Ukraine claims to have broken through Russian front lines at counteroffensive near Kherson | DW News

There is "heavy fighting" in "almost the entire territory" of the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson occupied by Russian troops, Ukraine's presidency said. The clashes were raging after Ukrainian troops on Monday launched a counter-offensive seeking to retake the southern region which was seized by Russia early in the war. "Powerful explosions continued throughout the day and throughout the night in Kherson region," the president's office said in a morning update. "Heavy fighting is taking place in almost the entire territory of the Kherson region. The Armed Forces of Ukraine launched offensive actions in various directions." Britain's Defense Ministry also said in its daily intelligence bulletin that the Ukrainian armed forces heightened the rate of artillery fire across southern Ukraine, and long-range precision strikes continued to disrupt Russian resupply. Russia has made efforts since the beginning of August to reinforce its troops on the western bank of the Dnipro river around Kherson, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, it least five people were killed and seven wounded as Russian shelling hit the centre of Ukraine's second city of Kharkiv, the mayor Igor Terekhov said on his Telegram account. Russia accuses Ukraine of fresh shelling of nuclear plant Russian-installed authorities in the Ukrainian city of Enerhodar accused Ukrainian troops of once again shelling the territory of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Russia's TASS news agency said.
The city authorities said two shells exploded near a spent fuel storage building at the plant, according to TASS. Ukraine and Russia have repeatedly accused each other of attacking Europe's biggest nuclear power plant, set to be visited this week by an International Atomic Energy Agency team of monitors led by the UN agency's director general, Rafael Grossi.

European Union defense ministers, at a meeting in Prague, are looking to pave the way for the establishment of an EU training mission for Ukrainian forces, the bloc's top diplomat Josep Borrell said as he arrived in the Czech capital on Tuesday. "The situation on the ground continues to be very bad. Ukraine needs our support, and we will continue providing support," Borrell told reporters. "A general, overall political agreement [on the training mission] is what I think we have to get today. I hope we will have a political green light for this mission," he said, without giving details. "That's the moment to act, that's the moment to take decisions." It is not clear yet where a broader EU training program could be based and what mandate it might have. "There is war in Europe and not far from here. Russia's brutal aggression will be the most important topic of our meeting today," Czech Defense Minister Jana Cernochova said. Later in the day, EU foreign ministers, also meeting in Prague, may agree tightening the issuance of visas for Russians and start debating a wider ban on tourist visas, though EU officials said there was no agreement on that. The European Union must not stop Russian tourists from visiting the bloc, Germany and France said ahead of a foreign ministers' meeting.

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