Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know now

Firefighters work at the site of a thermal power plant damaged by a Russian missile strike amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine on September 11, 2022 in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

Sept 12 (Reuters) – Ukrainian forces on Monday moved deep into territory fleeing Russian troops, jubilant residents returned to former frontline villages and Moscow grappled with the fallout from its occupation force in northeastern Ukraine. read more

fight

* Ukrainian forces have advanced 50 km (30 miles) along the border with Russia north of Kharkiv and are pressing south and east in the same region, Ukrainian chief of staff Gen. Valery Zalushny said.

* Zaluzhnyi said Ukraine had reclaimed more than 3,000 square km (1,160 square miles) this month.

* Ukraine’s civil servants said its forces had recaptured more than 20 towns and villages in the past day alone.

At least 1,000 people have been killed in fighting in the city of Izium over the past six months, but the true number could be higher, an official said, two days after Kyiv’s forces recaptured a key supply hub.

* Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Russia may have ordered the withdrawal of its forces from all of the occupied Kharkiv region west of the River Askill. read more (https://bit.ly/3xfp2lf)

* The Kremlin has said it sees no chance of peace talks and that so-called special military action in Ukraine would achieve its goals.

* Russian nationalists angrily called on President Vladimir Putin for immediate changes to ensure a final victory in the Ukraine war, forcing Moscow to abandon Izium. read more

* Commentators on Russian state television have been forced to go off script by the rapid advance of Ukrainian forces in the country’s Kharkiv region and Moscow’s rapid retreat. read more

* Facing one of its worst defeats in the nearly seven-month war, the Kremlin insisted on achieving its military goals and maintained business as usual as President Vladimir Putin presided over a meeting on the economy. read more

* Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield reports.

Nuclear power plant

* Operations at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant have been completely shut down as a safety measure, its state operator said. The move follows the rehabilitation of a backup power line that allows the plant to be connected to Ukraine’s electricity grid. read more

* The IAEA nuclear watchdog confirmed the overhaul, allowing the plant to draw electricity from the grid to cool its reactors.

* The presidents of Russia and France held talks over plant security, with Putin blaming Ukrainian forces while Emmanuel Macron pointed the finger at Russian troops. read more

* Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to Ukraine’s president, said Russian strikes hit Kharkiv’s CHPP-5 power plant, one of the country’s largest power plants.

* UN calls for a buffer zone to be created around the Russian-controlled Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. Ukraine and Russia are interested in the nuclear watchdog’s plan, Rafael Croci, head of the watchdog, said, describing it as a ceasefire. read more

Diplomacy, trade

* Indonesian President Joko Widodo is considering joining India and China in buying Russian oil to offset pressure from rising energy costs, the Financial Times reported. read more

* The International Monetary Fund is exploring ways to provide emergency financing to countries facing war-induced food price shocks, sources told Reuters. read more

Compiled by Lincoln Party and Sri Navaratnam; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Frank Jack Daniel

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