Russia intensifies its attacks on Kherson, liberated in eastern Ukraine
Ukraine's military said on Wednesday that Russian forces had stepped up mortar and artillery attacks on the newly captured city of Kherson in the south of the country, while continuing pressure along the fronts in the east.
And the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated in its morning report that Russia had fired 33 missiles from rocket launchers at civilian targets in Kherson during until Wednesday morning.
Russia denies targeting civilians.
Heavy fighting also continued around the Ukrainian-held city of Pakhmut, now in ruins in Donetsk Province to the east, and to the north around the cities of Svatov and Krymina in Luhansk Province, where Ukrainian forces are trying to break through Russian defense lines.
Sirens sounded across Ukraine on Wednesday morning, officials said, although there were no reports of any missile strikes, and the warning was later lifted.
Reports on Ukrainian social media said the nationwide alert may have been declared after Russian planes based in neighboring Belarus took off.
The British Ministry of Defense said in an update on Ukraine that Russia has likely strengthened the front lines in Kremina because of its logistical importance to Moscow, after it became relatively weak in the wake of the Ukrainian advance to the west.
There is still no prospect of talks to end the war, which has entered its eleventh month.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky insists on a 10-point peace plan, under which Russia would fully respect Ukraine's territorial integrity and withdraw all its forces.
But the Kremlin on Wednesday rejected the plan, and reiterated its position that Kyiv should accept Russia's annexation of four Ukrainian regions: Luhansk and Donetsk in the east, and Kherson and Zaporizhia in the south, a move Moscow announced in September after "referendums" rejected by Ukraine and most countries.
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