Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered to mediate between Moscow and Kiev over the Zaporozhye nuclear plant, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke of what he called a "decisive blow" that Russia is preparing in the energy war on Europe.
The Turkish presidency said that Erdogan offered, in a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, Turkish mediation over the situation at the Zaporozhye nuclear plant.
President Erdoğan said that Turkey could play a "facilitating" role on the issue of the Zaporozhye plant, similar to its role in the grain agreement.
For its part, the Kremlin said that Erdogan stressed Russia's constructive role in organizing the visit of the IAEA mission to Zaporozhye, adding that Putin and Erdogan discussed the implementation of the grain export agreement from Ukraine.
According to the Kremlin, Putin and Erdogan also discussed strengthening trade relations and developing strategic projects in the energy field.
Erdogan's mediation offer came hours before the International Atomic Energy Agency announced that the Zaporozhye plant had been disconnected from the last line that was still connecting it to the Ukrainian electric grid, and is now dependent on the backup line.
Concern has risen in recent weeks over the bombing of the area that includes the Zaporozhye plant, Europe's largest nuclear facility.
critical strike
As tensions escalated between Moscow and Europe over gas, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of waging an energy war, calling for greater unity in Europe.
Zelensky said - in his daily video message - that "Russia is trying these days to increase pressure on Europe with regard to energy. The pumping of gas through Nord Stream has completely stopped. Russia wants to destroy the daily life of every European, in all the countries of our continent."
He stated that Russia's goal is to weaken and intimidate the countries of Europe, and that it uses energy as a weapon along with tanks and missiles, adding that Russia is preparing a "critical blow" next winter in the energy sector, and that he will not be able to help combat this to a greater level of interdependence.
"Gazprom" has not resumed pumping gas to Germany this morning via Nord Stream 1, in contrast to previous plans, justified by a leak at the pressure station in Portovaya.
most realistic
And on the field developments of the war, Zelensky considered that helping Ukraine in the field of air defense is the most realistic and obvious way to protect people from what he described as "Russian terrorism."
He said that Ukraine will do everything in its power to fully protect its airspace from Russian missiles and aircraft, praising the performance of the Ukrainian Air Force.
The Ukrainian president added that the international community should be afraid of Ukraine's weakness, because Russia will continue to advance towards Poland and the Baltic states.
Ukraine has obtained advanced weapons from the United States and other Western countries, including the American "HIMARS" systems, long-range howitzers and drones, but Kyiv says it needs more military support to turn the situation in its favour.
Russian forces in the Zaporozhye region in southeastern Ukraine (Reuters)
new score
In a related context, the Ukrainian Chief of Staff announced that the losses of the Russian army had exceeded 49,000 soldiers since the start of the war.
The Chief of Staff pointed out - in a statement on Saturday - that the Russian forces lost 350 soldiers in the last 24 hours, most of them in Donetsk and Krivorysky.
She explained that 49,50 Russian soldiers were neutralized between February 24 and September 3.
Usually, the Russian and Ukrainian parties issue large statistics on the losses of the other party, without it being possible to verify either of them from independent sources.
escalation in the south
In the field developments, 8 explosions rocked the Kherson River region (south), a day after a new Ukrainian bombardment targeted the area occupied by Russian forces since the beginning of the war that erupted on February 24.
In parallel, the mayor of Miltopol, located in the (southeast) Zaporozhye province, reported that 5 explosions rocked the city's airport, which is in turn under Russian control.
Ukrainian media published a video clip showing plumes of smoke rising from the airport building.
On the other hand, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that its forces had shot down two Ukrainian Su-25 aircraft in the Kherson region.
Weeks ago, Ukrainian forces launched a counterattack in Kherson, and announced a few days ago that they had penetrated Russian defenses in the region, which Moscow denied.