured residents to take Russian citizenship and stop using Ukraine’s currency. Ukraine’s presidential office reported that “strong explosions continued throughout the day and night in the Kherson region. Fierce fighting continues almost throughout the region. Ukrainian forces, the office said, destroyed ammunition depots and all major bridges across the Dnieper River vital to supplying Russian troops. The Ukrainian military also said it destroyed a floating bridge on the Dnieper River that Russian forces were building and hit a dozen command posts with artillery fire. Russia’s state-run Tass news agency reported that explosions rocked Kherson on Tuesday morning – likely caused by air defense systems. Addressing talk of a major counterattack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly video address on Monday that “we will not hear details from any really responsible person” about Kiev’s intentions, “because this is a war.” The British said most of the Russian units around Kherson “are probably undermanned and dependent on fragile supply lines”, while its forces there are undergoing major reorganisation. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said its forces were holding up well and that Ukraine had lost hundreds of troops, tanks and other armored vehicles in Monday’s action. His claim could not be independently verified. Ukrainian independent military analyst Oleh Zhdanov told The Associated Press that “it will be possible to talk about the effectiveness of Ukrainian actions only after the major cities are recaptured.” He added that Ukrainian forces had breached the first and second lines of defense in the Kherson region several times in the past, “but it did not bring results.” “The most important thing is the work of the Ukrainian artillery on the bridges, which the Russian army can no longer use,” Mr. Zhdanov said. The war has reached a stalemate in recent months, with casualties and destruction mounting and the population bearing the brunt of the suffering during relentless bombing in the east and south. In other battlefield reports, at least nine civilians were killed in more Russian shelling, Ukrainian officials said, from the Black Sea port of Mykolaiv to the northeastern industrial center of Kharkiv, where five were killed in the city center. Amid fears that fighting around the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant could lead to disaster, a team from the UN atomic energy agency has launched a mission to inspect and protect the complex. Ukraine and Russia accuse each other of repeatedly bombing the region. Nikopoli, a town just across the Dnieper from the plant, was again hit by a barrage of heavy shelling, local authorities said, with damage to a bus station, shops and a children’s library. And a Russian missile attack targeted the city of Zaporizhzhia, about 50 kilometers from the plant, Ukraine said. In other developments:

The first ship carrying grain from war-torn Ukraine for people in the world’s hungriest ports has docked at the port of Djibouti in the Horn of Africa as deadly drought and conflict grip East Africa. The wheat goes to Ethiopia. European Union ministers discussed ways to increase arms production, boost military training for Ukraine and impose heavier costs on Russia. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his country is well prepared to face a potential energy shortage due to Russia’s pressure on European gas supplies. Russia has cut off or reduced the flow of natural gas to a dozen EU countries, raising fears ahead of winter.

Ukraine said it broke enemy lines at several points near the southern city of Kherson as it pressed a new campaign to recapture territory, while Moscow said Kiev’s counteroffensive had failed as Russia bombed the port of Mykolaiv. Jayson Albano reports. Reuters Our Morning Update and Afternoon Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.

title: “Fighting Intensifies In Russian Held Areas Of Southern Ukraine Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-08” author: “Iola Moorman”

Ukraine claimed to have destroyed bridges and ammunition depots and pounded command posts in a flare-up of fighting in the Russian-held south, fueling speculation on Tuesday that its long-awaited counter-offensive to turn the tide of war was underway. Russia said it repelled the attack and inflicted heavy casualties. The clashes took place in the country’s Kherson region, where Moscow’s forces made significant gains early in the war. But Ukrainian authorities kept the world guessing about their intentions. While independent verification of action on the battlefield has been difficult, the British Ministry of Defense said in an intelligence report that several Ukrainian brigades had stepped up their artillery fire in front-line sectors in southern Ukraine. The port city of Kherson, with a pre-war population of around 300,000, is a major economic hub near the Black Sea and the first major city to fall to the Russians in the war that began six months ago. The port remains at the heart of Ukraine’s efforts to maintain its vital access to the sea, while Russia sees it as a key point in a land corridor that runs from its border to the Crimean peninsula, which it seized in 2014. The occupying forces have spoken of plans to hold a referendum to make the Kherson region part of Russia and have pressured residents to take Russian citizenship and stop using Ukraine’s currency. Ukraine’s presidential office reported that “strong explosions continued throughout the day and night in the Kherson region. Fierce fighting continues almost throughout the region. Ukrainian forces, the office said, destroyed ammunition depots and all major bridges across the Dnieper River vital to supplying Russian troops. The Ukrainian military also said it destroyed a floating bridge on the Dnieper River that Russian forces were building and hit a dozen command posts with artillery fire. Russia’s state-run Tass news agency reported that explosions rocked Kherson on Tuesday morning – likely caused by air defense systems. Addressing talk of a major counterattack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly video address on Monday that “we will not hear details from any really responsible person” about Kiev’s intentions, “because this is a war.” The British said most of the Russian units around Kherson “are probably undermanned and dependent on fragile supply lines”, while its forces there are undergoing major reorganisation. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said its forces were holding up well and that Ukraine had lost hundreds of troops, tanks and other armored vehicles in Monday’s action. His claim could not be independently verified. Ukrainian independent military analyst Oleh Zhdanov told The Associated Press that “it will be possible to talk about the effectiveness of Ukrainian actions only after the major cities are recaptured.” He added that Ukrainian forces had breached the first and second lines of defense in the Kherson region several times in the past, “but it did not bring results.” “The most important thing is the work of the Ukrainian artillery on the bridges, which the Russian army can no longer use,” Mr. Zhdanov said. The war has reached a stalemate in recent months, with casualties and destruction mounting and the population bearing the brunt of the suffering during relentless bombing in the east and south. In other battlefield reports, at least nine civilians were killed in more Russian shelling, Ukrainian officials said, from the Black Sea port of Mykolaiv to the northeastern industrial center of Kharkiv, where five were killed in the city center. Amid fears that fighting around the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant could lead to disaster, a team from the UN atomic energy agency has launched a mission to inspect and protect the complex. Ukraine and Russia accuse each other of repeatedly bombing the region. Nikopoli, a town just across the Dnieper from the plant, was again hit by a barrage of heavy shelling, local authorities said, with damage to a bus station, shops and a children’s library. And a Russian missile attack targeted the city of Zaporizhzhia, about 50 kilometers from the plant, Ukraine said. In other developments:

The first ship carrying grain from war-torn Ukraine for people in the world’s hungriest ports has docked at the port of Djibouti in the Horn of Africa as deadly drought and conflict grip East Africa. The wheat goes to Ethiopia. European Union ministers discussed ways to increase arms production, boost military training for Ukraine and impose heavier costs on Russia. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his country is well prepared to face a potential energy shortage due to Russia’s pressure on European gas supplies. Russia has cut off or reduced the flow of natural gas to a dozen EU countries, raising fears ahead of winter.

Ukraine said it broke enemy lines at several points near the southern city of Kherson as it pressed a new campaign to recapture territory, while Moscow said Kiev’s counteroffensive had failed as Russia bombed the port of Mykolaiv. Jayson Albano reports. Reuters Our Morning Update and Afternoon Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.