Ukraine takes back 4 villages as counteroffensive begins, military sources tell CNN

Ukrainian troops have taken four villages back from Russian occupation in the south near the city of Kherson, a Ukrainian military source tells CNN. Their main "target" is Kherson, the source added.

“The operation began at night with massive shelling of Russian positions and the rear,” the source, who CNN is not naming for security reasons, said.

“The main direction of the attack was on Pravdyne. We hit their infantry from the DNR (Donetsk People's Republic) and LNR (Luhansk People's Republic), and they fled. The Russian landing force fled after them," the source told CNN.

“We have now liberated four villages. Their first line of defense has been broken through in three places,” the military source said. 

The source said the village names are Nova Dmytrivka, Arkhanhel's'ke, Tomyna Balka and Pravdyne.

“Many of them were killed and captured, and a lot of [Russian] military vehicles [were destroyed].”

“We'll see how it goes from here. Our target is Kherson," according to the source. 

The White House says it has seen reports that Ukraine has begun a counteroffensive against Russian forces in southern Ukraine but does not want to comment further on specific Ukrainian military operations, John Kirby, the communications coordinator for the National Security Council, said.

Kirby did note, however, that regardless of the size, scale and scope of the latest counteroffensive, the Ukrainians “have already had an impact on Russian military capabilities.”

“Because the Russians have had to pull resources from the east simply because of reports that the Ukrainians might be going more on the offense in the south,” Kirby said. “And so they've had to deplete certain units …in certain areas in the East in the Donbass, to respond to what they clearly believed was a looming threat of a counter offensive."

Kirby also said that Russia “continues to have manpower problems” in Ukraine, and is trying to expand its recruitment of fighters inside Russia as well as “entice” some of their conscripts and contract soldiers to serve beyond their time frames.  

That is “because they are experiencing manpower challenges—manpower challenges that are not made any easier by the way they’ve had to respond to reports of a potential counteroffensive by the Ukrainians,” Kirby said.

Kirby also said that “the idea of going on the offense is not new to the Ukrainians.”

“Now I recognize that what we're talking about here is the potential for a major counteroffensive, which is different than going on the offense in a more localized way,” Kirby said. But he said Ukrainian forces “have been taking the fight to the Russians inside” Ukraine for quite some time now, including in the early months of the war around the capital Kyiv.        

“So, it’s not a new development for them to do this,” Kirby said.

What Russia is saying: Moscow on Monday acknowledged Kyiv’s counteroffensive in Ukraine’s south, but said the Ukrainian troops “suffered heavy losses” and “failed miserably” in their “attempted” offensive. 

Ukrainian forces on Monday “attempted an offensive in the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions from three directions,” the Russian defense ministry said in a statement, adding, "as a result of the active defense of the grouping of Russian troops, units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine suffered heavy losses."

The ministry said that during the fighting, 26 Ukrainian tanks, 23 infantry fighting vehicles, nine other armored fighting vehicles were destroyed and two Su-25 attack aircraft were shot down.

“Another attempt at offensive actions by the enemy failed miserably,” it concluded.

Russia blocked a consensus document at the tenth review conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which is a key arms control treaty conference.

Igor Vishnevetsky, deputy director of arms control and nonproliferation at the Russian Foreign Ministry, reportedly said that this conference’s final document was not balanced.

“Russia did so in order to block language that merely acknowledged the grave radiological risk at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, the very kind of challenge the conference is called upon to address,” US State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said in a statement.

Russia's opposition despite "overwhelming international consensus underscores the need" for countries to "continue urging Russia to end its military activity" near the plant and return its control to Ukraine, Patel added. 

Some background: This is the second consecutive time that parties to the NPT failed to reach consensus. They also were unable to do so at the review conference in 2015. The review conference typically takes place every five years to discuss the landmark nuclear arms control treaty. This tenth review conference was originally scheduled to take place in April 2020 – coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the NPT entering into force, but it was postponed due to Covid-19.

UN Secretary General António Guterres and EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell also expressed disappointment after conference concluded with no substantial outcome.

A “long-awaited” Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russian forces is underway in southern Ukraine to retake Moscow-controlled territory, former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told CNN on Monday. 

"This is first time since February 2022 when such a [concentration] of Ukrainian troops with western artillery, with western HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) and western missiles was collected together for this counterattack,” Poroshenko added.

The counteroffensive comes as Russia's war in Ukraine has passed its six-month mark, with US assessments indicating that Russia has been able to deploy fewer units to the frontlines than initially thought, according to a senior US official. 

On Monday morning, Ukraine indicated that actions were underway.

"Ukrainian armed forces have started the offensive actions in several directions on the South front towards liberating the occupied territories," Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Operational Command South, told CNN.

"All the details will be available after the operation is fulfilled," she added.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors are expected to go to Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeast Ukraine sometime this week amid renewed shelling at the Russian-held facility and mounting fears over a potential nuclear accident -- which has seen Ukrainian officials make iodine pills available to residents.

This comes as Ukraine forces prepare for a counteroffensive in the south, according to United States officials.

"Shaping" operations begin: Ukraine's forces are preparing the battlefield for a significant Ukrainian counteroffensive, two senior US officials told CNN. Shaping operations are standard military practice prior to an offensive and involve striking weapons systems, command and control, ammunition depots and other targets to prepare the battlefield for planned advances. According to the officials, the US believes the much-anticipated counteroffensive will include a combination of air and ground operations.

IAEA inspectors heading in: A team from the IAEA -- the UN nuclear watchdog -- is on its way to Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and will be there "later this week," IAEA Chief Rafael Mariano Grossi tweeted Monday. The mission will assess damage to the plant's facilities, evaluate the working conditions of the staff and perform urgent safeguard activities. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the international community should demand Russia's withdrawal from the plant so as to ensure nuclear security. The Kremlin welcomed the news of the visit, saying the IAEA mission will enter Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant from the Ukrainian side, but Russia will ensure its safety on the territory occupied by the Russian army.

Renewed shelling: The city of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhia region suffered more than 200 attacks in a six-hour time span, say Ukrainian officials. Shelling also occurred in the Russian-controlled city of Enerhodar, close to the nuclear plant, on Sunday night, Russian and Ukrainian officials said -- with each side blaming the other for the attacks.

Close call: Shelling in the vicinity of the Zaporizhzhia plant over the past few days hit a "special building" located just 100 meters from its reactor buildings, IAEA said Sunday. The nuclear agency's chief Grossi said safety systems at the plant remain operational, there has been no increase in radiation levels, radioactivity levels are within a normal range, there is no indication of hydrogen leakage and the plant has continued access to off-site electricity.

Iodine pills: It emerged over the weekend that Zaporizhzhia city authorities made iodine tablets available to residents as concern grows over a possible accident. The pills protect users against radioactive iodine and help prevent thyroid cancer in case of a nuclear accident.

Dugina murder: Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has accused a second suspect in the murder of Darya Dugina, who was a Russian political commentator and the daughter of prominent ultranationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin. CNN is unable to independently verify the FSB claims of those who perpetrated the killing and is therefore not naming the two suspects at this time. Ukraine has denied any involvement in Dugina’s killing, calling the FSB claims fiction.

Ukraine's forces have begun "shaping" operations in the south of the country to prepare the battlefield for a significant Ukrainian counteroffensive, two senior US officials told CNN. 

Shaping operations are standard military practice prior to an offensive and involve striking weapons systems, command and control, ammunition depots and other targets to prepare the battlefield for planned advances.

According to the officials -- who have been briefed on the intelligence -- the US believes the much anticipated counteroffensive will include a combination of air and ground operations.

On Monday morning, Ukraine indicated that actions were underway.

"Ukrainian armed forces have started the offensive actions in several directions on the South front towards liberating the occupied territories," Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Operational Command South, told CNN.

"All the details will be available after the operation is fulfilled," she added.

The plans come as Russia's war in Ukraine has passed its six-month mark, with US assessments indicating that Russia has been able to deploy fewer units to the frontlines than initially thought, according to a senior US official. 

The official said many of the existing units -- which Russia organizes into Battlefield Tactical Groups (BTGs) comprising infantry, tanks, artillery and air defense -- are deploying below strength, some even at half their normal manpower.

Additionally, the US has been observing Ukrainian forces benefiting from the use of US- and NATO-supplied HIMARS mobile rocket launchers, which have allowed Ukraine to strike and destroy targets in Russian-held territory.