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| Fighting Increases Again, Russian Troops Launch Attacks in the Zaporizhzhia Region |
Zaporizhzhia - Russia says its troops launched an offensive in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, where fighting this week intensified after months of near freezing. In its daily report, Moscow troops said they were leading "offensive operations" in the region and claimed to have taken up more advantageous lines and positions.
The region has been the scene of heavy fighting in recent weeks. Its governor, Oleksandr Starukh, said Russian troops had carried out more than 160 shooting attacks overnight.
In a Telegram post he said 21 towns and cities had been targeted. One woman was killed and two others were injured. The announcement came a day after Ukraine's energy minister said the situation at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant had deteriorated due to the psychological state of Ukrainian staff and the condition of the equipment. The UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, is trying to create safe zones around nuclear facilities.
The war between Russia and Ukraine has been going on for almost a year, but until now there has been no signal for peace talks. Russia has shown no sign of taking steps to end the war, despite repeatedly facing major setbacks.
Ukraine has also warned that Russia appears to be preparing to launch another offensive, so Kiev is urging the West to provide more weapons, especially tanks, to allow them to push their own offensive.
But NATO countries are deadlocked over the issue of delivering main battle tanks, particularly the German-made Leopard, to Ukraine. Western defense chiefs failed to reach an agreement on the matter when they met at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Friday.