Ukraine is reclaiming more territory in the region that Russia claims it annexed. Zelensky says Novovoskresenske, Novohryhorivka and Petropavlivka, northeast of the city of Kherson, have been “liberated”.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian forces had recaptured several settlements in Kherson, one of the partially Russian-occupied southern regions that Moscow claims to have annexed.
As Russian forces withdraw from the front lines in the south and east, Zelenskiy said late Wednesday in a video address that Novovoskresenske, Novohryhorivka and Petropavlivka, northeast of the city of Kherson, had been “liberated “, according to Reuters.
Zelenski also addressed pro-Moscow forces, telling them they had already lost.
Ukraine recovers territories
“Ukrainians know what they are fighting for. And more and more citizens of Russia realize that they have to die just because one person does not want to end the war,” he said, referring to Putin.
Moscow’s map of Ukraine appears to show that the areas Moscow controls are shrinking. A map of the “new regions” published by the state news agency RIA included the entire territory of the Ukrainian provinces, but some parts were shaded and labeled as being under Ukrainian military control.
The southern Ukrainian military said its forces had completed more than 350 missions, killed at least 58 Russian fighters, destroyed nine tanks, 17 armored vehicles and four howitzers.
Reuters could not immediately verify this report.
Will the Russian annexation of Ukrainian territories be condemned?
At the United Nations, Russia is pushing for a secret vote instead of a public one next week, when the 193-member UN General Assembly considers whether to condemn Russia’s annexation of the eastern cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, and of the cities of Kherson and Zaporozhye, in the south, after holding referendums in the provinces.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law Wednesday to incorporate the four regions into Russia. Ukraine says it will never accept an illegal seizure of its territory by force. Kiev and the West said the referendums were rigged votes held at gunpoint.
The new law would incorporate about 18 percent of Ukraine’s territory into Russia, equivalent to the area of Portugal, in Europe’s largest annexation since World War II. Putin says he wants to ensure Russia’s security and protect Russian-speakers in Ukraine. Kiev accuses Moscow of a territorial grab.
Will nuclear weapons be used?
Russia’s move to annex the regions raises the possibility of an escalation of the war. Putin and other officials have said they may use nuclear weapons to protect Russian territory, including annexed provinces.