Ukraine registers ‘victory’ in Kharkiv

Moscow, September 9

A Russian-installed official in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s Kharkiv region on Friday said Ukrainian forces had registered a “substantial victory” by breaking through Russian defences in the region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday said Ukrainian troops had “liberated dozens of settlements” and reclaimed over 1,000 sq km (400 sq miles) of territory from Russian forces in the east and south in the past week.

Vitaly Ganchev said: “The very fact of a breach of our defences is already a substantial victory for the Ukrainian armed forces.” Russia’s defence ministry posted video footage of what it said were Russian troops being sent to the Kharkiv region.

Parts of Ukraine east of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, have been under Russian control since shortly after the Kremlin ordered its armed forces into Ukraine on February 24, although Russia has been unable to take the city itself.

Zelenskyy had posted a video in which Ukrainian soldiers said they had captured the town of Balakliia, which lies along part of the frontline south of Kharkiv. It was the first rapid advance of its kind reported by either side for months.

The Kremlin declined to comment on reports of a Ukrainian advance in the Kharkiv region, referring questions to the Russian Defence Ministry. — Reuters

Ukrainian N-plant operating tenuously

Kyiv: Europe’s largest nuclear power plant embroiled in Russia’s war in Ukraine is operating in emergency mode at a higher level of risk, Ukraine’s state nuclear energy operator said on Friday. The six-reactor Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant came under the control of Russian forces early in the war that started in February, but is being operated by Ukrainian staff. The plant and surrounding areas have been repeatedly hit by shelling that Russia and Ukraine blame on each other’s forces. AP