Live: Ukraine accuses Russia of targeting power grid in revenge for offensive

Issued on: 12/09/2022 – 05:44

10:14pm: Zelensky says key east Ukraine city of Izyum ‘liberated’

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday confirmed Ukrainian troops had recaptured the strategic city of Izyum in the eastern part of the country from Russian forces as part of a large-scale counter-offensive.

In an address to the nation marking 200 days since the beginning of the Russian invasion, Zelensky thanked Ukrainian forces who had “liberated hundreds of our cities and villages … and most recently Balaklia, Izyum and Kupiansk,” naming three important hubs recently captured by Kyiv’s army.

09:06pm: Ukraine officials blame Russia for blackouts across eastern part of country

Ukrainian authorities in the eastern part of the country have accused the Russians of bombing strategic infrastructure, which has led to power cuts in large parts of the country.

The governor of the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine said that Russian strikes on “critical infrastructure” had cut off electricity and water supplies. His counterpart in the central-eastern region of Dnipropetrovsk said that Russian forces had “hit energy infrastructure” in retaliation for their “defeat on the battlefield”.

8:24pm: Power drops in northeast Ukraine region, says governor

Power levels dropped in Ukraine’s northeastern region of Sumy on Sunday and the region’s governor urged residents to unplug electrical devices.

“Electric tension has fallen in the network through the region,” Dmytro Zhyvytsky wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

“I recommend disconnecting electrical devices as much as possible.”

5:51pm: Macron asks Putin to withdraw Russian weapons from Zaporizhzhia

In a telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin on Sunday, Emmanuel Macron stressed the need to ensure the safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and asked Russian forces to withdraw their heavy and light weapons from the site, the Elysée said.

The French president “recalled that the Russian occupation was the cause of the risks weighing today on the integrity of the Zaporizhzhia plant” and asked “that the IAEA’s recommendations be followed up on to ensure the site’s safety,” the French presidency added in a statement.

4:39pm: Putin discusses Ukrainian nuclear plant with Macron

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron discussed the security situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Sunday.

Speaking by phone, the two leaders expressed readiness for “non-politicised” talks on the matter with the participation of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), according to a statement published on the Kremlin’s website.

Putin warned his French counterpart of the potential “catastrophic consequences” of what he said were Ukrainian attacks on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, which remains under Russian control.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)