The Ukrainian army announced today, Saturday, that it destroyed bases of the Russian army and killed dozens of its members in strikes carried out in the south of the country.

In a statement published today, Saturday, the Southern Command of the Ukrainian Army announced the destruction of 4 military bases and 12 Russian ammunition depots in different locations of the southern areas of operations.

The statement spoke of the killing of more than 100 Russian soldiers in the bombing of Russian positions in the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions (south).

The Southern Command also reported violent and continuous confrontations with artillery and rocket launchers between Ukrainian and Russian forces on the Sneherivka and Pashtanka fronts in Mykolaiv.

According to the same statement, rail traffic to Kherson via the Dnipro River has been halted, which could further isolate Russian forces west of the river from supplies in occupied Crimea and in the east.

The Ukrainian forces had bombed 3 bridges in the Kherson province in order to cut off supplies to the Russian forces that control the city of Kherson and parts of its countryside since the early days of the war that Russia started on February 24.

For weeks, the Ukrainian army has launched counterattacks in the Kherson countryside, using the latest weapons supplied by Western countries - such as the American Hemars launchers - and confirmed that it had recaptured many towns and villages and approached the city of Kherson.

In the field developments as well, Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that sirens sounded in the city of Kharkiv (northeast of Ukraine), after the city was bombed by 4 missiles, which caused large explosions that reverberated throughout the city.

The city has witnessed intense missile and artillery bombardment over the past two weeks, with battles continuing on the eastern side of the city.

Ukrainian soldiers fire from a howitzer towards Russian positions in Donetsk (European)

New intelligence assessment

Meanwhile, Britain's Ministry of Defense said in a new intelligence assessment published on Saturday that Russia-installed authorities in the newly occupied territories of southern Ukraine may be preparing for referendums on whether to join Russia later this year.

The ministry added that local authorities are likely to compel residents in those areas to disclose personal data in order to prepare voting records.

It is noteworthy that Russian forces control parts of Kherson, Zaporizhia and Mykolaiv (south) and Donbass (east) provinces, and Moscow classifies these occupied areas of these provinces as subject to temporary "civil-military administration".

The new British intelligence assessment said Ukrainian forces may have repelled small-scale Russian attacks from the long-established front line in Donetsk, Donbass.

In Kherson, it is possible that Russia has constructed two pontoon bridges and operated ferries to provide alternatives to nearby bridges damaged by the recent Ukrainian strikes, according to the same assessment.


Ukrainian grain export

On the other hand, attention is turning towards Ukrainian ports amid expectations that the first ships carrying grain will soon depart, under the agreement recently signed in Istanbul between Russia and Ukraine under the auspices of Turkey and the United Nations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the completion of preparations for shipment of grain, pending the start of what he described as partners.

In contrast, Moscow says that the implementation of the agreement must coincide with the lifting of restrictions on the movement of fertilizers and Russian agricultural products.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Western sanctions imposed on his country do not allow it to implement the contracts and ban Russian ships from entering some ports.

In this context, Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, said that the international organization is in the process of implementing the special memorandum of understanding with Russia, which aims to remove obstacles to the access of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers to global markets.

Haq added - in an interview with Al-Jazeera - that this step came in the context of international efforts to solve the Ukrainian grain crisis.

The agreement signed in Istanbul is valid for 120 days, subject to extension, and allows the export of between 20 and 25 million tons of suspended grain in Ukraine.


Ukrainian prisoners killed

On the other hand, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell denounced what he described as the atrocities committed by the Russian armed forces and their proxies in Ukraine.

In a statement he issued commenting on the killing of Ukrainian prisoners in a prison controlled by pro-Moscow separatists in Donetsk, Borrell said that the perpetrators of war crimes and other grave violations, as well as government officials and military representatives, will be held accountable.

The Defense Center of the Donetsk forces loyal to Russia said yesterday that 53 Ukrainian prisoners were killed and 75 others were wounded in Ukrainian shelling targeting a detention center for prisoners in the town of Linovka, south of Donetsk.

Moscow and Kiev accused each other of targeting the prison.

The Ukrainian president described the bombing of a detention center in Donetsk housing fighters from the Azov battalion of the Ukrainian army as a deliberate Russian war crime, adding that his country called on the United Nations and the Red Cross to respond and protect Ukrainian soldiers.

Zelensky said the killing of Ukrainian prisoners in a Russian-controlled prison showed the need for clear legal recognition that Russia is a state sponsor of terrorism.

Greenfield said that Russia plans to annex more Ukrainian lands (Reuters)

write off Ukraine

On the other hand, the US delegate to the UN Security Council, Linda Thomas Greenfield, said yesterday that Russia set fire to the United Nations Charter with its aggression against Ukraine, as she put it.

Greenfield said - in a speech she gave during an open session of the UN Security Council - that Russia intends to dismantle Ukraine and erase it from the entire world map, noting that Moscow is laying the groundwork for an attempt to annex more Ukrainian lands.

For her part, Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, warned of the intensification of fighting in Ukraine.

DiCarlo said - during the Security Council session - that the war had caused "unacceptably heavy" casualties among Ukrainian civilians.

"The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has recorded more than 12,000 civilian casualties in the country, including more than 5,000 dead, and 7,000 wounded. These figures are based on verified incidents, the actual figures are much higher."