activity in the kherson region and they note russia is having manpower problems with its military. and we begin our coverage in kyiv with melissa bell. what are ukrainian officials saying about this counteroffensive in the south? reporter: what we re hearing from regional officials is that day two of that counteroffensive is seeing more fighting in a number of towns along the front line. clearly this is a counteroffensive long anticipated and long prepared for. what we re seeing for the time being are warnings from senior ukrainian officials that while it is under way, people need to be patient. we ve been hearing from a senior aid to president zelenskyy saying this morning this is going to be a slow grind. urging patience on the part of ukrainians. we heard also from the ukrainian president himself in his nightly address speaking of his determination saying that russians needed now to go home since they would he said be chased back to their border. clearly this is a turnin
ukraine. and that is worrying because it could mark a sort of change in the ability of the himars to make that difference. it could neutralize that advantage that the ukrainians have gained in terms of the longer range ability to take on those positions behind the front lines. so that is something that we ll be watching very closely. also here in kyiv this morning we re following the iaea inspector, they have arrived here and we re expecting a press conference in a short while to find out more about exactly when they intend to get to the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, what they hope to see, what they expect to find and what being assess that they will be given to those buildings, some have been damaged by the shelling the last few days. melissa bell, thank you so much for that. the kremlin is confirming ukraine eye counteroffensive but insists that ukrainian troops, quote, suffered heavy losses and failed miserably. frederik pleitgen is on the ground in moscow for us. what else