Shelling temporarily disconnected the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant from Ukraine’s grid. Fires caused by shelling cut the last remaining power line to the plant on Thursday, temporarily disconnecting it from Ukraine’s national grid for the first time in nearly 40 years of operation, the country’s nuclear power firm, Energoatom, said.
Ukraine’s energy minister, German Galushchenko, said the UN nuclear watchdog could travel to the Zaporizhzhia plant in the “coming days”. The UN nuclear watchdog’s chief, Rafael Grossi, earlier said his team were “very, very close” to being able to go to the plant.
The White House called on Russia to agree to a demilitarised zone around the plant, after the US president, Joe Biden, spoke to his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Biden congratulated him on the country’s 31st independence day, celebrated on Wednesday. Zelenskiy said he had “a great conversation” and thanked Biden for his “unwavering” support. It comes a day after Biden announced nearly $3bn in new military assistance to Ukraine, including anti-aircraft missiles, artillery, counter-drone defences and radar equipment, the biggest tranche of US military aid to date.
Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to increase the size of Russia’s armed forces from 1.9 million to 2.04 million, as the war in Ukraine enters its seventh month with no signs of abating. The Russian president’s decree appears to point to the country’s aim to replenish its military, which has been heavily damaged in Ukraine and has failed to achieve its objective to capture the capital, Kyiv.
At least 25 people have been confirmed dead after a Russian rocket strike on a Ukrainian train station. Russian forces attacked a train in the village of Chaplyne, Dnipropetrovsk oblast on Wednesday. The deputy head of the president’s office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, reported on Telegram that two children were killed in the attack. Russia has since confirmed it was behind the attack.
The mayor of the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, has said a building allegedly used by Russian-backed officials in the region has been “blown up”. Fedorov, who is not in the city, posted a video reportedly showing damage to the building, which he said was being used to plan a “pseudo-referendum” by Russia-backed authorities on whether the region should join Russia.
The Vatican’s Russia-Ukraine diplomacy suffered two setbacks on Thursday when the head of the Russian Orthodox church cancelled a meeting with Pope Francis and Ukraine summoned the papal ambassador to complain about Francis’ latest comments about the war. The pontiff upset Kyiv by including Darya Dugina, the daughter of Russian nationalist TV Alexander Dugin killed by a car bomb on Sunday, as among the “innocents” who have been victimised by the “insanity of war.” Russia has accused Ukrainian intelligence in the bombing, which Ukraine denies.
Latvia toppled a Soviet-era obelisk amid backlash against Russia. The concrete nearly 80-metre (260ft) obelisk topped by Soviet stars was the centrepiece of a monument to the Red Army’s victory over Nazi Germany, the latest in a series of Soviet monuments brought down after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
UK opposition leader Keir Starmer is planning a trip to Ukraine in the coming months as he moves to cement his relations with Kyiv. The Labour leader approached the government this summer about the possibility of a visit as opposition leader, with the Labour party writing a letter seen by the Guardian.
