Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant temporarily disconnected from national grid amid fears over disaster; Putin signs decree to increase armed forces
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station was temporarily taken off the Ukrainian power grid. The plant in eastern Ukraine is under Russian occupation and was disconnected from the national power supply for several hours before a last remaining line supplying electricity that cools the reactors was reconnected. Disconnecting the plant raises the risk of catastrophic failure of cooling systems for its reactors and spent fuel rods, which run on electricity.
Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to increase the size of Russia’s armed forces from 1.9 million to 2.04 million, Reuters has cited the Russian state-owned news agency Ria as saying. The figure, which includes a 137,000 increase in the number of military personnel to 1.15 million, will come into effect on 1 January.
The death toll from Russia’s rocket strike on a Ukrainian train station has risen to 25 people. Russian forces attacked a train in the village of Chaplyne, Dnipropetrovsk oblast on Wednesday. Four trains caught fire and the deputy head of the president’s office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, reported on Telegram that two children were killed in the attack. Russia has since confirmed it was behind the attack.
Russia’s defence ministry confirmed its forces struck the railway station, prompting condemnation from the US and the EU. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said the attack “fits a pattern of atrocities” while the EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, said those responsible would be held to account.
The UN’s human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, has called on Vladimir Putin to stop the war in Ukraine and its “unimaginably terrifying” impact on civilians. Bachelet spoke about the six months since the Russian leader ordered his troops into Ukraine during a speech marking the end of her term as the UN’s high commissioner for human rights.
The mayor of the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, has said a building allegedly used by Russian-backed officials in the region has been “blown up”. Fedorov, who is not in the city, posted a video on Telegram reportedly showing damage to the building, which he said was being used to plan a “pseudo-referendum” by Russia-backed authorities on whether the region should join Russia.
The head of the Kyiv regional military administration said Russia launched a rocket attack on the region’s Vyshgorod district north of the city centre early on Thursday morning. Oleksiy Kuleba said there were so far no casualties or damage to residential buildings or infrastructure facilities. Ukraine’s armed forces said “several” explosions were heard at about 3am.
The US president, Joe Biden, was set to speak to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, after the announcement of a further $3bn (£2.5bn) in US military aid for Ukraine. John Kirby, the communications coordinator at the national security council, said the phone call would also provide the Ukrainian president with an update on US arms shipments.
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