Russia’s defence ministry released a statement on Saturday and said its forces launched strikes on Ukrainian positions in several parts of Ukraine. It also accused Ukrainian forces in Kyiv of carrying out shelling near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is now connected to the Ukrainian grid after engineers repaired one of the four main external power lines that were damaged during the ongoing conflict.
Here are the top developments in the story:
1. A week after Ukrainian forces recaptured territory previously held by Russian forces in the northeastern Kharkiv region, the Russian defence ministry on Saturday said that its forces launched strikes on Ukrainian positions in several parts of Ukraine.
According to the ministry, Russian forces conducted their strikes in the Kherson, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and Donetsk regions.
Firefighters work at a site of a building damaged by a Russian military strike. (Reuters photo)
2. The Kyiv Independent reported that Russian forces shelled three settlements in Sumy Oblast. Sumy Oblast Governor Dmytro Zhyvytskyi said Russian forces fired on the communities of Seredyna-Buda, Bilopillia, and Shalyhyne on Saturday. The attacks reportedly damaged a house and a car and set a hayloft on fire. There were no civilian casualties, Zhyvytskyi said.
3. Russia’s defence ministry also accused Ukrainian forces of carrying out shelling near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe. However, the Ukraine’s foreign ministry denied Russia’s allegations and said Ukrainian forces did not carry out the shelling.
4. Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed on Saturday that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been reconnected to the Ukrainian power grid.
#Ukraine’s #Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant is once again receiving electricity directly from national grid after engineers repaired one of the four main external power lines that have all been damaged during the conflict, IAEA learnt at the site today. https://t.co/wift7jorog pic.twitter.com/WN2M2oK82F
— IAEA – International Atomic Energy Agency (@iaeaorg) September 17, 2022
The nuclear plant was cut from the national grid after it came under Russian shelling last month. One of the plant’s four main power lines has been repaired and is once again supplying the plant with electricity from the Ukrainian grid, said the IAEA.
“With the main line’s reconnection yesterday afternoon, the three back-up power lines are again being held in reserve,” the International Atomic Energy Agency watchdog said in a statement.
(With input from Reuters)
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