Russian forces control Ukraine's 2nd biggest power plant, Zelenskyy adviser says
Adviser says Russian forces have achieved 'tiny tactical advantage' in capturing Vuhlehirsk plant
Russian forces took over Ukraine's second biggest power plant and are conducting a "massive redeployment" of troops to three southern regions, a Ukrainian presidential adviser said, amid expectations of a coming Ukrainian counter-offensive.
Russian-backed forces claimed on Wednesday that they had captured the Soviet-era coal-fired Vuhlehirsk power plant intact, in what was Moscow's first strategic gain in more than three weeks.
Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, confirmed the capture of the plant in the eastern Donetsk region, but said it was only a "tiny tactical advantage" for Russia.
The Russian redeployment to the south appeared to be a switch to strategic defence from offence, he added, with troops sent to Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
Ukraine has made clear it intends to recapture the southern city of Kherson, which fell to Russia in the early days of the war.
Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, earlier tweeted that Russia was concentrating "the maximum number of troops" in the direction of the Kherson but gave no details.
Ukrainian forces in the south said they had killed 66 enemy troops and destroyed three tanks and two arms dumps in the past 24 hours. Russian forces attacked the city of Mykolaiv with multiple rocket launchers, they added.
Reuters was unable to verify the battlefield reports.
Ukraine also shelled an important bridge straddling the Dnipro river in Kherson, closing it to traffic. Russian officials had earlier said they would turn instead to pontoon bridges and ferries to get forces across the river.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine would rebuild the Antonivskyi bridge over the Dnipro and other crossings in the region.
"We are doing everything to ensure that the occupying forces do not have any logistical opportunities in our country," he said in a Wednesday evening address.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he planned a phone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov — the first between the two diplomats since before the start of the war.
Washington has made "a substantial offer" to Russia for the release of U.S. citizens Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, Blinken said, without providing details.
Aside from discussing Griner and Whelan, a WNBA star and former U.S. marine, respectively, Blinken said he would raise with Lavrov the tentative deal on grain exports reached last week between Russia, the U.S., Turkey and Ukraine.
The call would not be "a negotiation about Ukraine," Blinken said at a news conference, restating Washington's position that any talks on ending the war must be between Kyiv and Moscow.
But Russia has received no formal request from Washington about a phone call between Blinken and Lavrov, TASS news agency reported.
Rising energy prices and a global wheat shortage that threatens millions in poorer countries are among the far-reaching effects of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Russia reduced gas flows to Europe on Wednesday in an energy stand-off with the European Union. It has also blocked grain exports from Ukraine since invading on Feb. 24, but on Friday agreed to allow deliveries through the Black Sea to Turkey's Bosporus Strait and on to global markets.
Mines and other dangers
However, shipping companies are not rushing to export millions of tonnes of trapped grain out of Ukraine, despite the agreement to provide safe corridors through the Black Sea. Explosive mines are drifting in the waters and ship owners are assessing the risks. As well, many involved in the shipping of grain still have questions over how the deal will unfold.
The complexities of the agreement have set off a slow, cautious return to grain shipping, and the deal is only good for 120 days — the clock began ticking last week.
The goal over the next four months is to get some 18 million tonnes of grain out of three Ukrainian sea ports. This provides time for about four to five large bulk carriers per day to transport grain into the Black Sea and on to global markets.
The timing also provides ample time for things to go awry. Hours after the signing Friday, Russian missiles struck Ukraine's port of Odesa — one of those included in the agreement.
Another key element of the deal offers assurances that shipping and insurers carrying Russian grain and fertilizer will not get caught in the wider net of Western sanctions. But the agreement brokered by Turkey and the UN is running up against the reality of how difficult and risky the pact will be to carry out.
"We have to work very hard to now understand the detail of how this is going to work practically," said Guy Platten, secretary general of the International Chamber of Shipping, which says it represents national ship owners' associations, accounting for about 80 per cent of the world's merchant fleet.
"Can we make sure and guarantee the safety of the crews? What's going to happen with the mines and the minefields, as well? So lots of uncertainty and unknowns at the moment," he said.
The deal stipulates that Russia and Ukraine will provide "maximum assurances" for ships that brave the journey through the Black Sea to the Ukrainian ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk and Yuzhny.
"The primary risk that's faced is obviously going to be mines," said Munro Anderson, head of intelligence and a founding partner at Dryad. The maritime security advisory company is working with insurers and brokers to assess the risks that ships could face along the route as sea mines laid by Ukraine to deter Russia are drifting.
With files from The Associated Press