As its forces once more attack bridges leading to the captured city of Kherson in an effort to cut off supply routes for Russian forces there, Ukraine's counteroffensive in the south of the country is gaining momentum.
In other developments, it's been reported that a convoy from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) left the Ukrainian capital on its way to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power facility in southeast Ukraine.
As both sides hold each other responsible for attacks on and near the complex, Europe's largest nuclear power plant has turned into a battleground. Fears about the increased risk of a nuclear disaster have been generated by fighting near the facility.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, stated in his nightly address on Tuesday that while his country would do everything in its power to ensure the safety of the IAEA mission, Russia continued to carry out "provocations" in the regions the team would be visiting.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley, will also visit Germany to meet with the more than 50 participants in the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. Austin will go to the Czech Republic after discussions at the German air base of Ramstein.
