Ukraine says it has started its southern counter-attack

KYIV • Ukraine announced yesterday the start of a long-awaited counter-offensive to retake territory in the south seized by Russian forces since their invasion six months ago, a move reflecting Kyiv's growing confidence as Western military aid flows in.

The news came as a team from the UN nuclear watchdog headed to Ukraine to inspect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant - captured by Russian forces in March but still run by Ukrainian staff - that has become a hot spot in the war.

Moscow and Kyiv have traded accusations of shelling in the vicinity of the nuclear plant, Europe's largest and close to front lines, amid fears of a radiation disaster in a country still haunted by the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

"Today we started offensive actions in various directions, including in the Kherson region," Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne cited southern command spokesman Natalia Humeniuk as saying.

Russia rapidly captured swathes of Ukraine's south near the Black Sea coast, including the city of Kherson, in the early phase of the war in stark contrast to its failed attempt to capture the capital Kyiv.

Ukraine has been using Western-supplied weapons to hit Russian ammunition dumps and wreak havoc with supply lines.

Ms Humeniuk told a briefing yesterday that Ukraine had struck more than 10 such ammunition dumps in the past week. She declined to give details of the counter-offensive, saying Russian forces in southern Ukraine remained "quite powerful".

Governor Sergei Aksyonov of Ukraine's Russian-occupied Crimea Peninsula dismissed her statement as "another fake (piece) of Ukrainian propaganda". Crimea is adjacent to the Kherson region.

Russia's RIA news agency, quoting local official Vladimir Leontiev, reported that people were being evacuated from workplaces in Nova Kahokva, a town 58km to the east of Kherson, after Ukrainian forces carried out more than 10 missile strikes there.

Earlier, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said he would lead a team of inspectors this week to the Zaporizhzhia plant, on the Dnipro River in southern central Ukraine, without specifying the expected day of their arrival. "We must protect the safety and security of Ukraine's and Europe's biggest nuclear facility," Mr Rafael Grossi said on Twitter.

The IAEA tweeted separately that the mission would assess physical damage, evaluate the conditions in which staff are working at the plant and "determine functionality of safety & security systems". It would also "perform urgent safeguards activities", a reference to keeping track of nuclear material.

The Kremlin said the IAEA mission was "necessary" and urged the international community to pressure Ukraine to reduce military tensions at the plant.

The United Nations, United States and Ukraine have called for a withdrawal of military equipment and personnel from the nuclear complex to ensure it is not a target.

But the Kremlin has ruled this out. Russian foreign ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova said the IAEA mission must carry out its work in a politically neutral manner.

Russian forces fired at Enerhodar, the Dnipro riverside town where the plant is located, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff said late on Sunday on his Telegram channel, alongside a video of firefighters dousing burning cars.

On Sunday, the US denounced Russia's "cynical obstructionism" after Moscow blocked adoption of a joint declaration on nuclear non-proliferation following lengthy international negotiations at the UN.

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which 191 signatories review every five years, aims to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, promote complete disarmament and promote cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Last Friday, Russia prevented the declaration's adoption, saying it took issue with "political" aspects of the text - a step criticised by Washington.

"After weeks of intensive but productive negotiations, the Russian Federation alone decided to block consensus on a final document" at the conclusion of the four-week NPT review conference, State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said in a statement.

He said Moscow's move was done "in order to block language that merely acknowledged the grave radiological risk at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine".

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS