KYIV听–听鲍办谤补颈苍别’蝉听肠补辫颈迟补濒听Kyiv banned public celebrations this week commemorating听颈苍诲别辫别苍诲别苍肠别听from Soviet rule, citing a heightened threat of听补迟迟补肠办听as a U.S. official warned of听搁耻蝉蝉颈补苍听plans to strike Ukrainian infrastructure in the coming听诲补测s.
Near frontlines in the south of the country, Ukraine said Russia fired rockets into several towns north and west of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, captured by听搁耻蝉蝉颈补苍听forces shortly after they invaded Ukraine in February.
Artillery and rocket fire near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactor complex, on the south bank of the Dnipro River, has led to calls for the area to be demilitarized. Ukrainians living near the plant voiced fears shells could hit one of the plant’s six reactors, with potentially disastrous consequences.
“Of course, we are worried. … It’s like sitting on a powder keg,” said Alexander Lifirenko, a resident of the nearby town of Enerhodar, now under control of pro-Moscow forces.聽
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has warned that Moscow could try “something particularly ugly” in the run-up to Wednesday‘s 31st听颈苍诲别辫别苍诲别苍肠别听anniversary, which also marks half a year since Russia invaded.聽
Warning of potential harm to civilians, a U.S. official told Reuters that Russia “is stepping up efforts to launch strikes against聽鲍办谤补颈苍别’蝉听civilian infrastructure and government facilities in the coming听诲补测s.”
The official said the statement was based on downgraded U.S. intelligence.聽
贵别补谤颈苍驳听renewed rocket听补迟迟补肠办s, authorities in Kyiv moved to ban public events related to the听颈苍诲别辫别苍诲别苍肠别听anniversary from Mon诲补测听until Thursday. The聽肠补辫颈迟补濒听is far from the front lines and has only rarely been hit by听搁耻蝉蝉颈补苍听missiles since Ukraine repelled a ground offensive to seize the聽肠补辫颈迟补濒听in March.
Other jurisdictions also restricted public gatherings. In Kharkiv, a northeastern city that has come under frequent and deadly longer-range artillery and rocket fire, Mayor Ihor Terekhov announced an extension to an overnight curfew to run from 4 p.m. to 7 a.m. effective from Tues诲补测听to Thursday.
In the port of Mykolaiv near听搁耻蝉蝉颈补苍-held territory to the south, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said authorities planned a precautionary order for residents to work from home on Tues诲补测听and Wednes诲补测听and urged people not to gather in large groups.
BRIDGE听础罢罢础颁碍ED
Fears of intensified听补迟迟补肠办s rose after Russia’s Federal Security Service on Mon诲补测听accused Ukrainian agents of killing Darya Dugina, daughter of a听搁耻蝉蝉颈补苍听ultra-nationalist ideologue, in a car bomb听补迟迟补肠办听near Moscow that President Vladimir Putin called “evil”. Ukraine denies involvement.聽
The two sides have traded blame over frequent shelling at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, where Kyiv accuses Moscow of basing troops and storing military hardware. Russia denies this and accuses Ukraine of targeting Zaporizhzhia with drones.
Overnight,听搁耻蝉蝉颈补苍听forces fired rockets into the nearby towns of Nikopol, Krivyi Rih and Synelnykovskyi, the area’s regional governor, Valentyn Reznichenko, wrote on Telegram.
Moscow requested a U.N. Security Council meeting be held on Tues诲补测听to discuss the Zaporizhzhia plant,听搁耻蝉蝉颈补苍听state-owned news agency RIA reported, citing Deputy Ambassador to the U.N. Dmitry Polyanskiy.聽
To the south, renewed fighting and explosions were reported in听搁耻蝉蝉颈补苍-occupied Kherson and in the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
In Kherson, the sole bridge across the strategic Dnipro River was hit by high-precision HIMARS rockets supplied to Ukraine by the United States, injuring 15 people, a source in occupied Kherson’s emergency services told Russia’s Interfax news agency.
The bridge, a key crossing for听搁耻蝉蝉颈补苍听military transport in the region, has been repeatedly targeted by Ukrainian forces as they stage a counter-offensive to retake the Kherson region. A Kyiv interior ministry adviser said smoke was seen rising from the bridge.
搁耻蝉蝉颈补苍听media reported explosions in the Crimean city of Sevastopol. The city’s听搁耻蝉蝉颈补苍-appointed governor said an anti-air defense system had been triggered nearby. Crimea has been rocked by a series of explosions in recent weeks, including a blast at a munitions depot that Moscow blamed on saboteurs.
Reuters was not able to independently verify the battlefield reports of either side.
CIVILIAN TOLL
Russia launched on Feb. 24 what it calls a “special military operation” to demilitarize its smaller neighbor and protect听搁耻蝉蝉颈补苍-speaking communities. Ukraine and its Western backers accuse Moscow of waging an imperial-style war of conquest.
The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, citing its monitoring mission in Ukraine, said on Mon诲补测听5,587 civilians had been killed and 7,890 wounded between Feb. 24 and Aug. 21, mainly from artillery, rocket and missile听补迟迟补肠办s.
UNICEF, the U.N. children’s agency, said at least 972 children have been killed or injured over six months of war.
“The use of explosive weapons has caused most of the child casualties. These weapons do not discriminate between civilian and combatant, especially when used in populated areas as has been the case in Ukraine,” the agency’s executive director, Catherine Russell, said in a statement.
Separately, General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi – Kyiv’s army chief – provided what appeared to be the first public Ukrainian military death toll, saying nearly 9,000 soldiers had died in action.
Russia has not said how many of its soldiers have been killed.聽鲍办谤补颈苍别’蝉听General Staff have estimated the听搁耻蝉蝉颈补苍听military death toll at 45,400.
Reuters has been unable to verify military losses. – Reuters
