Ukraine also reported night attacks in Kharkiv (northeast) and Kiev, which will receive a visit in the next few hours from the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Argentine Rafael Grossi.
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In Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky, in the Dnipropetrovsk region (central east), a “large-scale missile attack” hit several points in the city, in particular a residential building, local authorities said.
“Unfortunately, we have six dead. Rescue operations continue,” announced Oleksander Vilkul, military commander of the industrial city.
The regional administration released a photo of the affected building, which suffered a fire.
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In addition to the residential building, the Dnipropetrovsk government identified two more “civilian” areas affected by the explosions.
In Kiev, the military administration reported nighttime cruise missile strikes but highlighted that “all enemy targets in the airspace around Kiev were detected and successfully destroyed.”
The mayor of Kharkiv (northeast), Igor Terekhov, announced a drone attack “against civil infrastructure”, which hit a hangar and the premises of a company.
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Released villages
On Monday night, President Zelensky stated that the Ukrainian counteroffensive is “difficult, but moving forward.”
“The fighting is difficult, but we are advancing, this is very important,” declared Zelensky in his daily statement, in which he highlighted that “enemy losses are exactly at the level we need.”
“The weather is not favorable – the rain makes our work more difficult – but the strength of our soldiers gives good results,” he added.
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Shortly before, the Ukrainian government announced the resumption, since the weekend, of seven villages in the southern and eastern regions of the country.
“Seven villages have been liberated,” announced Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar on Telegram. She calculated the surface area recovered by the Ukrainians at 90 square kilometers.
The Defense Ministry said on Monday it had advanced 250 to 700 meters in the eastern region of Bakhmut, towards the city of the same name, which is the scene of one of the most violent battles since the start of the war.
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Russia said it prevented Ukrainian attacks in eastern Donetsk, near Velkya Novosilka and Levadne, near Zaporizhzhia.
It was not possible to confirm Moscow and Kiev's claims with independent sources.
Nuclear power station
According to military analysts, Ukraine has not yet mobilized most of its forces in the counteroffensive and is testing the battlefront with multiple attacks to determine the weakest points.
The Ukrainian counteroffensive will last “several weeks, or even months”, declared the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, on Monday.
“We want the counteroffensive to be as successful as possible so that it will then be possible to begin a negotiation phase under good conditions,” he added.
The IAEA confirmed on Monday that its director, Rafael Grossi, will visit Ukraine this Tuesday to inspect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and analyze the impact of the destruction of the Kakhovka dam on the Dnieper River.
After passing through the Ukrainian capital, Grossi will head to the ZNPP headquarters, occupied by the Russians, “to assess the situation and organize a new rotation of experts”.
Since the beginning of the invasion, the director of the IAEA has been warning of the risk of a nuclear accident at this plant in southeastern Ukraine, the largest in Europe.
