At least nine injured in strikes on region, with industrial facility among targets, official says; Russia has attacked up to 80% of Ukraine’s conventional power plants, says energy minister. What we know on day 776
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Russian strikes on Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region killed three people on Monday, in a second day of deadly attacks on the area, its governor said. Another three people in the Pologivskyi district were wounded, Ivan Federov said on social media. At least six people were injured after a Russian missile attack hit an industrial facility in Zaporizhzhia city on Monday, Fedorov said, without providing details on the type of facility.
The Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station said another drone had been shot down over the roof of reactor number six. The drone fell on the roof, it said, releasing a picture of the reactor, which is shut down.
The Kremlin continues to blame Ukraine for the attacks on the power station, calling them “very dangerous”, but a senior Ukrainian intelligence officer denied Kyiv’s involvement. The Guardian is unable to independently verify either account. The International Atomic Energy Agency chief earlier condemned a strike on the Zaporizhzhia reactor. “This cannot happen,” Rafael Grossi said on social media, adding: “No one can conceivably benefit or get any military or political advantage from attacks against nuclear facilities. This is a no-go.”
Russia has hit up to 80% of Ukraine’s conventional power plants and more than half its hydroelectric plants in recent weeks, Ukraine’s energy minister said. “This is the largest attack on Ukraine’s energy sector” since the war began, German Galushchenko said, adding that he suspected Russia had modified its weapons to now use Iranian-style explosive drones and missiles that cause more damage per attack.
France’s foreign minister said it was no longer in Paris’s “interest” to talk to Russia after differing accounts emerged from a rare phone call about last month’s deadly attack on a Moscow concert hall. Stéphane Séjourné told broadcasters France24 and RFI that the Russian officials’ accounts were “lies”.
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, arrived in Beijing on Monday in a show of strength of its ties with China amid the Ukraine war. Despite its backing of the Kremlin over the invasion, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said it had taken a “fair position” on the conflict and been “actively promoting” peace talks.
The US treasury secretary threatened sanctions on Chinese banks that support Russia’s military capacity. Janet Yellen said as she wrapped up four days of talks with China that “any banks that facilitate significant transactions that channel military or dual-use goods to Russia’s defence industrial base expose themselves to the risk of US sanctions”.
The Kremlin warned that a planned German military presence in Lithuania would escalate tensions. The Nato military alliance and EU member Lithuania, which borders Russia and its ally Belarus, said earlier it would partly finance the permanent hosting of 5,000 German troops from 2027.
