Fears of an escalation in Zaporizhia… after Kherson

The warnings issued by the pro-Moscow separatists in the Zaporizhia region of a possible escalation in the region increased after the developments in Kherson. It was remarkable that a member of the Presidential Council of the Administration of the Zaporizhia Region, Vladimir Rogov, made statements yesterday predicting the occurrence of a future battle in the city. The separatist official announced the arrival of 300 Ukrainian fighters from the Special Forces, who were recently trained in Britain, to Zaporizhia in preparation for an attempt to seize the nuclear power station in the city. “There are more than 450 members of the Special Operations Forces, (the elite of the Ukrainian forces), who have been trained in the town of Volnoandrivka,” Rogov said. It joined 300 fighters who had recently returned from Britain, and they are now training to cross the Dnieper River and capture the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.

Russian President Vladimir Putin gave his instructions to speed up the supply operations of the armed forces and meet their needs for repositioning during a meeting of the Coordination Council that was established for this purpose.

Ukrainian army chief Valery Zaloghny said Kyiv could not yet confirm whether Russia was actually withdrawing, but Ukrainian forces had advanced seven kilometers in the past 24 hours and had recaptured 12 residential areas. “We are continuing to carry out the offensive operation according to our plan,” he wrote on Telegram.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the announcement of Russia’s withdrawal from Kherson, saying: “We have noted the Russian announcement regarding the withdrawal from Kherson… We have to see how the situation will develop on the ground in the coming days.”

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