Ukraine has made clear it intends to retake Kherson, which fell to Russia in the first days of the invasion launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24. Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Ukrainian forces likely created a bridgehead south of the Ingulets River and used new long-range artillery to destroy at least three of the bridges crossing the Dnipro. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “Russia’s 49th Army, located on the west bank of the Dnipro River, now looks very vulnerable,” he said in a regular briefing on Twitter, adding that Kherson was effectively cut off from other Russian-held territory. “His loss would seriously undermine Russia’s efforts to label the occupation a success.” Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, earlier tweeted that Russia was massing “the maximum number of troops” in the direction of Kherson, but gave no details. Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said Russia was conducting a “massive redeployment” of forces from the east to the south, amounting to a strategic shift from offense to defense. Zelensky said Ukraine would rebuild the Antonivskyi Bridge over the Dnipro and other crossings in the region. “We are doing everything to ensure that the occupation forces have no logistical opportunity in our country,” he said in a speech on Wednesday afternoon. Russian officials had earlier said they would turn to bridges and ferries to get forces across the river. Russian-backed forces said on Wednesday they had seized the Soviet-era coal-fired power plant in Vuhlehirsk, Ukraine’s second largest, in what was Moscow’s first major gain in more than three weeks. read more
DIPLOMACY
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 in what Moscow calls a “special military operation” to demilitarize and “de-nationalize” its neighbor. Ukraine and its allies call the invasion an unprovoked war of aggression. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said he was planning a telephone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov – the first between the two diplomats before the start of the war. The call in the coming days will not be a “negotiation on Ukraine,” Blinken told a news conference, reiterating Washington’s position that any talks to end the war must take place between Kiev and Moscow. Russia has not received a formal request from Washington for a phone call between Blinken and Lavrov, the TASS news agency reported. The United States has made “a substantial offer” to Russia to free American citizens WNBA star Brittney Griner and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, Blinken said, without elaborating on what the United States offered. in return. read more Blinken said he would press Lavrov to respond to the offer. A source familiar with the situation confirmed a CNN report that Washington was willing to exchange Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout, who is serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States, as part of a deal. In addition to discussing the Americans detained by Russia, Blinken said he would discuss with Lavrov the interim deal on grain exports reached last week between Russia, the United States, Turkey and Ukraine. Russia cut gas flows to Europe on Wednesday in an energy standoff with the European Union. It has blocked grain exports from Ukraine since it invaded, but on Friday agreed to allow deliveries through the Black Sea to Turkey’s Bosphorus Strait and to world markets. read more The deal was almost immediately thrown into doubt when Russia fired cruise missiles at Odessa, Ukraine’s largest port, on Saturday, just 12 hours after the deal was signed. Before the invasion and subsequent sanctions, Russia and Ukraine accounted for nearly a third of global wheat exports. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report from Reuters offices. Written by Grant McCool and Stephen Coates. Edited by Cynthia Osterman and Lincoln Feast. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
