Ukraine under pressure in east as NATO chief says Russia must not win

Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is trying more and more weak with Ukraine saying Russia is constructing a army “strike force” to focus on the economic metropolis in central-southern Ukraine.

Early Thursday, Ukraine’s southern army command saying the state of affairs in its operational space — the place preventing is intensifying around Kryvyi Rih in addition to Zaporizhzhia to the east, and Mykolaiv and Kherson to the south — is “tense and complex.”

“The enemy continues to conduct hostilities on the occupied line of defense. In order to prevent the advance of our troops and restore the lost position, the composition of the group in the Kryvyi Rih direction is increasing due to the transfer of units of the 35th Army of the Eastern Military District,” the unit stated, saying that Russian plane had been turning into “more active” and attacking the realm south of Kryvyi Rih.

Ukraine’s southern army command stated in a earlier replace on Wednesday that it believed Russia was making a army “strike group in the Kryvyi Rih region” and that “it’s also quite likely that the enemy is preparing a hostile counter-offensive with the subsequent plan of getting to the administrative boundary of Kherson region.”

Officials in Ukraine have repeatedly warned in current days that Russia is redeploying an enormous quantity of troops to the south of the nation, the place Ukraine has launched counteroffensives to attempt to regain misplaced territory, significantly the occupied metropolis of Kherson.

Ukrainian artillerymen within the army meeting heart examine the weapons and particular tools to make them prepared earlier than they go to their duties on the frontline in Kherson, Ukraine on July 15, 2022.

In his nightly handle on Sunday night, Zelenskyy praised the bravery of residents in his hometown, in addition to different cities 

underneath repeated assault as Russia appears to be like to increase its territorial good points in east and southern Ukraine.

“I want to thank every resident of Mykolaiv for their indomitability, for protecting the city and the region. I also thank Nikopol, Kharkiv, Kryvyi Rih and the entire Dnipropetrovsk region, the strong people of Zaporozhzhia and the region, all Ukrainians of the Kherson region, everyone who defends the approaches to Odessa and the region … Thank you for your courage.”

Zelenskyy says he needs to talk with Chinese President Xi Jinping

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is seen throughout a joint press convention with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson on July 4, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Zelenskyy is in search of a possibility for direct talks with Chinese chief Xi Jinping to assist finish Russia’s unprovoked struggle in Ukraine, the South China Morning Post reported.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy needs to talk straight with Xi Jinping in hopes China’s president might use the nation’s affect to finish Russia’s unprovoked struggle in Ukraine.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Zelenskyy stated Ukraine has pursued talks with China because the starting of the struggle. He advised the newspaper that Russia would really feel way more economically remoted with out the Chinese market and will use that to strain Russian President Vladimir Putin to cease the struggle.

Ukrainian cities shelled, including one near nuke plant; four killed
 

Powerful explosions rattled the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv on Thursday and a city close to the country’s biggest nuclear power plant sustained a barrage of shelling amid Russian attacks in several regions, Ukraine’s presidential office said.

At least four civilians were killed and 10 more wounded in 24 hours, with nine Ukrainian regions coming under fire, the office said in its daily update.

The separatist-held eastern city of Donetsk also came under shelling, with Russian-backed local authorities saying that five civilians were killed and six others wounded.

Kyiv said that two districts of Mykolaiv, which has been targeted frequently in recent weeks, were shelled.

Russian forces reportedly fired 60 rockets at Nikopol, in the central Dnipropetrovsk region.

Some 50 residential buildings were damaged in the city of 107,000 and some projectiles hit power lines, leaving city residents without electricity, according to Ukrainian authorities.

Nikopol is located across the Dnieper river from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which was taken over by Russian troops early in the war.

Experts at the US-based Institute for the Study of War believe that Russia is shelling the area intentionally, “putting Ukraine in a difficult position”.

“Either Ukraine returns fire, risking international condemnation and a nuclear incident (which Ukrainian forces are unlikely to do), or Ukrainian forces allow Russian forces to continue firing on Ukrainian positions from an effective safe zone,’” the Institute’s latest report said.

The head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency earlier this week voiced alarm over the situation at the Zaporizhzhia plant (AP/PTI)