President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged Russian troops to flee from an offensive launched by Ukraine’s forces near the southern city of Kherson, saying they were taking back their territory.
Most of the Kherson region bordering the Black Sea, and its provincial capital of the same name, were seized by Moscow’s military at the start of the invasion six months ago.
Fighting was raging across almost the entirety of the region on Tuesday, Ukraine’s presidency said. As often the case throughout the conflict, Russia dismissed Kyiv’s claims, saying the assault had failed.
With the war in the eastern Donbas region largely stalled, analysts have said for weeks that combat is likely to shift south to break the stalemate before winter comes.
Ukraine’s assault comes after weeks of a deadlock in the conflict that has killed thousands, displaced millions, destroyed cities and caused a global energy and food crisis.
It has also fuelled worries of a radiation disaster being triggered by shelling near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine.
In his nightly address late on Monday, Zelenskyy vowed that Ukrainian troops would chase the Russian army “to the border”.
Credit: Aljazeera.com
