Star Metro - Fighting in south Ukraine as Putin dismisses offensive

As pledged, Ukraine has said little about the clashes but Moscow reported repelling attacks in the Zaporizhzhia and eastern Donetsk areas with ground and air forces.

"All counter-offensive efforts so far have failed, but the offensive potential of the Kyiv regime still remains," Putin said in a video, as Washington announced a new $2.1-billion military package for Ukraine.

That fighting came as the human cost climbed after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam unleashed flooding along the Dnipro River in a different part of Ukraine's south, where a massive explosion was detected as the dam collapsed.

Moscow says clashes have intensified since Thursday in the Zaporizhzhia region, particularly around the small town of Orikhiv and towards the larger city of Tokmak, around 40 kilometres (25 miles) to the south in Russian-occupied territory.

A Ukrainian military success in the Zaporizhzhia region would enable its forces to break through the land bridge that connects Russia with the Crimean peninsula it annexed from Ukraine. This would be a major reversal for Moscow.

The Russian army has in recent months strengthened its front lines in the region, digging kilometres of trenches and fortifying defences.

The Russian army said it had pushed back four attacks -- "carried out by forces of up to two battalion tactical groups, reinforced with tanks" -- near the villages of Levadnoye in the Zaporizhzhia region and in the village of Novosleka in the Donetsk region.

It said it had used troops and air force to repel two attacks near Novodanilovka and Malaya Tokmachka in the Zaporizhzhia region.

The uptick of fighting in the south has been seen by many observers as a sign that the counter-offensive is already happening, or is about to start.

Kyiv, however, said the main centre of combat was still in Ukraine's east, while providing few details on the situation in the south.

Ukrainian officials have said their forces are ready for a long-expected counteroffensive but that there would be no formal announcement when it begins.

Kyiv's forces were bolstered with news of the new US package, which will include missiles for Patriot air defense systems, artillery rounds, drones and laser-guided rocket system munitions.

It took to $40.4 billion the value of military supplies the United States has provided Ukraine since early 2021, most of it since Russia invaded the country on February 24, 2022.

- More casualties of dam breach -

Parallel to the fresh fighting, the destruction of the major Russian-held dam on the Dnipro river on Tuesday left 600 square kilometres of the region under water.

Emergency services were racing to rescue people stranded by the flood-swollen waters of the Dnipro, which have forced thousands to flee.

Russian-installed authorities in southern Ukraine on Friday reported more casualties from the flood triggered by the dam's destruction, and said the water could keep rising for more than a week.

"Unfortunately, there are casualties... Their number has grown to eight people," the Moscow-installed head of the Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, said on Telegram.

The water, which flooded 22,273 homes in 17 settlements, could "keep rising for up to 10 days".

More than 5,800 people were evacuated since the flood was unleashed on Tuesday, Saldo said, including 243 children.

At least five people died and 13 are missing in flooding, Ukraine's Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said Friday.

- Blast at dam -

Ukraine and Russia have traded blame for the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, but EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that "everything indicates" Moscow is behind the breach.

"The dam was not bombed. It was destroyed by explosives installed in the areas where the turbines are located. This area is under Russian control," Borrell told Spanish public television.

Norway's seismological institute said it had detected "an explosion" at the site and time the dam was destroyed, supporting suggestions the breach did not occur as a result of damage incurred during months of heavy bombing.

Ukrhydroenergo, the dam's operator, said it was most likely mined from the inside.

Ukrainian authorities said water levels in a reservoir which had been created by the Kakhovka dam had fallen "below the critical point of 12.7 metres (42 feet)".

However late Thursday the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the nuclear plant was continuing to receive water from the reservoir after the dam was damaged.

The plant's six reactors have been shut down but they still need cooling water to ensure there is no nuclear disaster.

P.M.Martin--SMC