Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday counter-offensive and defensive operations were underway against Russian forces and commanders maintained a “positive” mood on the front lines.

The President of Ukraine, during a press conference in Kyiv with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, was responding to a question about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement on the eve that the counteroffensive had begun and Ukrainian forces were suffering ” significant losses”.

Zelenskyy said that “counter-offensive and defensive actions are taking place in Ukraine. I won’t talk about what stage or phase they’re in.”

“I am in contact with commanders from different directions every day,” he said, naming the top five military commanders. “Everyone is positive. Tell Putin.”

Trudeau, the first foreign leader to visit Ukraine since devastating floods caused by the breach of a dam on the Dnieper, offered monetary, military and moral aid. He pledged $500 million in military aid, on top of the $8 billion in aid already provided by Canada since the war began in February 2022, and $10 million in humanitarian aid for those affected. by floods. ,

The mine collapse was “a direct consequence of the Russian war”, he said, although he did not directly blame Moscow.

The Ukrainian general staff said on Saturday that “heavy fighting” was taking place, with 34 clashes since the day before in the industrial east. He did not go into details, but said Russian forces are “defending themselves and launching air and artillery strikes in the southern regions of Zaporizhia and Kherson.

At the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, occupied by Russian forces, five of the six reactors were in a cold shutdown state. It is a mechanism by which all control rods are inserted into the reactor core to slow down the nuclear fission reaction and the generation of heat and pressure.

Energoatom, Ukraine’s nuclear agency, said in a statement late Friday that the plant was not “directly threatened” by the breach of the Kakhovka dam further down the Dnieper, which forced thousands of people to flee flooding. and drastically reduces the water level in the reservoir used to help cool the plant.

The last reactor was put into cold shutdown on Thursday, Energoatom said, noting that among the factors influencing the decision were shelling near the facility, which damaged wiring connecting the plant to Ukraine’s power system.

With all nuclear reactions stopped, the temperature and pressure inside the reactors gradually decreases, reducing the amount of cooling water needed for the radioactive fuel. This is the safest mode of operation of a nuclear power plant. Energoatom employees continue to work at the plant, although it remains controlled by Russian forces.

The site’s generators have not been operational since September last year. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, is due to visit Ukraine in the coming days.

Analysts and Russia say Ukraine has launched a counter-offensive in the south that could try to retake territories near the plant.

Also on Saturday morning, Ukrainian authorities reported that at least four civilians had been killed across the country in Russian attacks using Iranian-made Shahed drones, missiles, artillery and mortars.

Ukraine’s state emergency service said three people were killed and more than two dozen injured in an overnight attack on the Black Sea port city of Odessa. Among the injured were two children and a pregnant woman, said Natalia Humeniuk, spokeswoman for the Operational Command of Southern Ukraine.

In the northeast, a 29-year-old man was killed in a strike by more than 10 drones over the Kharkiv region, its governor Oleh Syniehubov announced on Saturday. At least three other civilians were injured, he added.

In the western province of Poltava, damage was reported to a military airfield hit in another nighttime Russian missile and drone strike, its governor, Dmytro Lunin, said he would not there were no injuries. Saturday morning, neither the army nor the Ukrainian authorities had made further comments on the extent of the damage.

Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 20 of 35 Shahed drones overnight, as well as two of eight missiles “of various types” launched by Russian forces.

Fighting and civilian casualties have returned to center stage as authorities in southern Ukraine reported a drop in the water level under the collapsed dam.

Nearly a third of protected natural areas in Kherson province could be devastated by floods after the Kakhovka dam burst, Ukraine’s environment minister warned on Saturday.

In a Facebook post, Ruslan Strilets said the incident had completely submerged a national park, dried up rivers and lakes in other protected areas and could cause groundwater to rise in Moscow-occupied parts of the River Delta. Dnieper, which could lead to further flooding.

In the city of Kherson, whose outskirts are among the areas affected by the floodwaters, the average water level dropped 12 inches (31 centimeters) overnight but was still over 15 feet (4. 5 meters) above normal levels. , the regional governor, Oleksandr Prokudin, said on Saturday.

According to Prokudin, meteorologists predict heavy rain in the region for the weekend, which would complicate rescue efforts.

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Jon Gambrell in kyiv, Joanna Kozlowska in London and Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this office.