Russian advancements into the Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv have been halted, a military adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a press briefing Friday.
"We can feel cautious optimism about the chances of the enemy advancing. I think it will be halted in other areas as well," said Oleksii Arestovich.
Russia invaded Ukraine last week in a move it describes as a "special military operation". The military campaign constitutes the largest attack on a European nation since World War Two.
After seizing the port of Kherson on Wednesday, Russian troops appeared to roll toward Mykolaiv, another major Black Sea port and shipbuilding center to the west.
A U.S. defense official said the Russians may want to set up a base in Mykolaiv ahead of a ground offensive against Odesa, Ukraine's largest port city, which is also home to a large naval base.
Meanwhile, British officials said the southeastern port city of Mariupol remains under Ukrainian control but has been encircled by Russian forces and is subjected to intense strikes.
The Russian military has been making inroads into its southwestern neighbor's south, launching both amphibious and ground offensives on that front.
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Ukrainian artillerymen guard military positions in pro-Russian breakaway region Luhansk
(Photo: AFP)
Russia's advancements serve to create a land bridge between the Crimean Peninsula — a territory Moscow seized back in 2014 — and two adjoined pro-Russian breakaway regions of Ukraine, as well as completely cut off Ukraine from accessing the Black Sea.
Also on Friday, the Kremlin told Russians to rally around President Vladimir Putin and said that what happened next in the negotiations over Ukraine would depend on Kyiv's reaction to this week's talks between the two sides.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call that no documents had been agreed yet with Ukraine at the talks, but that Moscow had told the Ukrainian side how it saw the solution to the war.
Speaking at a flag-raising ceremony for a ferry in northern Russia, Putin urged Russia's neighbors not to escalate tensions.
"There are no bad intentions towards our neighbors. And I would also advise them not to escalate the situation, not to introduce any restrictions. We fulfill all our obligations and will continue to fulfill them," Putin said in televised remarks from his residence outside Moscow.
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Firefighters following extinguish fire at residential building after Russian shelling in Chernihiv, Ukraine
(Photo: Reuters)
"We do not see any need here to aggravate or worsen our relations. And all our actions, if they arise, they always arise exclusively in response to some unfriendly actions, actions against the Russian Federation."
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Friday accused Russian soldiers of having committed rape in Ukrainian cities, without providing any evidence for his claim
"When bombs fall on your cities, when soldiers rape women in the occupied cities — and we have numerous cases of, unfortunately, when Russian soldiers rape women in Ukrainian cities — it's difficult, of course, to speak about the efficiency of international law," Kuleba told an event at Chatham House in London.
"But this is the only tool of civilization that is available to us to make sure that eventually all those who made this war possible will be brought to justice," said Kuleba, who was speaking in English.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's foreign ministry called on the international community to take decisive action after Russian forces in Ukraine seized Europe's largest nuclear power plant, a move the ministry said risked nuclear disaster.
Officials have said the Zaporizhzhia plant in southeastern Ukraine is operating normally after it was captured by Russian forces in fighting overnight. But the ministry said any damage to a storage facility for spent nuclear fuel could release nuclear radiation.
"As a result, a nuclear disaster of this scale may exceed all previous accidents at nuclear power plants," it said in a statement.
The regional military administration said in a statement that a fire at the Zaporizhzhia plant in Enerhodar ignited by Russian shelling was extinguished and that there is damage to the compartment of reactor No. 1 but it does not affect the safety of the power unit. Operational personnel are ensuring its safe operation.
Meanwhile, Russia's defense ministry blamed the attack at the site on Ukrainian saboteurs, calling it a "monstrous provocation".
A Russian defense ministry spokesman said the nuclear plant was operating normally and the area had been under Russian control since Feb. 28.
"However, last night on the territory adjacent to the power plant, an attempt was made by the Kyiv nationalist regime to carry out a monstrous provocation," spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.