According to Kremlin-aligned authorities on Monday, the southern Kherson area recently annexed by Moscow is being breached by the Ukrainian counteroffensive that has already recaptured hundreds of kilometres.
Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-appointed governor of Kherson province, said on national television that many towns and villages around 70 miles northeast of Kherson, on the Dnieper River, had been conquered.
Saldo was quoted by Reuters as saying, “It’s tense, let’s put it that way.”
According to Igor Konashenkov, a spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Defensive, “the adversary managed to penetrate into the depths of our defense” due to the opponent’s “superior tank units.” However, according to Konashenkov, Russian soldiers had retreated to a defensive stance, “keep up the tremendous fire damage” to the Kyiv forces.
Days after regaining the key eastern city of Lyman in the Donetsk province on the border with Luhansk, Ukraine also claimed making gains into the Luhansk province.
Russia claimed an overwhelming win in widely condemned elections last week, but the advances in Ukraine have cast doubt on whether or not it can absorb the four seized areas of Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Zaporizhizhia. Even Russian authorities haven’t been able to agree on where those regions’ boundaries should be.
Developments:
If the European Union is completely shut off from Russia, the International Energy Agency said on Monday, EU member states will have to lower their natural gas usage by 13% over the winter.
According to Rafael Grossi, the chairman of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ihor Murashov was freed from Russian custody on Friday after being seized upon leaving Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant in the Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia.
A Russian court said on Monday that WNBA player Brittney Griner’s appeal of her nine-year jail term for drug charges will take place on October 25.
The Ukrainian presidential administration said on Monday that two people had been killed and 14 others injured as a result of Russian bombardment in eight districts of Ukraine over the previous 24 hours.
The northern European countries that make up the Joint Expeditionary Force got together on Monday to talk about strengthening their security cooperation “after three leaks of natural gas were caused by explosions, the British Defense Ministry announced that they would be taking measures, including “increased maritime presence,” to ensure the safety of pipelines in the Baltic Sea.