A nuclear power plant amid intense fighting between Ukrainian and Russian troops was temporarily disconnected from the power grid on Thursday when fires damaged the only transmission line, Ukrainian officials said.
It was the first time that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, had gone offline, leading to a major blackout in the region and heightened concerns about a disaster that could affect much of Europe.
The damage forced the two reactors still in operation to go offline, but one was quickly restored and power was restored to the area, said Yevgeny Balitsky, the Russian-installed regional governor.
UN and international atomic energy officials have been trying for weeks to gain access to the plant, warning that continued fighting in the surrounding area could trigger a disastrous accident. Russia took control of the facility and surrounding region early in the war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of stockpiling weapons at the factory and launching attacks from the surrounding area. Zelenskyy says Russia’s military actions there amount to “nuclear blackmail.” Moscow, meanwhile, accuses Ukraine of recklessly firing at the facility.
“YOU FIGHT WITHOUT END”: Ukrainians around the world grapple with months of war
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Latest developments:
►The Moscow Regional Court upheld the guilty verdict and 14-year prison sentence handed down in June against American Marc Fogel, a history teacher at an international school, when he was arrested at a Moscow airport for possession of cannabis that he used for lower back pain.
►Russian planes flew about 200 sorties over Ukraine on Wednesday, Ukraine’s Independence Day, the Ukrainian Air Force said. Air raid sirens sounded across much of the country.
►Yevgeny Roizman, the former mayor of Yekaterinburg – Russia’s fourth largest city – was released on Thursday after being arrested the day before. But he is still accused of criticizing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and banned from attending public events and communicating with anyone other than his lawyers and close family. .
Russia to add 137,000 troops
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to add 137,000 military personnel to his army, an increase of almost 14%. The new total will be 1,150,628.
Pentagon officials have estimated that around 80,000 Russian troops have been killed or injured since the invasion began. The Kremlin has said only volunteer contract soldiers are taking part in what it calls “the special military operation” in Ukraine, dismissing claims it is considering a broad mobilization.
All Russian men between the ages of 18 and 27 must serve one year in the army, but many avoid conscription for health reasons or deferments granted to university students. The share of men avoiding conscription is particularly high in Moscow and other major cities.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has declared its goal of forming a million-strong army.
Biden and Zelenskyy chat after latest US security aid package
President Joe Biden congratulated his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the country’s Independence Day in a phone call on Thursday and reaffirmed the US government’s support a day after committing nearly $3 billion more in security assistance, according to a White House reading of their conversation.
The new aid program, aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s long-term defense, will include surface-to-air missile systems, artillery munitions and drones. Since January, the Biden administration has spent $13.5 billion in military aid to Ukraine.
Biden is not expected to travel to Kyiv, the White House said.
After 6 months of war, Ukrainians around the world share their stories
Six months after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, USA TODAY reporters have reconnected with Ukrainians around the world who first shared their experiences during the early stages of the war.
While some struggle under Russian occupation or live amid fierce fighting and bombardment, others in the United States and Europe are adjusting to new countries and a new normal. Several said they worry about public attention to the war and its dwindling human toll. Here are their stories.
Two children among dead in Russian rocket attack
Two children were among the dead in the rocket attack that killed 25 people on Wednesday at a train station and residential area in Chaplyne, city official Kirill Timoshenko said. He said 31 people were injured and search and rescue operations were over. The attack hit Chaplyne, 400 miles east of Kyiv, on Ukraine’s independence day. President Volodymyr Zelensky had been warning Ukrainians for days that Moscow might attempt “something particularly cruel” this week.
“An 11-year-old boy died under the rubble of a house. Another 6-year-old died in a fire in a car near the station,” he said.
Russia said it targeted a military train and claimed to have killed more than 200 Ukrainian reservists.
A car bomb attack outside Moscow last week that killed a pro-Putin commentator had put Ukraine on high alert for retaliation, although Ukrainian authorities have denied involvement in the attack .
Zelenskyy said Ukraine would “definitely” hold Russia accountable for its war crimes and pledged again to drive Russian troops out of his country. “Not a single stain of this evil will remain in our free Ukraine,” he said.
Contribute: The Associated Press