UK says Russia may step up attack on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure

IZUM, UKRAINE, Sept 18 (Reuters) – Russia has expanded its strike on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure over the past week and may further expand its targeting, Britain said on Sunday, while Ukrainians returning to territory abandoned by Russian forces Try to find their dead.

Five civilians have been killed in Russian attacks in the Donetsk region over the past day, while in Nikopol, Russian attacks have damaged dozens of high-rise and private buildings, gas pipelines and power line.

On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said investigators had found new evidence of the torture of some soldiers buried near Izium, where Ukrainian troops were in Hal after a lightning advance earlier this month. One of more than 20 towns recaptured in the northeastern region of Cove.

Zelensky said in a video address that authorities found a mass grave in Izium containing the bodies of 17 soldiers, some of whom he said showed signs of torture.

Residents of Izium have been searching for dead relatives in a forest cemetery discovered last week, and emergency workers have begun exhuming the bodies. The cause of death of those who died at the cemetery has not been determined, but residents said some were killed by air strikes.

Ukrainian officials said last week that they had found 440 bodies in woodlands near Izium. They said most of the dead were civilians and the site proved war crimes committed by Russian invaders who occupied the area for months.

“One of the bodies (found) had evidence of a ligature pattern, with a rope around the neck, with both hands wrapped around it,” Oleksandr Ilyenkov, head of the Kharkiv District Prosecutor’s Office, told Reuters at the scene on Friday. tied,” adding that other bodies were signs of violent causes of death, but they will undergo forensic examinations.

“Excavations are underway, graves are being excavated and all remains will be transported to Kharkiv,” Izium Mayor Valery Marchenko told state television on Sunday.

“The work will continue for another two weeks and there are many burials. No new burials have been found, but the service is looking for possible burials,” he added.

Moscow has often denied committing atrocities or deliberately attacking civilians during the war. The Kremlin has not publicly commented on the discovery of the graves.

The head of the pro-Russian government who abandoned the region earlier this month accused Ukrainians of staged atrocities in Izium. “I haven’t heard anything about the funeral,” Vitaly Gancev told Rossiya-24 state television.

Russian President Vladimir Putin did not respond to the allegations, but on Friday dismissed Ukraine’s swift counteroffensive, arguing that the Russian invasion was a necessary step to prevent what he said was a Western plot to divide Russia.read more

Russia has fired thousands of long-range missiles into Ukraine since the invasion began, the British Ministry of Defence said in its latest intelligence update on Twitter.

“However, over the past seven days, Russia has increased its attacks on civilian infrastructure, even though it may not think there will be an immediate impact,” the ministry said in a tweet.

It added that the strike had hit targets including power grids and dams.

“In the event of setbacks on the front line, Russia may expand the locations it is ready to strike in an attempt to directly undermine the morale of the Ukrainian people and government,” the ministry said.

Biden warns Russia

Putin has said Moscow would respond more forcefully if his military came under further pressure, raising concerns that he might at some point use unconventional means such as small nuclear or chemical weapons.

Asked what he would say to Putin if he considered using such weapons, US President Joe Biden replied: “No. No. No. It will change the face of war unlike anything since World War II.” The comments were made during an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes,” the clip of which was released Saturday by CBS.read more

Some military analysts said Russia could also stage a nuclear incident at the largest Russian-controlled Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in Europe.

Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of shelling the plant, which damaged buildings and disrupted power lines needed to stay cool and safe.

The United Nations nuclear watchdog said Saturday that one of the plant’s four main power lines had been repaired and once again provided the plant with electricity from Ukraine’s grid.read more

Ukraine has also launched a major offensive to retake southern territory, hoping to trap thousands of cut-off Russian troops on the west bank of the Dnieper and retake Kherson. Kherson is the only major Ukrainian city that Russia has fully occupied since the beginning of the war.

Reuters reports Lincoln Feast and Raissa Kasolowsky Writing by William Mallard and Frances Kerry Editing

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