Zelensky, who has led his country’s resistance since Russian troops poured across the border on February 24, also said Ukraine would restore its sovereignty over the Crimea region – annexed by Russia in 2014 as a precursor to this year’s invasive. Despite his defiance, there was concern among Ukrainian and allied Western officials that Russia was preparing to attack the capital Kyiv again. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register The United States has urged its citizens to leave Ukraine, saying it believes Russia will target civilian and government infrastructure in the coming days. US citizens should leave Ukraine “now” by their own means if it was safe to do so, the US embassy said. On the battlefields away from Kyiv, Russian forces have carried out artillery and airstrikes in the Zaporizhzhia region of southeastern Ukraine, where fighting has taken place near Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, the Ukrainian military said. Meanwhile, leaders of dozens of countries and international organizations joined the so-called Crimea Platform – most of them via video – in a show of solidarity with Ukraine on the six-month anniversary of the invasion. Opening the forum, Zelensky, dressed in his usual military gear, told delegates: “To overcome terror, it is necessary to win the battle against Russian aggression.” “It is necessary to liberate Crimea. This will be the revival of global law and order,” he said. Acting Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi told the summit that Rome would continue to support Ukraine. “We stand with you in your struggle to resist Russia’s invasion, to restore Ukraine’s territorial integrity, to protect your democracy and independence,” he said. Earlier, Zelensky had warned that Moscow might try “something particularly nasty” ahead of Wednesday’s Independence Day. Asked at a news conference with visiting Polish President Andrzej Duda about the possibility of a Russian missile attack on Kyiv, Zelenskiy said there was a daily threat of attacks, although their number could increase. Ukraine’s response will be the same for any city attacked by Russia. “They will get a response, a strong response,” Zelensky said. “I want to say that every day…that response will grow, it will grow stronger.” Fears of intensified Russian attacks followed the killing of Daria Dugina, the daughter of a prominent Russian ultranationalist, in a car bombing near Moscow on Saturday. Moscow blamed the killing on Ukrainian agents, a charge Kyiv denies. Kyiv has rarely been hit by Russian missiles since Ukraine repelled a ground offensive to seize the capital in March. The mood in the city was calm on Tuesday, with many people still roaming the streets, but signs of the heightened threat were palpable. Authorities told Ukrainians to work from home where possible from Tuesday to Thursday, also urging people to take air raid warnings seriously and seek shelter when sirens sound. Kyiv’s municipal government banned large public gatherings until Thursday, fearing that a crowd of celebrating residents could be targeted by a Russian missile attack.
PUDE NUCLEAR CAGE
Six months after the Russian invasion, which caused thousands of deaths, displaced millions of people and destroyed entire cities, the conflict is at an impasse. Russian forces control a large part of the south, including the coasts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, as well as parts of the eastern Donbas region. The prospects for peace seem almost non-existent. Russian shelling hit eastern Kharkiv – Ukraine’s second-largest city – around dawn on Tuesday, regional governor Oleh Synehubov said. One house was hit, but no one was injured, he said. In the south, Ukraine said Russia fired artillery and launched airstrikes on several towns in the Zaporizhia region, where Russian forces seized the nuclear plant shortly after the invasion began. Artillery and rocket fire near the Zaporizhia nuclear reactor complex, on the south bank of the Dnipro River, led to calls for the area to be demilitarized. The two sides have traded blame for frequent shelling of the factory. In another action, Ukrainian forces shelled a building housing the headquarters of the local administration in the center of the separatist-held city of Donetsk on Tuesday, the TASS news agency reported, citing officials deployed by Russia. Three people were killed, he said. The Russian Defense Ministry announced that its forces shot down a Ukrainian SU-27 warplane over the Kharkiv region. Russia has sent its troops over the border in what it calls a “special military operation” saying it wanted to demilitarize its neighbor and protect Russian-speaking communities. Ukraine and its Western allies accuse Moscow of waging an unjustified war of aggression. The United Nations said on Monday that 5,587 civilians were killed and 7,890 wounded between February 24 and August 21, mostly by artillery, rocket and missile attacks. Its children’s agency, UNICEF, said at least 972 children have been killed or injured in six months of war. Separately, Ukraine’s armed forces chief General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi provided what appeared to be the first public tally of Ukrainian military dead, saying nearly 9,000 soldiers were killed in action. Russia has not said how many of its soldiers have been killed. The General Staff of Ukraine put the death toll of the Russian army at 45,400. Reuters was unable to verify military casualties. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reporting by Ron Popeski and Natalia Zinets. Written by Stephen Coates and Angus MacSwan. Edited by William Maclean Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
