Six Months Before The Invasion, Russia Rained Missiles And Artillery On Ukrainian Territory

The impact of the Russian attack on the territory of Ukraine. (Wikimedia Commons/State Emergency Service of Ukraine)

JAKARTA - Artillery fire rained down on a town near Europe's largest nuclear plant, while Russian missiles hit near the Black Sea port of Odesa on Sunday, as Ukraine warned of a potential more serious attack by Russia, six months into the invasion.

The day after Wednesday the Russian invasion entered the sixth month, and 31 years of Ukraine's independence from the Soviet Union, with President Volodymyr Zelensky calling for vigilance, saying Moscow could try something very bad.

In his evening video address on Sunday, President Zelensky said he had discussed "all threats" with French President Emmanuel Macron, while other information was also sent to other world leaders, including Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

"All Ukrainian partners have been informed about what the terrorist state can prepare this week," President Zelensky said, referring to Russia.

The Financial Times, in an article published Sunday, quoted Gennady Gatilov, Moscow's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, as saying President Erdogan had tried to facilitate dialogue.

Russian bomb that failed to explode in Ukraine (Wikimedia Commons/State Emergency Service of Ukraine)

However, he dismissed speculation about talks between President Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying "there is no practical platform for holding this meeting," the report said.

Meanwhile, officials are reporting more Russian strikes against targets in the east and south of the country.

Of particular concern is the shooting of Nikopol, a town near Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine and the largest nuclear plant in Europe.

Nikopol was fired upon on five different occasions overnight, regional governor Valentyn Reznichenko wrote on Telegram. He said 25 artillery shells hit the city, causing industrial fires and cutting power to 3,000 residents.

Fighting near Zaporizhzhia and Saturday's missile attack on the southern Ukrainian city of Voznesensk, not far from Ukraine's second-largest nuclear plant, sparked fears of a nuclear accident.

On Sunday, US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Macron held a phone call, stressing the importance of ensuring the safety of nuclear installations, while underlining their "steadfast commitment" to Ukraine.

Local authorities also reported a missile strike overnight in the Odesa region, home to a key port for a UN-brokered plan to help Ukrainian agricultural exports reach world markets again.

Five Russian Kalibr cruise missiles were fired from the Black Sea into the region overnight, a regional government spokesman said, citing information from the southern military command. Two were shot down by Ukrainian air defenses and three hit agricultural targets, but there were no casualties.

In a daily Facebook update, Ukraine's general staff reported several attempted Russian attacks over the past 24 hours in Donbas, an area in eastern Ukraine partly controlled by pro-Moscow separatists.

In the south, Russian troops carried out a successful assault on the village of Blahodatne, on the border between the Kherson and Mykolaiv regions, he said. The city of Mykolaiv was hit with several S-300 missiles on Sunday morning, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said on Telegram. Reuters was unable to independently verify the battlefield report.