According to the Ukrainian military, Russia is continuing its attacks in the area around the largest European nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia. The general staff announced on Tuesday that there had been artillery fire and airstrikes again. The US embassy in Kyiv warned that Russia could plan increased attacks on civilian infrastructure and government facilities in the coming days.
On the embassy’s website, all US citizens were once again called upon to leave Ukraine. The 31st anniversary of Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union will be marked on Wednesday – the same day that also marks the beginning of the Russian invasion six months ago. Fear of renewed attacks is also fueled by Russia blaming Ukraine for the deadly bombing of leading nationalist Alexander Dugin’s daughter Darya Dugina. Ukraine rejects this.
Under fire
In the Zaporizhia region, Russia has shelled several places, the Ukrainian general staff said. Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly accused each other of shelling the nuclear power plant area. The information cannot be independently verified. The nuclear power plant has been occupied by Russian troops since March, but continues to be operated by Ukrainian technicians. Russia has requested a meeting of the UN Security Council on Zaporizhia for Tuesday, the Russian state news agency RIA reported.
Meanwhile, Russian-led separatists in eastern Ukraine reported heavy attacks on the city of Donetsk by the Ukrainian army. Among other things, the administration building of separatist leader Denis Puschilin was hit, the self-proclaimed territorial defense of Donetsk announced on Telegram on Tuesday. Puschilin himself was not injured, but three civilians were killed. This could not be verified independently. Also initially unverifiable was the claim that the Ukrainians had fired at Donetsk with Himars missiles supplied by the USA. Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced that it had advanced a few dozen square kilometers in the southern areas of Cherson and Mykolaiv.
Before Independence Day
For fear of Russian rocket attacks, the authorities in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv banned all major Independence Day events on Wednesday. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned over the weekend that Russia could do “something particularly evil” on the commemoration day on August 24.
In view of the fears, Zelenskyj announced decisive reactions. There will be a powerful answer, Zelenskyj told journalists on Tuesday. “I want to say that every day (…) this answer will increase, it will become stronger and stronger.” When asked how Ukraine would react to a possible Russian missile attack on Kyiv, Zelenskyy pointed out that all cities and regions should have equal rights. An attack on the capital will be reacted to in the same way as current attacks elsewhere. “For me as president and for every Ukrainian, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Donbass are all the same.” Ukrainians lived everywhere there, said Selenskyj, and also named the cities of Kharkov and Zaporizhia, which were heavily contested recently.
Independence from the Soviet Union
On this day, Ukraine traditionally celebrates independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Russia invaded the neighboring country on February 24 this year and has described its actions as a special operation with the aim of destroying military capacities and in the course of “denazification” against nationalists classified as dangerous to act. Ukraine and its allies speak of a war of aggression. Since 2014, when Ukraine clearly turned to the EU and NATO, Russia has kept the Crimean Peninsula annexed from Ukraine and had backed militant, pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
In connection with the deadly bomb attack on Dugina, the United States declared that it unequivocally condemned any attack on civilians. A State Department spokesman in Washington declined to say whether the US government knew who was responsible for the killing of political journalist Darya Dugina, daughter of Russian ideologue Alexander Dugin. There is no doubt that Russia will present “certain conclusions”. The Russian domestic secret service (FSB) blamed Ukrainian secret services for the attack, Russian news agencies reported.
The FSB released a video purporting to show the alleged murderer of pro-war Dugina. Several shots cut together in the clip, which lasts around two minutes, are intended to show how the Ukrainian arrives in Russia, enters the house of her alleged victim and then leaves the country again after the crime. Dugina died on Sunday night when her car exploded in a Moscow suburb. Russian President Vladimir Putin posthumously awarded Dugina, who was killed in the attack, the Order of Bravery. On Tuesday, hundreds of people, including her father, attended a funeral service for Dugina in a hall of the Ostankino television center in Moscow.
Meanwhile, Russia says it shot down a Ukrainian SU-27 fighter jet over the Kharkiv region. As the Ministry of Defense in Moscow announced on Tuesday, two American-made M777 howitzers were also destroyed. (apa, dpa, reuters, afp)