Ukrainian officials said the targets of the retaliatory attacks included water facilities and a thermal power plant in Kharkiv and caused widespread power outages. “There are no military installations, the goal is to deprive people of light and heat,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted late Sunday. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up The US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, also denounced the strikes. “Russia’s apparent response to Ukraine’s liberation of towns and villages in the east: sending missiles to try to destroy critical civilian infrastructure,” Brink tweeted. Moscow denies that its forces are deliberately targeting civilians. Zelensky described Ukraine’s offensive in the northeast as a potential breakthrough in the six-month-long war and said winter could see further territorial gains if Kyiv gets more powerful weapons. In the worst defeat for Moscow’s forces since they were pushed back from the outskirts of the capital Kiev in March, thousands of Russian troops left behind ammunition and equipment as they fled the city of Izium, which they had used as a logistics hub. Ukraine’s top commander, General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, said the armed forces had regained control of more than 3,000 square kilometers (1,158 square miles) since the start of this month. Moscow’s near-total silence on the defeat – or any explanation of what happened in northeastern Ukraine – has caused considerable anger among some pro-war commentators and Russian nationalists on social media. Some called on President Vladimir Putin on Sunday to make immediate changes to ensure a final victory in the war. read more
“CANINE REVENGE”
Zelensky said late Sunday that the Russian attacks caused a total blackout in Kharkiv and Donetsk regions and partial blackouts in Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions. “They cannot come to terms with defeats on the battlefield,” Dnipropetrovsk governor Valentin Reznichenko wrote on Telegram. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the president’s office, posted an image on Telegram of electrical infrastructure burning, but additional power had been restored in some areas. The mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, called Sunday’s attacks “cynical revenge” for the success of Ukrainian troops on the front, particularly in Kharkiv. Ukraine’s gains are important politically for Zelensky as he seeks to keep Europe united behind Ukraine – by supplying weapons and money – even as an energy crisis looms this winter following cuts in Russian gas supplies to European customers. Zelensky said Ukrainian forces would continue to advance. “We will not stand still,” he said in a CNN interview taped Friday in Kyiv. “We will proceed slowly, gradually.”
“SNOWBALL ROLLING DOWN A HILL”
Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Ukraine must secure recapture of territory against a possible Russian counterattack on strained Ukrainian supply lines. He told the Financial Times that Ukrainian forces could be surrounded by new Russian troops if they advance too far. But he said the attack had gone much better than expected, describing it as a “snowball rolling down a hill”. “It’s a sign that Russia can be defeated,” he said. Kyiv-based military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said the gains could bring further impetus to the Luhansk region, which Russia claimed in early July. “If you look at the map, it is reasonable to assume that the offensive will be deployed in the direction of Svatove – Starobelsk and Sievierodonetsk – Lysychansk,” he said. The head of the Russian administration in Kharkiv told residents to evacuate the province and flee to Russia, TASS reported on Saturday. Witnesses described traffic jams with people fleeing Russian-controlled territory. Leonid Pasechnik, the head of the Luhansk People’s Republic, was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying that Ukrainian forces were trying to infiltrate the area, which has been held by Russian forces since July. “Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups have not stopped their efforts to infiltrate the territory of the republic in order to provoke and intimidate our citizens,” he said, adding that “there has been no retreat from the positions held by the republic.” Washington appeared to take a cautious public stance, with the Pentagon referring Reuters to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s remarks on Thursday about Kiev’s “encouraging” successes on the battlefield. read more Britain’s Ministry of Defense said on Sunday that fighting continued around Izium and the town of Kupiansk, the only rail hub feeding Russia’s front line across northeastern Ukraine, which has been retaken by Ukrainian forces.
THE NUCLEAR REACTOR IS FREAKING OUT
As the war entered its 200th day, Ukraine on Sunday shut down the last active reactor at Europe’s largest nuclear plant to guard against a disaster as fighting rages nearby. Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of bombing around the Russian factory in Zaporizhia, risking a radioactive fallout. The International Atomic Energy Agency said a backup power line at the plant was restored, providing the external electricity needed to carry out the shutdown while protecting against the risk of collapse. French President Emmanuel Macron told Putin in a phone call on Sunday that the seizure of the factory by Russian troops is why his security is at stake, the French presidency said. Putin blamed Ukrainian forces, according to a Kremlin statement. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Report by Reuters reporters. Written by Phil Stewart and James Oliphant. Editor: Daniel Wallis Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
