Russian forces claim full control of Pisky village in Donetsk

MOSCOW • Russian forces have taken full control of Pisky, a village on the outskirts of Ukraine's Donetsk region, Interfax cited the Russian defence ministry as saying yesterday.

Russian and pro-Russian forces had reported that they had taken full control of Pisky more than a week ago.

The ministry also said Russian forces had destroyed a US-supplied Himars rocket system near Ukraine's Kramatorsk and a depot with ammunition for the system, Interfax reported.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine is nearing the six-month mark, and its troops continue to concentrate on their bid to establish full control over Luhansk and Donetsk.

Ukraine's military yesterday said Russian armed forces continued shelling in the vicinity of the strategic eastern cities of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk and other targets.

Two civilians died and 13 others were wounded in a Russian strike in Kramatorsk, the governor of Donetsk, Mr Pavlo Kyrylenko, said on Facebook.

Kyiv and Moscow have accused each other yesterday of striking the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in south-eastern Ukraine, which has been shelled repeatedly in the past week.

Zaporizhzhia is the biggest nuclear power plant in Europe. It has been under Russian control since March, and Kyiv has accused Moscow of basing hundreds of soldiers and storing arms there.

"Limit your presence on the streets of Energodar! We have received information about new provocations by the (Russian) occupiers," Ukraine's nuclear agency Energoatom said as it shared a message on Telegram from a local chief in Energodar, where the plant is. The city remains loyal to Kyiv.

"According to residents, there is new shelling in the direction of the nuclear plant... the time between the start and arrival of the shelling is 3-5 seconds," the message said.

But pro-Moscow officials in the occupied areas in Zaporizhzhia region blamed Ukrainian forces for the shelling. "Energodar and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant are again under fire by (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky's militants," said Mr Vladimir Rogov, a member of the Moscow-installed administration.

Meanwhile, Tass news agency yesterday quoted the head of the North American department at Russia's foreign ministry as saying that any possible seizure of Russian assets by the United States will completely destroy Moscow's bilateral ties with Washington.

Russia's relations with the West have deteriorated sharply since Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb 24, calling it a "special military operation". The West responded with unprecedented economic, financial and diplomatic sanctions, including freezing around half of Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves that stood near US$640 billion (S$875 billion) before Feb 24.

"We warn the Americans of the detrimental consequences of such actions that will permanently damage bilateral relations, which is neither in their nor in our interests," Mr Alexander Darchiev told Tass in an interview.

Mr Darchiev also said that Moscow had warned Washington that diplomatic ties would be badly damaged and could even be broken if Russia is declared a state sponsor of terrorism.

Speaking about the situation in Ukraine, Mr Darchiev said that the US influence on Kyiv had increased to the degree that "Americans are increasingly becoming more and more a direct party in the conflict".

He confirmed that Viktor Bout, an imprisoned Russian referred to by American prosecutors as one of the world's most prolific arms dealers, as well as US basketball star Brittney Griner and former Marine Paul Whelan detained by Russia are being discussed in prisoner exchange talks between Moscow and Washington, according to Tass.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE