Zelenskiy warns of ‘ugly’ Russian assault as Ukraine prepares to rejoice Independence Day

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday warned Ukrainians to be vigilant within the coming week as they put together to rejoice their Independence Day, as recent blasts hit Crimea and a missile wounded 12 civilians close to a nuclear energy plant.

In his nightly video handle, Zelenskiy stated Ukrainians should not permit Moscow to “spread despondency and fear” amongst them as they mark the thirty first anniversary of independence from Soviet rule.

“We must all be aware that this week Russia could try to do something particularly ugly, something particularly vicious,” Zelenskiy stated forward of the anniversary on Aug. 24, which additionally marks six months since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine started.

The curfew in Ukraine’s second-largest metropolis, Kharkiv, can be prolonged for your complete day on Aug. 24, regional governor Oleh Synehub stated. The northeastern metropolis is frequently hit by Russian shelling and usually has a curfew from 10 pm to six am.

“Remain at home and take heed of warnings!” Synehub wrote in a message to residents on Telegram.

Also on Saturday, a Russian missile hit a residential space of a southern Ukrainian city not removed from a nuclear energy station, wounding 14 civilians, Russian and Ukrainian officers stated.

That strike on the Pivdennoukrainsk (South Ukraine) nuclear station and recent shelling close to the Zaporizhzhia station, Europe’s largest such facility, prompted new fears of a nuclear accident throughout the battle, Ukrainian officers stated.

Zelenskiy in his handle additionally referred obliquely to a collection of explosions in current days in Crimea, the Ukrainian territory seized and annexed by Russia throughout a 2014 incursion.

Ukraine has not claimed duty for the assaults, however analysts have stated not less than some have been made attainable by new tools utilized by Ukrainian forces.

“You can literally feel Crimea in the air this year, that the occupation there is only temporary and that Ukraine is coming back,” Zelenskiy stated.

In the newest assault in Crimea, the Russian-appointed governor not recognised by the West stated a drone had struck a constructing close to the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet on Saturday morning.

“A drone flew onto the roof. It was flying low,” governor Mikhail Razvozhayev stated on Telegram. “It was downed right over the Fleet headquarters. It fell on the roof and burned up. The attack failed.”

Razvozhayev stated later the area’s anti-aircraft system had once more been in operation and requested residents to cease filming and disseminating footage of the way it was working.

Ukrainian media reported explosions in close by cities – together with the resorts of Yevpatoriya, Olenivka and Zaozyornoye.

CHILDREN AMONG THE INJURED

Following the strike close to the South Ukraine energy station, Vitaliy Kim, governor of Mykolaiv area, stated on Telegram that 4 youngsters have been among the many wounded. Private houses and a five-storey condo block have been broken in Voznesensk, 30 km (19 miles) from the plant, Ukraine’s second largest.

The Ukrainian navy’s south district, updating an earlier toll, stated 14 civilians had been wounded.

State-run Energoatom, which manages all 4 Ukrainian nuclear power mills, described the assault on Voznesensk as “another act of Russian nuclear terrorism.”

“It is possible that this missile was aimed specifically at the Pivdennoukrainsk Nuclear Power Plant, which the Russian military tried to seize back at the beginning of March,” Energoatom stated in an announcement.

Russia didn’t instantly reply to the accusation. Reuters was unable to confirm the scenario in Voznesensk. There have been no reviews of any injury to the South Ukraine plant.

Russia and Ukraine traded recent accusations of shelling across the Zaporizhzhia station, held by Russia since March.

Vladimir Rogov, a Russia-appointed official within the close by city of Enerhodar, stated Ukrainian forces had launched not less than 4 strikes on the plant. Yevhen Yetushenko, mayor of Ukrainian-controlled Nikopol on the other financial institution of the Dnipro River, stated Russian forces had repeatedly shelled the city.

Talks have been underneath method for greater than every week to rearrange for a go to to the plant by the U.N. nuclear energy company, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Ukrainian authorities have known as on the United Nations and different worldwide organisations to power Russian forces to go away the Zaporizhzhia plant. (Reporting by Ron Popeski and Natalia Zinets; Writing by Simon Lewis; Editing by Diane Craft, Chris Reese and Cynthia Osterman)