The Ukrainian General Staff said in a report of ongoing fighting that two battalion tactical groups of the Russian army had been withdrawn to Belarus, which he said was typical of units that had suffered “significant losses.”
In addition, the report states that there is a significant reduction in the intensity of activity of troops moving from Russia to Ukraine.
In another recent assessment, the British Ministry of Defense said that Russia had effectively cut off Ukraine from international maritime trade through a naval blockade of the Black Sea coast. Russia said last week it planned to reorient its invasion to the east, although reports of strikes in major cities have continued since then.
The Russians have already left Slavutych
On Saturday, the Russian occupation forces seized the town of Slavutych, where many workers of the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant live, which Russian troops occupied on the first day of the invasion on February 24. On the social network Telegram, Oleksandr Pavlyuk, the commander of the Kiev region’s military administration, informed about it, according to which the soldiers were scattering protest rallies in the air.
According to Reuters, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk accused Russian forces of irresponsible actions in the vicinity of the closed Chernobyl nuclear power plant. According to her, radiation can be released to a large part of Europe, while Vereščuková urges the UN to send a mission to the area to assess the potential risks.
“In the context of nuclear security, the irresponsible and unprofessional behavior of Russian soldiers poses a very serious threat not only to Ukraine but also to hundreds of millions of Europeans,” said Vereshchuk.
“Several fires broke out in the closed zone, which can have really serious consequences,” the deputy prime minister added. Russian troops are transporting old and poorly maintained weapons around the power plant, risking damage to the shelter built around the fourth reactor. It also allegedly prevents firefighters from accessing the zone.
The reports cannot be independently verified, Reuters writes, recalling that Russia has previously refused to endanger Ukraine’s nuclear facilities.
However, the mayor said on Monday morning that Russian troops had completed the work they had set out to do and had left Slavutych.
Ukraine reports four shot down Russian planes and a helicopter
According to a report from the Ukrainian General Staff, the Ukrainian army destroyed four Russian planes, one helicopter and two drones in the last day. Ukrainian troops also report partial territorial successes from around Kiev.
According to the Ukrainian General Staff, two tactical groups of Russian forces have withdrawn from the Kiev area back to Belarus, the DPA agency reported tonight. According to her, Ukrainian intelligence also has reports of adding more missiles to Russian launch pads in Belarus in preparation for further rocket attacks on Ukrainian cities.
The Ukrainian army said over the weekend that it had managed to liberate some villages in the Kharkiv region, the Sumy region and northwest of Mariupol. Adviser to Ukrainian President Chancellor Oleksiy Arestovych said on Sunday that Ukrainian forces are seeking small offensive actions while Russia is trying to encircle Ukrainian troops in eastern Ukraine, conquer Mariupol and keep Kherson in the south.
Chernihiv cut off
In the meantime, tens of thousands of civilians were stranded in the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, who, after a month of heavy fighting, found themselves without gas, running water and electricity. Chernihiv, located on the banks of the Desna River, was one of the first Ukrainian cities to be attacked by Russian troops who had moved from Belarus to reach Kiev.
A month later, the city has not yet fallen – but it is in fact cut off from the rest of the country. “There is no safe way out,” Vladyslav Chaus, governor of the Chernihiv region.
2.3 million people have already come to Poland
2.3 million refugees from Ukraine have arrived in Poland since the beginning of the Russian invasion, the Polish border guard said on Sunday evening. Only 100,100 people arrived on Saturday. According to the BBC, Polish border guards say that the influx of refugees has started to weaken in recent days, but increased again on Saturday.
Poland has long been home to a large Ukrainian community, so most refugees initially relied on refuge with friends and relatives. But as the number of Ukrainians with children who had no one to turn to grew, Poles began receiving and accommodating refugees in their own homes, although this is, of course, a temporary solution, the BBC wrote on its Russian-language website.
She added that many refugees had gone further west over the past month. Researchers from the University of Warsaw have estimated that there are currently about 1.3 million Ukrainian refugees in Poland.
339 thousand people left in the opposite direction, ie from Poland to Ukraine. According to an earlier statement from the Ukrainian authorities, most of the returnees are men who want to take part in the country’s defense.
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