Ukraine-Russia conflict: Missiles hit Kharkiv infrastructure with widespread energy cuts reported – reside | Ukraine

It’s practically 10pm in Kyiv. Right here’s the place issues stand:

• A counteroffensive is going on within the Kharkiv area, in line with the Ukrainian protection ministry. “Put together to swim, occupiers,” the ministry mentioned in a tweet on Sunday. In the meantime, Russian forces have been disrupting energy provide in Kharkiv, Dnipro and Poltava, the Wall Road Journal experiences.

• A nationalist militant and former FSB officer who helped launch a 2014 conflict in Ukraine’s jap Donbas area in contrast the collapse of one of many battle’s principal entrance strains to a catastrophic defeat within the Russo-Japanese conflict which triggered Russia’s 1905 Revolution. Igor Girkin mentioned it was just like the 1905 Battle of Mukden, which ended befell two days after the revolution began.

• Russian president Vladimir Putin has warned his French counterpart of “catastrophic penalties” of obvious Ukrainian assaults on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear energy plant. Putin “drew consideration to common Ukrainian assaults on [the Zaporizhzhia nuclear] services, together with a radioactive waste storage facility, which is fraught with catastrophic penalties”, in line with the Kremlin, as reported by AFP.

• Moscow’s management has remained “silent” on the defeats in Ukraine, with neither Putin or the Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, making any remark as of noon on Sunday. Moscow’s nearly whole silence on the defeat – or any rationalization for what has taken place in north-eastern Ukraine – has provoked important anger amongst some pro-war commentators and Russian nationalists on social media.

• Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-appointed chief of Chechnya, has criticised the Russian military’s management after it seemed to be caught off-guard by Ukraine’s fightback towards the Russian invasion within the north-east. In an indication that the Kremlin could face severe fallout over the lack of territory that the Russian occupation administrations had repeatedly acknowledged they deliberate to maintain “for ever”, Kadyrov additionally steered that Vladimir Putin may not pay attention to the actual state of affairs.

Dan Sabbagh

Guardian’s defence and safety editor Dan Sabbagh has written this evaluation on how Ukraine has exploited skinny Russian cowl with its sweeping counter offensive, and the way extra features are attainable

In 5 days, Ukraine’s northern counter-offensive has modified all the things. What started as a push in part of the entrance largely ignored by navy analysts grew to become an advance of 43.5 miles (70km), capturing “extra territory than Russian forces have captured in all their operations since April”, in line with the Institute of the Research of Warfare.

Earlier than Wednesday, Ukraine had struggled to make a lot progress with offensive operations. But, south-east of Kharkiv, Kyiv has proven it may dynamically exploit navy circumstances in its favour – opening up the prospect of additional, dramatic features earlier than winter settles in.

Russia had diverted hundreds of its finest fight troops to defending the southern metropolis of Kherson, in response to a Ukrainian offensive that it mentioned it had begun a few weeks in the past. Exhausted by months of steady conflict, the Kremlin left the sector south-east of Kharkiv flippantly defended.

Learn extra:

Shaun Walker

Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-appointed chief of Chechnya, has criticised the Russian military’s management after it seemed to be caught off-guard by Ukraine’s fightback towards the Russian invasion within the north-east.

In an indication that the Kremlin could face severe fallout over the lack of territory that the Russian occupation administrations had repeatedly acknowledged they deliberate to maintain “for ever”, Kadyrov additionally steered that Vladimir Putin may not pay attention to the actual state of affairs.

“They’ve made errors and I believe they are going to draw the required conclusions,” Kadyrov mentioned in an audio message posted to his Telegram channel on Sunday.

“If as we speak or tomorrow no adjustments in technique are made, I might be compelled to talk with the management of the defence ministry and the management of the nation to elucidate the actual state of affairs on the bottom to them. It’s a really fascinating state of affairs. It’s astounding, I might say,” mentioned Kadyrov, a former insurgent turned Kremlin ally who guidelines Chechnya – a Russian republic within the Caucuses – with an iron fist and has a paramilitary power at his command.

Learn extra:

Here’s a round-up of all of the day’s major information tales:

• Ukrainian forces have superior north from Kharkiv to inside 30 miles (48km) of the border with Russia and are additionally urgent to the south and east in the identical area, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Gen Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, mentioned on Sunday. Ukrainian troops have retaken greater than 3,000 sq km of territory this month, he wrote on the Telegram messaging app, including: “Ukraine continues to liberate territories occupied by Russia.

• The Ukrainian advance into Russian-occupied territory within the north-east of the nation continued on Sunday as Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, mentioned the following three months can be important in figuring out the result of the conflict. In latest days, Ukrainian forces have retaken the important thing rail hub of Kupiansk and declare to have seized Izium, beforehand the most important base for Russia in Kharkiv province.

• Zelenskiy has mentioned Ukraine’s armed forces have retaken about 2,000 sq km (770 sq miles) of territory from Russian forces since their shock north-eastern counteroffensive was launched earlier this month. In his Saturday evening deal with, the Ukrainian president mentioned: “As of late, the Russian military is displaying its finest – displaying its again. And, ultimately, it’s a good selection for them to run away. There may be and might be no place for the occupiers in Ukraine.”

• The final working reactor on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear energy station has been shut down and the plant “utterly stopped”, Ukraine’s nuclear energy operator has mentioned. The six-reactor Zaporizhzhia plant was disconnected from the grid final week in any case its energy strains had been disconnected because of combating within the space, and was working in “island mode” for a number of days, producing electrical energy for essential cooling programs from its solely remaining reactor in operation.

• A backup energy line to Zaporizhzhia has been restored, offering it with the exterior electrical energy it wants to chill its reactors, the Worldwide Atomic Power Company mentioned on Sunday. “After yesterday’s restoration of [the] energy line … #ZNPP operator this morning shut down its final working reactor, which over previous week had been offering ZNPP w/ required energy after it was disconnected from grid,” the IAEA mentioned on Twitter.

• The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, mentioned the safety state of affairs on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine, the Kremlin mentioned. Talking by telephone, the 2 leaders expressed readiness for a “non-politicised interplay” on the matter with the participation of the Worldwide Atomic Power Company (IAEA), in line with the assertion printed on the Kremlin’s web site.

• France’s transport minister has mentioned he’ll signal an settlement with Romania to extend Ukrainian grain exports to creating international locations together with to the Mediterranean. “Tomorrow, I’ll signal an accord with Romania that may permit Ukraine to get much more grains out … in the direction of Europe and creating international locations, notably within the Mediterranean, which want it for meals,” Clement Beaune instructed France Inter radio on Sunday, including that the deal lined exports by land, sea and river.

• The UK authorities has mentioned Ukrainian forces have continued to make important features within the Kharkiv area over the past 24 hours. Russia has most likely withdrawn models from the world, however combating continues across the cities of Kupiansk and Izium, the British defence ministry mentioned in its day by day intelligence bulletin on Twitter.

• Britain additionally dismissed Vladimir Putin’s assertion that solely a fraction of grain exported from Ukraine beneath a global deal goes to poor international locations. Putin mentioned on Wednesday, with out citing a supply, that solely two of 87 ships, carrying 60,000 tonnes of merchandise, had gone to poor international locations. The deal to permit grain exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, took impact final month.

That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, for as we speak. My colleague Harry Taylor might be alongside shortly to proceed bringing you the most recent information from Russia’s conflict on Ukraine.