Zelenskiy warns of ‘ugly’ attack
KYIV: President Volodymyr Zelenskiy yesterday urged Ukrainians to be vigilant ahead of Wednesday’s celebrations to mark 31 years of independence from Soviet rule, as fresh blasts hit Crimea and a missile wounded 12 civilians near a nuclear power plant.
Ukrainians must not allow Moscow to ‘‘spread despondency and fear’’ ahead of the August 24 events, which come six months after Russia began its fullscale invasion of Ukraine, he said.
‘‘We must all be aware that this week Russia could try to do something particularly ugly, something particularly vicious.’’
Curfew in Ukraine’s secondlargest city, Kharkiv, would be extended for the entire day on Wednesday, regional Governor Oleh Synehub said. The curfew usually runs from 10pm to 6am in the northeastern city, regularly hit by Russian shelling.
Also yesterday, a Russian missile hit a residential area of a southern Ukrainian town not far from a nuclear power station, wounding 14 civilians, Russian and Ukrainian officials said.
The strike at the Pivdennoukrainsk (South Ukraine) nuclear station and fresh shelling near the Zaporizhzhia station, Europe’s largest, revived fears of a nuclear accident.
Zelenskiy in his speech also referred obliquely to a recent series of explosions in Crimea, the Ukrainian territory Russia annexed in 2014.
Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the attacks, but analysts have said at least some have been made possible by new equipment used by its forces.
‘‘You can literally feel Crimea in the air this year, that the occupation there is only temporary and that Ukraine is coming back,’’ Zelenskiy said.
In the latest attack in Crimea, Russianappointed governor, who is not recognised by the West, said a drone had struck a building near the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea fleet on Saturday.
‘‘A drone flew on to the roof. It was flying low,’’ Mikhail Razvozhayev said on Telegram.
‘‘It was downed right over the fleet headquarters. It fell on the roof and burned up. The attack failed.’’
Following the strike near the South Ukraine power station,
Mykolaiv region governor Vitaliy Kim said four children were among the wounded.
Homes and a fivestorey apartment block were damaged in Voznesensk, 30km from the plant, Ukraine’s secondlargest.
Staterun Energoatom, which manages Ukraine’s four nuclear energy generators, called the Voznesensk attack ‘‘another act of Russian nuclear terrorism’’.
‘‘It is possible that this missile was aimed specifically at the Pivdennoukrainsk plant, which the Russian military tried to seize back at the beginning of March,’’ it said in a statement.
Russia did not immediately respond to the accusation. Reuters could not verify the situation in Voznesensk. There were no reports of damage to the South Ukraine plant.
Russia and Ukraine traded fresh accusations of shelling around the Zaporizhzhia station, held by Russia since March.
Talks on arranging a visit to the Zaporizhzhia plant by the United Nations’ nuclear agency have stretched more than a week. Ukraine has urged the UN and other global bodies to force Russian forces to leave the plant. — Reuters
❛ We must all be aware that this week Russia could try to do something particularly ugly, something particularly vicious