In eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian troops apparently continued to push back the Russian enemy. They say they recaptured a village in the Luhansk region, a symbolic victory in the breakaway area.
Killed after artillery bombardment in Donetsk
According to Russian-backed separatists, 13 people were killed in a Ukrainian missile attack on the industrial city of Donetsk.
According to local media, two grenades hit a bus stop and a store. Local authorities blame Ukrainian troops for the bombing. Kyiv regularly denies such allegations. The information could not be independently confirmed.
Zelenskyy with his military: quick action is needed
After consulting with his military, Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian forces had the situation in the liberated areas near Kharkiv in the east firmly under control: “In the Kharkiv region, we are stabilizing the situation and holding our positions, so that the occupiers come into panic. Well, we warn you: the Russian military has only two options in Ukraine: escape or captivity. Collaborators have similar options: either try to escape – and it remains to be seen whether Russia will let them into its territory, even if that happens. give them passports – or they will be sentenced under current Ukrainian legislation.”
At the same time, the head of state called for swift action: speed is important to stabilize the liberated regions, to normalize life there and to advance troops. Support from abroad must also keep pace, he demanded.
Donetsk and Luhansk demand rapid union with Russia
In view of advancing Ukrainian troops, the so-called civilian chambers in the breakaway regions of Luhansk and Donetsk have appealed to the local leadership to hold a referendum on rapid accession to Russia soon.
Lina Vokalova, deputy director of the Chamber of Citizens in the Luhansk region: “The residents of Donbass made their choice in 2014 in the referendum on the self-determination of the Luhansk People’s Republic. We have waited all these years and hoped that the second referendum would come and our dream , returning to Russia finally comes true.”
The head of the Ukrainian administration of Luhansk, Serhiy Hajdaj, expressed the assumption that the annexation of Moscow regions should provide the basis for a general mobilization. Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak wrote on Twitter that potential referendums would not change the fact that Donetsk, Luhansk and the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed for years, belong to Ukraine under international law.
Preparations for such referendums have long been underway in the breakaway republics controlled by Russia since 2014.
Rocket impact near the nuclear power plant
According to state operator Energoatom, the impact of a Russian rocket near a nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine damaged three high-voltage lines and a system at the nearby hydroelectric plant. In the nuclear power plant building itself, more than 100 windows were destroyed by the explosion.
The southern Ukraine nuclear power plant is located nearly 300 kilometers south of the capital Kyiv. There are three reactors in operation with a net power of 2,850 megawatts. The bombing of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear plant facilities had already sparked international fears of a nuclear catastrophe for several weeks.