Ukraine said on Friday it had retaken 88 towns in the southern Kherson region, one of four regions Russia annexed earlier this month.
“Kherson region: 88 places have recovered,” Kirilo Tymoshenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, said on Telegram.
Local Russian officials have promised to turn Kherson, the region’s capital, into a “fortress”. “The city of Kherson, like a fortress, is preparing its defense,” proRussian leader Kirill Stremousov told Telegram.
The Russian occupation administration is working to evacuate thousands of civilians due to Ukrainian offensives in recent weeks. Around 15,000 civilians are said to have left the region yesterday.
This Friday (21st) Ukraine was accused of promoting attacks on operations to evacuate people in Kherson.
According to reports, Ukrainian forces bombed the Antonivsky Bridge, leaving four dead. Kyiv denies responsibility for the offensive.
According to the Russians, a journalist died, also on Friday, in another suspected Ukrainian bombing of a bridge near Kherson.
“Among the journalists there are ten wounded and one dead,” Alexander Malkevich, deputy director of the Information Development Commission, told Russia’s state network Rossiya24.
Appeal to the West
Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelenskyy on Friday urged the West to warn Russia not to blow up the Nova Kakhovka dam, a huge reservoir that would flood part of southern Ukraine if destroyed.
According to Zelensky, Russian forces have planted explosives at the site and plan to blow it up to cover their retreat.
“Now everyone in the world must act with strength and speed to prevent another Russian terrorist attack. The destruction of the dam would mean a catastrophe on a large scale,” he said in a televised address.
Damage to the dam would also destroy the canal system that irrigates southern Ukraine, including Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
dead children
At least 429 children have died in the country since the Russian invasion began on February 24, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office said.
According to the published information, the deaths as a result of various attacks occurred across the country, especially in the eastern regions.
A total of 817 minors suffered injuries of varying degrees of severity and required medical attention.
Prosecutors report that the figure is not considered final as work continues to identify child casualties where hostilities are taking place and in areas occupied by the Russians or recently liberated from Ukraine.
communication channels
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has urged his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu to keep “channels of communication” open about the war in Ukraine, a spokesman said.
“Secretary Austin stressed the importance of maintaining lines of communication amid the ongoing war against Ukraine,” Brigadier General Pat Ryder said in a statement following the phone call between Austin and Shoigu.