Ukraine updates: Zelenskyy warns UN on nuclear plant safety

• Volodymyr Zelenskyy focuses on energy, nuclear plant safety at UN 
• Russia says it has captured two villages in Donetsk, puting pressure on the mining town of Vuhledar
• Zaporizhzhia governor reports 1 dead, several wounded after Russian strikes

09/25/2024September 25, 2024

Zelenskyy alleges Russian plans to attack nuclear plants at UN

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke at the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, dedicating much of his speech to the topic of the security of nuclear power plants and the fragility of Ukraine's bombarded electricity generation and distribution capacities. 

He said in his opening remarks that he wanted to talk about "a day that has already passed, and a day that must never come." The day that had passed was "on the night of March 4, 2022," when Russian forces took control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which has six reactors and is the largest nuclear plant in Europe. 

"The Russian army stormed this facility just as brutally as any other during this war, without thinking about the consequences," Zelenskyy told UN delegates.

He called this "one of the most horrifying moments of the war, when no one could know how Russian strikes on the nuclear facility would end, and everyone in Ukraine was reminded of what Chernobyl means." 

He noted how the facility remained in Russian hands, and lauded a UN General Assembly call on Russia to return it to Ukrainian control. 

In reference to the day "that must never come," Zelenskyy turned to Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure more generally, calling it a tactic seeking to force Kyiv to capitulate in the cold winter months. He also claimed Russia was planning attacks on Ukrainian power plants.

"Any missile or drone strike, any criticial incident in the energy system, could lead to a nuclear disaster," he said.

"As of today, Russia has destroyed all our thermal power plants, and a large part of our hydroelectric capacity," Zelenskyy said. "This is how Putin is preparing for winter, hoping to torment millions of Ukrianians. Ordinary families, women, children, ordinary towns, ordinary villages. Putin wants to leave them in the dark and cold this winter, forcing Ukraine to suffer and surrender." 

09/25/2024September 25, 2024

Zaporizhzia: Governor says 1 dead in bombardment

Ukraine's military governor in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia, Ivan Fyodorov, said on Wednesday that a 55-year-old man was killed and seven people wounded by Russian bombardment. 

He did not make comments on the weapons used or the type of strike. 

The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia had used 32 drones and eight missiles in overnight attacks across Ukraine, and that most of the drones and half of the missiles were intercepted. 

The military administration in the northeastern Sumy reigion also reported one death amid Russian attacks. 

09/25/2024September 25, 2024

Russia says 2 villages captured, as fighting nears mining town Vuhledar

Russia's Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that it had captured two small villages in Donetsk oblast, and that it was attacking the mining town of Vuhledar, a Ukrainian stronghold on the frontlines.

The Defense Ministry said its forces had captured the villages of Hostre and Hryhorivka, claims that couldn't be independently verified.

The RIA state news agency also cited the Russian-installed governor of occupied parts of Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, as saying that fighting was also taking place inside Vuhledar. 

The fortified mining town, which had a pre-war population of 14,000, is among the settlements anchoring Ukrainian defenses in the southern Donetsk region.

But the Ukrainian governor of the region, Vadym Filashkin, said in televised comments that the main body of Russian troops had not reached the outskirts of Vuhledar. Instead, he said reconnaissance forces had reached the area. 

"Our defenders are trying to knock them out. The town has not been captured," he said. 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was also asked about reports of Russian forces encircling or advancing on Vuhledar in Moscow on Wednesday, but only responded by saying, "the dynamic is positive."