Ukrainian forces said on Thursday, August 17, they had beaten back a Russian attack in the southern region of Kherson, while the death toll from Russian shelling of Kharkiv city in Ukraine’s northeast climbed, informs news agency Reuters.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan later on Thursday, August 18, in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.
They will discuss possible ways to find a political solution to the war, as well as address the threat to global food supplies and risk of a disaster at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, which has been taken over by Russian forces.
The war has forced millions to flee, killed thousands and deepened a geopolitical rift between the West and Russia, which says the aim of its operation is to demilitarise its neighbour and protect Russian–speaking communities.
Ukrainian presidential adviser said in a video that Russian forces have achieved minimal advances and in some cases Ukrainian forces advanced, since last month.
«What we are seeing is a strategic deadlock,» says Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych.
Russian bombardment of a residential area of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second biggest city, on Wednesday evening killed seven people and wounded 16, the Ukrainian Emergencies Service said.
«This is a devious and cynical strike on civilians with no justification,» Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app.
The south district of the Operational Command of the Ukrainian armed forces said Ukrainian forces killed 29 «occupiers» near the town of Bilohirka, northeast of Kherson, as well as destroying artillery, armoured vehicles and a military supply depot.
Reuters was not able to independently confirm the battlefield reports.
Fighting around the Russian–occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has raised fears of a catastrophe and U.N. chief has said he wants a demilitarised zone established.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said he had spoken to the director general of the International Atomic Agency, who was ready to lead a delegation to the plant.
«I emphasised the mission’s urgency to address nuclear security threats caused by Russia’s hostilities,» he said on Twitter.
Russia’s defence ministry accused Ukraine of planning a «provocation» at the plant on Friday when Guterres is due to visit, Russian state-owned news agency RIA reported.
The two sides have exchanged accusations of shelling near the plant but the Russian ministry said its forces had no heavy weapons at the plant or in nearby districts.