Ukraine announced the recapture of two villages during the counteroffensive

Ukraine announced on Sunday that it had conquered two villages in the Donetsk region, for the first time since the start of a counteroffensive on three sectors of the front, one of which was in the Zaporozhye region.

Concerns about the safety of the nuclear power plant built there have risen in Zaporozhye following the explosion of a dam that supplied the power plant with water and increased fighting nearby.

“The glorious warriors of the 68th brigade (…) liberated the city of Blagodatnoe” on the southern front of Donetsk, not far from the administrative border of Zaporozhye, the unit said in a Facebook post.

Valeriy Shershen, spokesman for the Defense Forces of the Taurida Oblast of Ukraine, added: “We are seeing the first results of the counter-offensive.”

Shortly thereafter, the 7th battalion of the division of the Territorial Defense Forces announced the recapture of the village of Neskuchnoye in the same province and less than 20 kilometers from neighboring Zaporozhye, which is 80% occupied by Russian troops and is one of the main centers of hostilities. counteroffensive.ukr.

This is the first liberation of the occupied territories since the beginning of the Ukrainian offensive a week ago, and it comes a day after President Volodymyr Zelensky first acknowledged that a counter-offensive was underway.

While Kyiv remains silent on the extent and progress of the offensive, Russian daily combat reports indicate that the heaviest fighting is currently taking place in the Zaporozhye region around Orykhiv and Lobkovo.

The settlements are located only 110 and 83 kilometers, respectively, from the occupied city of Energodar, where the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant is located.

“Increased military activity in the region makes us deeply concerned about the security of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant,” said Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

This Sunday, Russia again said it had repelled all attacks in the sector, but the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in its daily analysis that geolocation images “indicate that Ukrainian forces have launched localized offensives to the southwest and southwest of east of Orchive.

The West is concerned not only with front-line battles, but also with a sharp drop in the water level in the reservoir near the nuclear power plant, which is necessary for its cooling.

Water levels dropped from 17 meters before the dam burst on Tuesday to 9.1 meters this Sunday, according to Ukrainian state-owned company Ukrhydroenergo.

The plant, which has been under Russian occupation for more than a year, estimated that until last Friday it was possible to pump water from the reservoir to the power plant down to a level of 11 meters “or possibly less”.

The Ukrainian nuclear energy company Energoatom said this Sunday that “despite the fact that Russian invaders blew up the Kakhovka dam in Russian-controlled territory, the situation remains stable and under control.”

Ukraine claims that even if the plant loses access to water from the dam, the structure can continue to be cooled by water from the plant’s cooling tank, which is stable at 16.67 meters.

The Russian operator of the plant, which was set up after the annexation of the Zaporozhye region in September last year, said this Sunday that it “is taking all measures to ensure the safety of the plant, including those related to the cooling system.”

On Sunday divers EMERCOM of Russia carried out work to ensure the proper water level in the tank.

Five of the plant’s six reactors are in “cold shutdown” mode, and the last one is currently in “hot shutdown” mode and is producing steam.

“Even if there is no short-term threat, the dam accident creates new and important challenges for nuclear power plants, while the situation with nuclear safety and security is already extremely fragile and potentially dangerous during a military conflict,” he stressed. Raphael Grossi.

Next week, the Argentine with a reinforced team will go to Zaporozhye, where the situation is monitored by the permanent representation of the department.