New Zealand national who fought alongside Kyiv’s forces dies in Ukraine

The Ukrainian military withdrew its claim that Russia has withdrawn from the town of Nova Kakhovka, in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, on 22 April. The initial claim would have marked a significant development as the first east bank settlement seized by Ukraine since forcing Russia’s troops out of the area last November. By the time of the retraction, Russian-appointed officials and military bloggers had already loudly denied Ukraine’s claims of a military withdrawal from Nova Kakhovka. Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-appointed head of the occupied Kherson region, said “all Russian military personnel in Nova Kakhovka, as well as in other locations on the east bank of the Dnipro river, remain in their positions.”
Nova Kakhovka is of particular interest because it is the site of a major hydroelectric project and the entrance to a canal that feeds fresh water to Crimea from the Dnipro River. Russia has fortified many settlements on the east bank of the river near Kherson, and the areas nearest the Dnipro have been subject to frequent attacks by Ukraine, including special forces’ assaults. In mid-March, Ukrainian troops launched a massive artillery strike on the neighbourhood of Sokol in Nova Kakhovka, killing a woman and damaging houses, stores and power lines, while reports on 22 April suggested that there had been explosions in the town and a fire close to or within the town’s grain elevator.
Some reports suggested that a fuel dump was set on fire, along with Russian military equipment in unverified accounts. Propaganda from the Russia-backed leaders in Ukraine mocks the Ukrainian military report, with Vladimir Leontyev, the Russia-backed leader in Nova Kakhovka, calling it “misinformation,” while Russian military correspondent Aleksandr Kots mocked the report on Telegram. This latest development highlights the ongoing tension in Ukraine’s east, where fighting between Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed separatists has been ongoing since 2014.



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