Ukraine said it had retaken territory during a counterattack that has prompted officials in occupied Kherson region to postpone a vote on joining Russia, as the Kremlin suggested that a major gas pipeline to Europe would stay shut until the West lifted sanctions on Moscow.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said two villages in southern Ukraine and one in the east had been retaken by the country’s military, as its troops slowly push forward in some areas behind artillery strikes on Russian command posts and arms and fuel depots.
“We were preparing for a vote, we wanted to conduct a referendum soon, but because of the things that have been happening recently I think we will pause for now,” said Kirill Stremousov, a Russian-appointed official in occupied Kherson region in southern Ukraine.
He also said a major bridge over the Dnieper river in the region was now impassable for cars and trucks after repeated artillery strikes, as Ukrainian forces use long-range, high-precision western weapons to hit Russia’s supply lines and reinforcement routes.
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Mr Stremousov insisted that “Kherson will be Russia forever” and said “we are not scared”, despite a string of gun and bomb attacks on collaborators in the region which were apparently the work of Ukrainian partisan units.
In neighbouring Zaporizhzhia region, which is partly occupied by Russia, Ukrainian nuclear energy operator Energoatom said the last working reactor at Europe’s biggest atomic power station had been disconnected from the national grid by shelling.
[ Kremlin planning ‘energy attack’ on Europe to sow chaos this winter, Kyiv saysOpens in new window ]
The announcement came as several inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) left the site after a four-day visit to the Zaporizhzhia power station — which is run by Ukrainian technicians under the guard of Russian troops who seized the area in March — and two remained at the facility.
It is not clear how long IAEA staff will stay at the site, where Russia and Ukraine blame each other for shelling that has damaged power lines and radiation sensors. Kyiv says Moscow’s forces have mined the plant and are using it as a “nuclear shield” from where they shell Ukrainian forces across the Dnieper river; the Kremlin denies that but rejects international calls to withdraw remove its military from the facility.
Alexander Volga, Russian-installed official in the region, said one reactor was still connected to Ukraine’s national grid and that he hoped the remaining IAEA inspectors would “be the appointed protectors, responsible for the safe use of the ... plant.”
During a phone call with Mr Zelenskiy, French president Emmanuel
Macron said it was vital “to preserve the safety and security of the nuclear facilities, which can only be achieved through the withdrawal of Russian forces” and that “Ukrainian sovereignty over the plant (must be) respected,” the Elysee Palace said.
Gas prices on international energy markets surged on Monday after Russia suggested that its Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline to Germany would not restart until the West lifted sanctions on Moscow over its all-out invasion of Ukraine. Russian gas is still reaching Europe through two other pipelines.
“Pumping problems arose because of sanctions,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, arguing that proper maintenance work on Nord Stream 1 was now impossible and that “the ‘collective West’ is responsible for the situation reaching the point that it is at now.”
The European Union says Russia is cutting energy supplies to force the West into easing pressure on the Kremlin and ending support to Ukraine.
