[イジュム（ウクライナ） ２０日 ロイター] – According to Ukrainian officials, the Ukrainian army is preparing to advance its forces eastwards into a territory abandoned by Russia and to counterattack Russian forces in the Donbass region.
Pro-Russian leaders in Donbass have called for a quick referendum on the annexation of Russia, showing signs of nervousness over Ukraine’s momentum.
“The occupiers are clearly in a state of panic,” President Zelensky said in a televised speech on the night of the 19th. The focus is on “speed” in the liberated areas, he said.
In a video speech to the UN General Assembly on Thursday, he said he would call on countries to do more to provide weapons and aid.
Gaidai, the governor of Lugansk province in the Donbass region, which is now under Russian military control, said Ukrainian forces have taken full control of Bilokholivka village in the province and were ready to take back the entire province.
In another Donetsk region in the Donbass region, 13 people were killed in the bombing of the city of Donetsk on Saturday, according to Russian-backed separatist officials.
Reuters was unable to independently confirm the situation in the two states.
The pro-Russian leader of the Donetsk region Denis Pushirin has called on the pro-Russian leaders in Lugansk to prepare for a referendum on the annexation of Russia. “We should act together,” he said in a video posted on social media Wednesday.
Sinegbov, governor of Kharkov province in eastern Ukraine, said Thursday that 146 bodies, mostly civilians, have been exhumed so far in a mass grave near Izyum in the province, which had been recaptured by Russian forces. President Zelensky said he believes 450 bodies are buried in a mass grave found in the woods outside Izym.
Ukrainian nuclear company Energoatom announced that Russian forces had attacked a nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine in the southern Mikolayov region in the early hours of the 19th. The reactor was undamaged and was functioning normally.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Monday that backup transmission lines at the Russian-occupied Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine were cut on Monday. However, it said it was still connected to one of its main power lines, which was restored last week.
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