The last reactor at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant has been shut down
Ukraine announces the recovery of 3,000 square kilometers from Russian forces
Military tank destroyed during the battles in the Kharkiv region.
AFP
Ukraine announced yesterday that its forces have recaptured more than 3,000 square kilometers from the Russian forces since the beginning of this month, as part of a counter-attack concentrated in the northeast of the country, and announced the suspension of the last reactor at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhia nuclear plant.
"Since the beginning of September, more than 3,000 square kilometers have returned to Ukrainian control," the commander of the Ukrainian army, General Valery Zalogny, said in a statement.
In the vicinity of Kharkiv, we began to advance not only in the south and east, but also towards the north.
We are 50 km from the border.
In a circular on the situation on the ground, the Ukrainian army announced that its forces are moving to regain control of towns and villages in the vicinity of the strategic city of Izyum, adding: “Our forces entered Kobyansk.
The liberation of settlements is underway in the Kobyansk and Izyum regions of the Kharkiv region,” he said, noting that at least 30 villages and towns have been restored in the eastern Kharkiv region.
A Russian official in a southern region bordering Ukraine said that thousands of people had crossed the border, coinciding with Kyiv's announcement that it had forced Russian forces to retreat in the east of the country.
"Over the past day, thousands of people have crossed the border," Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a video statement posted on social media.
Most of them drove to relatives in their own cars.
There are 1,342 people being accommodated in 27 temporary centers in the region.
The company "Energoatom", the operator of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, announced the suspension of the work of the sixth and last reactor, which was still in service at the station.
The company added that stopping the unit's work constitutes the safest situation for the reactor, which, three days ago, was still the only one that produced the electricity necessary for cooling nuclear fuel and for the safety of the site.
The decision to stop the reactor was taken when the site restored the external supply of electricity last night through one of the transmission lines.
The company warned that if the transmission lines connecting the site to the electricity system were damaged, which is still a high risk, the site's internal needs should be secured through diesel generators.
The company reiterated its call for the establishment of a demilitarized zone around the plant, which is the only way, it says, to ensure the safety of the facility, which is controlled by Russian forces.
And the International Atomic Energy Agency reported, two days ago, about a complete interruption of water and electricity in the Ukrainian city of Energodar, where the Zaporizhia plant is located, a situation that undermines the safety of operations.
"The situation is totally unacceptable," the agency's director general, Rafael Grossi, said in a statement.
It cannot continue.” And he made an urgent appeal for an immediate cessation of the bombing targeting the entire region.
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