KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian forces attacked Russia's hold on the
southern city of Kherson on Thursday while fighting intensified in the
country's east. The battles came amid reports that Moscow-appointed
authorities in the city have abandoned it, joining tens of thousands of
residents who fled to other Russia-held areas.

Ukrainian forces were surrounding Kherson from the west and attacking
Russia’s foothold on the west bank of the Dnieper River, which divides the
region and the country.

As the battles unfolded, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow
has no intention to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

“We see no need for that,” Putin said at a conference of international
foreign policy experts. “There is no point in that, neither political nor
military.”

The Russian leader also sought to cast the conflict as part of efforts by
the West to secure global domination. He accused the U.S. and its allies
of trying to dictate their terms to other nations in a “dangerous and
bloody” domination game.

Putin, who sent his troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, has described Western
support for Ukraine as part of broad efforts by Washington and its allies
to enforce what they call a rules-based world order that only foments
chaos.

Meanwhile, Russia warned that Moscow could target Western commercial
satellites used for military purposes in support of Ukraine, and a Foreign
Ministry spokeswoman accused the United States of pursuing “thoughtless
and mad” escalation.

Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova argued that Washington should take an approach
more like it did during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, when the Cold
War superpowers stepped back from the brink of nuclear confrontation.

“The more the U.S. is drawn into supporting the Kyiv regime on the
battlefield, the more they risk provoking a direct military confrontation
between the biggest nuclear powers fraught with catastrophic
consequences,” Zakharova said.

In eastern Ukraine, Russian forces continued to bombard the city of
Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, making slow gains toward the center.

The deputy head of Russia’s delegation at a U.N. arms control panel,
Konstantin Vorontsov, described the use of U.S. and other Western
commercial satellites for military purposes during the fighting as
“extremely dangerous.”

“The quasi-civilian infrastructure could be a legitimate target for a
retaliatory strike,” Vorontsov warned.

https://infotel.ca/newsitem/eu-russia-ukraine-war/cp818971895