CNN
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Some Russian troops are withdrawing from their positions in the southern Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia, according to Kyiv.
Russian forces have abandoned the settlements of Mykhailivka, Polohy and Inzhenerne, all towns south of the city of Zaporizhzhia, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army said in its daily update on Thursday.
The military added that the Kremlin was also preparing to expel “operational control officers” from the region.
Zaporizhzhia has been partially occupied by Russian forces since the beginning of the invasion; in September Moscow illegally declared it and three other Ukrainian regions to be Russian territory.
The front lines in the area run more than 100 kilometers across rolling farmland. Geolocated footage posted on Wednesday shows the raids on a house in Polohy.
On the battlefield, the Ukrainians seem to be repeating what they did on the southern front in Kherson, namely the dangerous bridge, the supply point and the number of Russian soldiers behind the lines.
Ukrainian forces moved into Kherson in recent months and liberated large areas of the region, including the city of Kherson, after Russian forces withdrew from the eastern bank of the Dnipro River last month.
The General Staff said that in recent days their bombing in about half a dozen places wounded more than 230 Russian soldiers and destroyed ammunition and equipment.
CNN cannot confirm the statements made by the general staff.
Violent explosions have rocked Russia’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in recent weeks, fueling renewed concerns that an attack near the plant could lead to a nuclear accident.
On November 20, UN nuclear experts at the agency said more than a dozen explosions were heard in a short period of time. Explosives were found near and at the construction site.
The head of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, hopes to reach an agreement with Russia and Ukraine to protect the plant by the end of the year.
In an interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica published on Friday, Grossi said: “My commitment is to reach a solution as soon as possible. I hope at the end of the year. I know that President Putin is following the process, and I do not rule out another meeting with him in the near future, as well as with Ukrainian President Zelensky. ”
The event comes as the Russian army has begun a census in some parts of the territory occupied by the Zaporizhzhia region, as the Ukrainian mayor is being expelled from the southern Ukrainian city of Melitopol.
“For the past few days, the Russians have been in chaos. First, they were taking the wounded out of the hospital. Then they began a census in the villages of Mykhailivka and Burchak for allegedly they are ready for escape,” said Ivan Fedorov on national television Friday. The Ukrainian military also said that local authorities are conducting a census in Burchak.
Melitopol had been occupied by Russian forces since the beginning of the invasion. Analysts suggest that the next attack to provoke Ukrainians may be in the south facing it.
The General Staff said that elsewhere the Russian army continued to protect their positions in the Luhansk region using tanks, artillery and artillery to prevent further advances by the Ukrainian army.
Russian forces are also running a number of buildings in the recently liberated Kherson region. But Ukrainian Brigadier General Oleksii Hromov said last week that Russian soldiers were accidentally fired on their unit near the town of Tsukury in Kherson, killing 14 soldiers. CNN could not verify the statement.
Hromov said that Russian troops have gathered in the Crimean town of Dzankhoi, which has “actually turned into the largest military base in the region…where Russian troops and weapons and ammunition of the Russian army are transported.”
