Heavy fighting is taking place in Donetsk, amid fears over the proximity to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. It is one of the main battlefields between Russian and Ukrainian forces for more than a week.
Russia cried victory this Saturday in the Ukrainian town of Pesky, in the eastern region of Donetsk, which was denied by the kyiv military command, which reported “fierce fighting” in the area, while fears persist for the safety of the Zaporiyia nuclear power plant.
“As a result of offensive actions of the allied troops, the settlement of Pesky in the Donetsk People’s Republic was completely liberated,” the Russian military spokesman said. Igor Konashénkov.
The Ukrainian military rejected the Russian version and assured that the “aggressor tries to break” their defense line in the direction of Pesky, but “fierce fighting” continues there and in nearby towns.
Pesky, a few kilometers from the pro-Russian controlled city of Donetsk, has been one of the main battlefields between Russian and Ukrainian forces for more than a week.
For the Russians, the capture of Pesky, where according to 2019 data only nine people lived, would allow the offensive to continue north to Avdiivka and northwest.
Ukraine also claimed to have shot down a Russian Su-25 plane and four enemy drones of the Orlan-10 model in the east of the country in the last few hours.
According to the Ukrainian General Staff, Moscow has lost 233 planes and 779 drones since last February.
Russia, for its part, assures that since the beginning of the military campaign in Ukraine it has destroyed 267 aircraft and 1,736 drones of the adversary.
Zaporiya nuclear power plant again under fire
Parallel to the fighting in Donbas, Russia and Ukraine accused each other this Saturday of attacks on the Zaporiyia Nuclear Power Plant, converted into the most dangerous and explosive war trophy of the war in Ukraine.
According to the pro-Russian authorities of Zaporizhia, a Ukrainian region controlled almost entirely by the Russian Army, the kyiv forces again attacked the largest atomic plant in Europe on Saturday.
“Energodar and the Zaporizhia atomic plant are again under fire from (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky’s fighters,” he said. Vladimir Rogov, spokesperson for the pro-Russian administration of Zaporizhia, on his Telegram channel.
This Friday, Rogov had already denounced a Ukrainian attack with heavy weapons against the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, which damaged the high-voltage line of the plant’s substation.
The pro-Russians also denounced today that due to the attacks in Ukraine they are forced to turn off one of the turbines of the kakhovskaya hydroelectric plant, in the southern region of Kherson, bordering Zaporizhia, which may have serious consequences for the operation of the nuclear plant.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Atomic Corporation, Energoatom, accused the Russian troops of attacking the plant and broadcast an interview with an operator of the atomic plant in which he compares the situation with the Fukushima catastrophe and regrets that the international community limits itself to expressing its “deep concern” with what occurs in the plant.
For days both sides have accused each other of attacking the plant, which has unleashed the alarm of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the UN, which called for the cessation of any activity around the nuclear power plant to avoid a “disaster”.
According to Mykhailo Podolyak, Ukrainian presidential adviser, Russia attacks that part of the plant that supplies electricity to southern Ukraine.
“Their goal is to disconnect us from the plant and accuse the Ukrainian troops of it,” Podolyak wrote on Twitter.
Ukraine thanks Russia for sanctions
At the political level, the Ukrainian authorities thanked the European countries that supported their initiative on the ban on travel to Europe for Russians, but pointed out that the measure should not affect asylum seekers.
The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky He said in this regard that he supports the granting of refuge to those Russians who are persecuted in his country, but insists that Europe must close its doors to tourists from Russia.
“Only those who fight and are persecuted. That does not refer to those who go for tourism, leisure and business to Europe, ”said the Ukrainian president in his last speech.
This week, the European Union promised to study the possibility of restricting or prohibiting the issuance of visas to Russian tourists at the request of Zelensky and the Baltic countries.
Moscow condemned this initiative and hoped that common sense would not allow the measure to prosper.
The Russian opposition was also opposed to the attempts to restrict the travel of Russian citizens outside the country by pointing out that, in order to apply for asylum in another country, Russians would first have to cross the border and reach their destination, something that could happen if the kyiv proposal is implemented in practice.
Meanwhile, military experts confirmed fears that the conflict could drag on beyond 2022.
“Neither Russia nor Ukraine are likely to achieve decisive military results this year,” the head of British military intelligence, Lieutenant General Jim Hawkenhull, told the BBC.