Ukraine issued a warning of air strikes in most parts of the country on Thursday, and authorities in several regions warned of a possible Russian missile attack, while a European country sought to send cluster munitions to Ukraine to help it on the battlefield.
Al-Jazeera correspondent said that the Ukrainian army is declaring a state of high alert throughout the country in anticipation of a major Russian attack, and the Ukrainian electricity company, DTEK, stated that it is implementing emergency power cuts in the capital, Kyiv and the rest of the Kiev region, as well as in the Odessa regions (southwest). ) and Dnipropetrovsk (center) because of the threat of a missile attack.
The mayor of Mykolaiv (southern Ukraine) said that the power supply had been cut off to the entire district in anticipation of new Russian attacks.
And the southern Ukrainian military command warned the population of large-scale Russian attacks from the Black Sea, adding that it had detected 3 new ships in the Black Sea equipped with "Kalibr" missiles ready for use.
The Ukrainian General Staff stated that a Russian strategic bomber, "TU-95" (TU-95), launched from the Caspian Sea towards Ukrainian territory.
Odessa district authorities said that Russian forces are preparing to launch a major attack from ships and aircraft.
Drones
The Ukrainian Air Force stated that its defenses shot down 24 Iranian "Shahid" drones that targeted Ukrainian territory last night from the Sea of Azov.
A Ukrainian military source told Al-Jazeera that the Russian bombing targeted the Kherson river port in the southern province, and that one of the shells hit the ship "Tuzla" anchored in the port and owned by a Turkish company.
He added that the ship, which had one of its crew members on board, caught fire, and that work is underway to determine the extent of the losses.
He pointed out that another ship owned by the same company suffered similar damage as a result of the bombing.
cluster munitions
And the French Press Agency quoted an official in a European country (who asked not to reveal his identity and the name of his country) that his government agreed to send a shipment of cluster munitions to Ukraine, because it believed that this type of controversial weapon could help the Ukrainian forces on the battlefield.
The European official added that his government is working to obtain permission from Germany, which participated in the production of these munitions.
A UN treaty backed by most Western countries bans the use and transfer of cluster bombs, which deliver large numbers of explosive submunitions and often pose a threat long after conflicts have ended.
Russia has not signed this treaty, and the United Nations has previously expressed concern about Moscow's use of cluster munitions in populated areas of Ukraine last year.
The European official added, during a visit to Washington, that "the Ukrainians are asking for them (cluster munitions), they are legitimate weapons, the collateral damage is no longer as great as before, it was very large in the forties and fifties of the last century, and now it can be controlled in a large way."
Western tanks
In turn, the head of the Russian State Duma Committee on International Affairs, Leonid Slutsky, said, "The American tank battalion will not help Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky change the course of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, nor the situation in Crimea."
Slutsky added that any attempt by Kyiv to seize Crimea will receive a harsh response, and in 2015 Russia annexed the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula.
The Russian official's comment came hours after US President Joe Biden announced - yesterday, Wednesday - that the United States would send 31 M1 Abrams combat tanks to Ukraine, hours after Germany confirmed that it would transfer 14 of its tanks to the Kyiv government. Leopard 2, and a similar announcement from Norway and other European countries, which was welcomed by NATO, and Ukraine described it as the "Great Tank Alliance".
Following the German decision, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that supplying Berlin with Kyiv with German tanks was "part of a pre-plan to wage war on Russia." The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said that the United States was dragging Europe into a major war.
For his part, Russia's ambassador to Berlin, Sergey Nechaev, said on Wednesday that "Berlin's decision to supply Leopard tanks to Kyiv is very dangerous, because it will raise the conflict to a new level of confrontation."
Donetsk front
The "Zvezda" website of the Russian Ministry of Defense said - today, Thursday - that the town of Opetnoye, south of the city of Bakhmut, in Donetsk Province, in eastern Ukraine, was taken under control. The pro-Russian Donetsk authorities also stated today that Russian forces entered the city of Oglidar, southwest of Donetsk, and strengthened their positions in its outskirts.
Earlier, the Ukrainian army said that Russia is massing its forces in large numbers and intensifying its attacks on Donetsk.
And the Ukrainian government admitted - earlier on Wednesday - that it had lost control of the town of Solidar, which witnessed heavy fighting in Donetsk.
"Battles are raging" in the vicinity of Bakhmut, which Russian forces have been trying to control for months, as well as in the vicinity of the city of Ogledar, Hana Malyar, the Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense, said via Telegram.