• 5:57 am: Zelensky calls on Russian troops to withdraw from the south of the country

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday evening urged Russian soldiers to flee the offensive launched by the Ukrainian army near the southern city of Kherson, saying that kyiv was regaining control of its territory, while Russia claimed that this offensive failed.

In a daily address, Volodymyr Zelensky promised that Ukrainian troops would chase the Russian army "to the border".

"If they want to survive, it's time for the Russian soldiers to flee. Go home," he said.

"Ukraine is taking back what is its own."

  • 3:54 a.m.: strikes on the city of Zaporizhia

Governor of the Zaporizhia region (south) Oleksandre Staroukh announced at dawn on Tuesday that Russia had launched an attack with missiles against the eponymous city.

"According to initial information, there are no casualties. So far, no major damage to infrastructure has been identified," he said.

It is in this region that experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency are expected.

  • 3:07 am: the situation remains "tense" in the South

During the night from Monday to Tuesday, the "Southern" command of the Ukrainian army indicated on Facebook that the situation remained "tense" in its area of ​​​​action, stressing that "the enemy attacked our positions five times, but all of them were a failure".

He also mentioned a "massive bombardment during the day" of Mikolaiv by the Russians with sixteen S-300 anti-aircraft missiles which caused "significant" damage, particularly to residential buildings and transport infrastructure.

Two civilians were killed and 24 injured, according to this source.

Two missiles fell in the evening in the Bachtansky region, damaging houses but no casualties were reported at this stage, she added.

All of this information was unverifiable from independent sources.

  • 11:22 p.m .: Kremlin struggling to bolster Russian army, Washington says

The Russian army is struggling to recruit in the midst of the conflict with Ukraine, seeking volunteers even in prisons, to the point that new recruits are often "old, in bad shape and poorly trained", said Monday a senior Pentagon official.

Russian President Vladimir Putin last week ordered a 10% increase in Russian military strength to some 137,000 troops by January 2023. But “this effort is unlikely to be successful,” The official, who requested anonymity, told the press, explaining that the Russian army has historically struggled to meet its recruitment targets.

  • 11:14 p.m.: Ukrainian forces claim to have broken through Russian lines in several areas

Ukrainian forces have broken through Russian defenses at several points on the frontline near the city of Kherson as part of the counter-offensive launched on Monday (August 28th) to retake territories conquered since the start of the war, an official said on Monday. Advisor to President Zelensky.

In a video interview broadcast on Youtube, Oleksi Arestovych also said that Ukrainian troops were bombing the ferries used by Moscow to supply part of the Russian-occupied territory on the west bank of the Dnieper, in the Kherson region.

With AFP and Reuters

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