Russia-Ukraine struggle – stay: Rescuers killed in Kharkiv strikes as Nato allies urged to convey again conscription

A backup energy line supplying the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear energy plant in Ukraine has gone down, the Russian-controlled administration of the plant stated on Thursday.

Ukraine‘s state-run nuclear power company, Energoatom, said the main 750 kilovolt (kV) power line, recently restored by Ukrainian engineers, was still running.

The six reactors at the Zaporizhzhia plant, held by Russia and located close to the front line of the war in Ukraine, are not in operation but it relies on external power to keep its nuclear material cool and prevent a catastrophic accident.

The Russian management said on Telegram that the reasons for the outage, which had not caused any change in the radiation level, were being investigated.

It said the problem was with the 330 kV “Ferosplavnaya” power line. This is a backup which, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was restored in the middle of last month after an outage of more than three weeks.

The main 750 kV “Dniprovska” power line went down for almost five hours on 22 March, highlighting what the IAEA said were “ever present dangers to nuclear safety and security” from the Russia-Ukraine war.

On the alliance’s landmark anniversary, historian Sten Rynning says the way forward for European safety could rely on whether or not it could possibly persuade three steadfastly impartial nations to enroll

The Czech Republic will donate tens of thousands and thousands of euros to an initiative it’s main to purchase a whole lot of 1000’s of artillery ammunition rounds for Ukraine, Prime Minister Petr Fiala stated.

Two years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, probably the most urgent want for Ukraine is artillery ammunition as the perimeters use heavy cannon fireplace to carry largely static, entrenched positions alongside the 1,000-km (620-mile) entrance line.

The Czech-led donation effort has gained over about 18 nations, with Germany pledging the very best contribution to this point, 576 million euros for 180,000 artillery rounds.

Fiala stated on CNN Prima News tv on Wednesday evening that the Czech contribution could be within the larger a whole lot of thousands and thousands of crowns, which equals low tens of thousands and thousands of euros.

“This roughly corresponds to the share that a country of our size and prosperity should put in,” Fiala stated.

The Czechs, by way of a crew of presidency officers and personal corporations, have sought at the least 800,000 large-calibre ammunition rounds from nations world wide, with first deliveries to Ukraine anticipated by June.

But Czech officers have stated the quantity just isn’t remaining, and there was extra ammunition available globally if extra funding is secured.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of committing a “despicable and cynical” attack on Kharkiv in a single day, which killed at the least 4 folks and injured a dozen extra.

Relations between Russia and Nato have slid to the extent of direct confrontation because the US-led army bloc is already concerned within the battle in Ukraine and continues to develop in the direction of Russia’s borders, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated on Thursday.

The new mobilization regulation, from 27 to 25 , got here into power a day after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed it. Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, handed it final 12 months.

It was not instantly clear why Zelenskyy took so lengthy to signal the measure into regulation. He didn’t make any public remark about it, and officers didn’t say what number of new troopers the nation anticipated to achieve or for which models.

Below are among the latest pictures from the in a single day Russian attack on Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine

About 350,000 residents had been minimize off from energy provide within the Ukrainian metropolis of Kharkiv and the encompassing area after an in a single day Russian drone attack on Thursday, the Energy Ministry stated in an announcement on the Telegram messaging app.

Russia has been attacking Ukraine‘s energy system with missiles and drones in recent weeks.

Russian drones hit high-rise apartment blocks and private homes in Kharkiv on Thursday, killing at least four people in Ukraine‘s second-largest city, officials said.

Kharkiv Regional Governor Oleh Synehubov put the death toll at four, including three rescue workers in a repeat strike at the site of one attack. Writing on the Telegram messaging app, he also said that 12 people were injured, with three in serious condition.

Russia used at least 15 drones in the Kharkiv attacks, Mr Synehubov wrote.

Ukraine‘s military shot down 11 Shahed drones out of 20 launched at the country overnight, the General Staff said.

Residential buildings, stores, a medical facility and cars were damaged in the attack, the Kharkiv prosecutor’s workplace stated on Telegram.

Drones additionally hit the Zmiivska thermal energy plant within the area, the governor stated, maintaining strain on an power system that has come below repeated attack from Russian air strikes in recent weeks.

Pictures and movies from Kharkiv confirmed ladders from fireplace vehicles working below floodlights and increasing to shattered residences on the prime of high-rise blocks.

Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne reported that one of many strikes brought about critical injury to residences on three flooring of a 14-storey building. It stated emergency crews had been unable to work for at the least an hour for concern of additional strikes.

An training facility, cultural centre and personal residence within the Dnipropetrovsk area had been additionally hit by drones, the area’s governor stated, including that no casualties had been reported.

A senior Ukrainian army intelligence official has stated Kyiv is aiming to destroy the Kerch bridge in Crimea, used as a lifeline by Russia to move munitions and artillery for its invasion, “in the first half of 2024”.

Senior officers from Ukraine’s HUR army intelligence service have stated they’re eyeing a 3rd blow to the bridge after two earlier makes an attempt brought about important injury, describing one other operation as “inevitable”, reported The Guardian.

The 12-mile lengthy bridge connecting Crimea and Russia carries heavy significance for Moscow, each logistically and psychologically, as a key artery for army and civilian provides and as an assertion of Kremlin management of the peninsula it illegally annexed in 2014.

The bridge is the longest in Europe and a topic of appreciable delight in Russia, whereas invoking disdain for Ukrainians who see this as a logo of Russian management over their territory.