Ukrainian forces say fighting ‘deadlocked’ with Russia ahead of UN chief visit

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan later on Thursday in Lviv.

Ukrainian forces said on Thursday they had beaten back a Russian attack in the southern region of Kherson, while shelling by Kremlin forces in Kharkiv in Ukraine’s north killed seven people as the near six-month war grinds on with no let up in fighting.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan later on Thursday in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.

They will discuss finding a political solution to the conflict with Russia and address the threat to global food supplies and risk of a disaster at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, which has been taken over by Russian forces.

The war has caused millions to flee, killed thousands and deepened a geopolitical rift between the West and Russia, which says the aim of its operation is to demilitarize its neighbor and protect Russian-speaking communities.

“Russian forces have achieved only minimal advances, and in some cases we have advanced, since last month,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said in a video. “What we are seeing is a ‘strategic deadlock.'”

Russian bombardments in a residential area of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-biggest city, on Wednesday evening killed seven people and injured 16, the Ukrainian Emergencies Service said.

“This is a devious and cynical strike on civilians with no justification,” Zelenskyy said on the Telegram messaging app.

In the south, Ukrainian forces routed an attempted advance by Russian forces near the town of Bilohirka, northeast of Kherson, Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said.