Russia announces control of Ukraine's largest coal-fired power plant

Ukrainian strikes hit an important bridge in Kherson... and grain export ports have resumed their work

The Ukrainian Grain Export Coordination Center has opened its doors in Istanbul.

AFP

Ukrainian artillery yesterday bombed an important bridge in an area controlled by Russian forces in southern Ukraine, damaging a major supply corridor. In Ukraine near Svetlodarsk.

In detail, the Ukrainian strikes hit the Antonevsky Bridge, which passes over the Dnieper River in the town of Kherson, hours before the opening of a joint center in Istanbul to monitor the export of Ukrainian grain besieged by Russian warships.

The deputy representative of the Russian authorities in Kherson, Kirill Strimosov, confirmed that the bridge was bombed on Tuesday night and that traffic on it had stopped.

However, he sought to reduce the amount of damage, stressing that the attack would not affect the outcome of the fighting "in any way."

"The special military operation continues," Strimosov said in a video message posted on social media, using the phrase the Kremlin prefers to describe the war.

In recent weeks, Ukrainian forces regained areas of the Kherson region, which were easily controlled by Russian forces, shortly after the start of the war on February 24.

The counterattack forces, backed by long-range artillery supplied by Western countries, were able to approach the city of Kherson.

Ukrainian officials in the region announced that their forces in the Black Sea region had changed their approach from defensive to offensive and that Kherson would "definitely" be liberated by the end of September.

Commenting on the attack on the Antonovsky bridge, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhailo Podolyak tweeted, "The occupiers should learn to swim to cross the Dnieper River, or leave Kherson as long as they can."

In Istanbul, the United Nations and Turkey yesterday inaugurated a joint center with Russia and Ukraine to coordinate the resumption of grain exports through the Black Sea.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said during a brief ceremony yesterday that the convoys will sail from the ports of Odessa, Chernomoresk and Yuzhny.

At the same time, the Ukrainian Navy announced that these three Ukrainian ports had "resumed work".

Turkish officials said the first ships were supposed to leave ports in Ukraine by the end of this week.

The halt in exports from two of the world's largest grain exporters has caused prices to rise, making food imports prohibitively expensive for some of the world's poorest countries.

Yesterday, Russian news agencies, quoting the Moscow embassy in Ankara, said that a previously announced meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will be held tomorrow, Friday, in the Russian city of Sochi on the Black Sea.

As the Ukrainian forces intensified pressure on Russian positions in the south, the Donbass region to the east witnessed intense battles.

AFP reporters in Bachmos, a village in the Donbas region still under Ukrainian control, reported sporadic artillery fire.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Navy announced yesterday that the three Ukrainian ports dedicated to the export of grain "have resumed their work", although efforts are still to be made to ensure the safety of convoys.

"As part of the signing of an agreement on opening the Ukrainian ports for the export of grain, the ports of Odessa, Chornomoresk and Yuzhny (Bevdny) have resumed work," the Ukrainian navy said on the Telegram app.

She added that «the exit of ships and their entry into the ports will be through the formation of a convoy that accompanies the pilot ship.

But this will be preceded by hard work” to identify safe routes.

For its part, Moscow reported that Russian forces had taken control of the largest coal-fired power plant in Ukraine near Svetlodarsk, in the Donbass region.

Donetsk separatist news portals published pictures showing Russian gunmen belonging to the Wagner Group in front of the administration building.

Other reports indicated that fighting has continued over the site of the disputed station since the end of May.

The Ukrainian General Staff did not mention the power plant in its report on the situation, but only talked about the fighting around Semiherya.

The report spoke of air attacks on Ukrainian sites in the region.

The General Staff report stated that Ukrainian soldiers had managed to repel attacks east of the Seversk line via Solidar to Bakhmut, as well as successful defense operations along other parts of the front in Donetsk and neighboring Kharkiv.

The Russian Air Force also bombed Ukrainian military positions near the village of Zaitsev in the Donetsk region, according to Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.

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