Russian troops gained control of Ukraine’s second-largest power plant on Wednesday, according to a Ukrainian official and Russian-backed forces.
The Vuhlehirsk power plant, a Soviet-era coal-fired facility located in the Donetsk province of Ukraine’s Donbas region, was captured intact, according to Reuters, citing reports from Russian-backed forces in the region. Ukrainian forces had for weeks repelled Russian attempts to capture the plant. The development is the most significant Russian gain in Ukraine since the capture of the city of Lysychansk more than three weeks ago.
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Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, confirmed the capture of the power plant, but he dismissed it as only a “tiny tactical advantage” for Russia, according to Reuters.
Russia has captured several power-generating facilities in Ukraine since the Feb. 24 invasion. Early in the war, Russian forces took control of the Chernobyl nuclear facility but abandoned it as the Kremlin shifted its focus to the Donbas region in late March. Russian forces are occupying the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine and are reportedly using it to shield troops and artillery from Ukrainian attacks.
Arestovych added that Russian forces appear to be switching to a defensive strategy in southern Ukraine, redeploying troops to the Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions where Ukrainian forces have been staging counteroffensives to reclaim land.
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Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, tweeted on Wednesday that Russia is sending “the maximum number of troops” toward the Kherson region.
Ukrainian forces took out a key bridge in Kherson earlier on Wednesday using U.S.-provided High Mobility Artillery Rocket System rocket launchers. The damage done to the bridge is intended to slow the ability of Russia to resupply and reinforce the city ahead of a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
