Zelensky tells Russians to flee as Kyiv goes on offensive

MYKOLAIV (Ukraine) • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged Russian soldiers to flee for their lives after his forces launched an offensive to retake southern Ukraine, but Moscow said it had repulsed the attack and inflicted heavy losses on Kyiv's troops.

Ukraine said on Monday that its ground forces had gone on the offensive in the south for the first time after a long period of striking Russian supply lines, in particular bridges across the strategically important Dnipro River, and ammunition dumps. "If they want to survive, it's time for the Russian military to run away. Go home," Mr Zelensky said in a late-night address.

In response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said yesterday that Russia was methodically pressing on with its plans in Ukraine, adding: "All of our goals will be reached."

Ukrainian soldiers are trying to disperse Russian means and logistics when they attack both Crimea and Kherson in parallel, Belgian Defence Minister Ludivine Dedonder said in an interview.

"There's a logic," Ms Dedonder said on the sidelines of a gathering of European Union defence ministers in Prague.

Ms Dedonder said Ukrainian forces have been resisting well and regaining territory if they lose it, meaning the front line has been "pretty stable" recently.

She said she expected that to remain the case for some time as a harsh winter will make any major advances more complicated.

The new Ukrainian offensive comes after several weeks of relative stalemate in a war that has killed thousands, displaced millions, destroyed cities and fuelled a global energy and food crisis amid unprecedented Western economic sanctions on Russia.

Mr Oleksiy Arestovych, a senior Ukrainian presidential adviser, said Russian defences in the Kherson region had been "broken through in a few hours".

It was unclear which line of Russian defence, of which there are many, he was referring to.

Mr Arestovych also said Ukrainian forces were shelling ferries that Russia was using to supply its forces on the west bank of the Dnipro.

Ms Natalia Humeniuk, a Ukrainian military spokesman, told a briefing yesterday that Kyiv could destroy any pontoon bridge or ferry crossing on the river that Russia tried to build.

"The whole area where such a crossing can be built is under our fire control and (any new structure) will be hit," she said.

Britain, a close ally of Ukraine, yesterday said Kyiv had stepped up its artillery barrage across the entire southern front, but added that it was not yet possible to confirm the extent of Ukrainian territorial advances.

Mr Vitaly Kim, governor of the Mykolaiv region, told Ukrainian TV: "Heavy fighting is going on. Our military is working around the clock. Liberation of the Kherson region is coming soon."

Unverified reports, images and footage on social media suggested that Ukrainian forces may have taken back some villages and destroyed some Russian targets in the south.

Russia's RIA news agency reported that the Russian-controlled town of Nova Kakhovka had been left without water or power after a Ukrainian missile strike.

However, Russia's Defence Ministry said the Ukrainian offensive had been thwarted.

It said Ukrainian forces, after attempting to go on the offensive in three different directions in the southern Mykolaiv and Kherson regions, had lost more than 1,200 military personnel as well as 139 tanks, armoured vehicles and trucks.

Russia's defensive actions have resulted in a rout of Ukrainian forces, it added, saying air defence units had also shot down dozens of missiles near Kherson.

Ukraine's Suspilne public broadcaster reported explosions in the Kherson area, while city residents reported hearing gunfire and explosions.

Heavy Russian shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-biggest city, was also reported. At least five people were killed and seven wounded, Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Meanwhile, a deputy head of the occupation forces in Kherson, Mr Oleksiy Kovalyov, was killed on Sunday in a gun attack, said Russia's Investigative Committee. He is the highest-ranking collaborator with Russian forces to be murdered.

REUTERS, BLOOMBERG