FROM THE WARFRONT

Ukraine Launches New Offensive to Claw Back Russian-Held South

The counter-offensive suggests improved confidence in Kyiv as Western aid arrives.

A long awaited Ukrainian effort to take back the southern half of the country from Russian occupiers suggests improved confidence in Kyiv as Western aid arrives. In a press conference Monday, spokeswoman Natalia Humeniuk said that Ukrainian forces had struck 10 Russian ammunition dumps in the past week, saying they had “unquestionably weakened the enemy.” Meanwhile, a Russian news agency reported evacuations out of the Russian-annexed Ukrainian city Nova Kahokva after reports of Ukrainian missile strikes in the region, according to Reuters. But the Southern city of Zaporizhzhia has been the real hotbed of the occupation, where the Russian capture of a prominent nuclear power plant and reports of shelling in the area has caused international concerns over another nuclear disaster, reminiscent of the 1986 Chernobyl explosion. A U.N. nuclear watchdog is heading to the area to inspect the reactor sometime this week.