Russian forces continued to pound targets in japanese and southern Ukraine as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy reiterated his warning that Moscow could also be making ready extra critical assaults forward of Kyiv’s thirty first independence anniversary.

Native authorities in Kyiv banned massive public occasions, rallies, and different gatherings associated to the anniversary as a result of the potential for rocket assaults, in line with a doc revealed by the Kyiv navy administration.

Ukraine’s Normal Employees stated in its each day replace on August 22 that, within the japanese Bakhmut area, fireplace from Russian artillery and a number of rocket launcher methods induced injury within the settlements of Soledar, Zaytseve, and Bilohorivka.

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Russian forces saved concentrating their efforts on establishing full management over the territories of the japanese Luhansk and Donetsk areas, sustaining captured areas of town of Kherson and elements of the Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhya, and Mykolayiv areas, the Normal Employees added.

Town of Nikopol, which lies throughout the Dnieper River from the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant, was shelled on 5 totally different events in a single day, regional Governor Valentyn Reznichenko wrote on Telegram on August 21.

He stated 25 artillery shells hit town, inflicting a fireplace at an industrial facility and chopping energy to three,000 residents.

The combating close to Zaporizhzhya and a missile strike on the southern city of Voznesensk, not removed from Ukraine’s second-largest atomic plant, have triggered fears of a nuclear accident.

Moscow requested a UN Safety Council assembly be held on August 23 to debate the plant, Russian state-owned information company RIA Novosti reported, citing Russia’s Deputy Ambassador to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy.

On August 21, U.S. President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and French President Emmanuel Macron held a cellphone name stressing the significance of guaranteeing the security of nuclear installations, whereas underlining their “steadfast dedication” to Ukraine.

Zelenskiy has known as for vigilance, saying Moscow might attempt “one thing significantly ugly” forward of August 24, which marks Ukraine’s Independence Day and likewise half a 12 months since Russia launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

Zelenskiy stated he had mentioned “all of the threats” with Macron and phrase had additionally been despatched to different leaders together with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and UN Secretary-Normal Antonio Guterres.

“All of Ukraine’s companions have been knowledgeable about what the terrorist state can put together for this week,” Zelenskiy stated in his nightly video tackle, referring to Russia.

Zelenskiy additionally warned that, if Russia went forward with plans to place captured Ukrainian defenders in Mariupol on trial, then it will have violated worldwide guidelines and lower itself off from negotiations.

“If this despicable present trial had been to go forward…this might be the road past which negotiations are now not attainable,” he stated. “There shall be no extra conversations. Our state has stated all the pieces.”

The Monetary Occasions, in an article revealed August 21, quoted Gennady Gatilov, Moscow’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, as saying that Erdogan had tried to facilitate dialogue.

However he dismissed hypothesis about talks between Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying there “was not any sensible platform for having this assembly,” the report stated.

Russia stated its Kalibr missiles had destroyed an ammunition depot containing missiles for U.S.-made HIMARS rocket in Ukraine’s southeastern Odesa area, whereas Kyiv stated a granary had been hit.

Neither declare could possibly be independently confirmed.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and dpa