Russian drone strike damages buildings near nuclear plant, Ukraine says

Kyiv has accused Moscow’s military of damaging buildings near a nuclear power plant in its latest drone attack, and vowed to respond to what it predicted would be another winter of Russian air strikes on Ukraine’s power grid and other infrastructure.

Ukraine said it shot down all 11 explosive drones fired by Russia in the early hours of Thursday, but falling debris injured 20 people in the western Khmelnytskyi region and damaged buildings and power lines, cutting electricity to 1,860 local residents.

“Overnight, the enemy struck an area near the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant. As a result of the explosion, windows in administrative and laboratory buildings were damaged,” said Ukraine’s energy ministry.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia was “trying indiscriminately to destroy everything it can reach. We are preparing for terrorist attacks on energy infrastructure. This year we will not only defend ourselves, but also respond.”

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Almost nightly Russian missile and drone attacks last winter badly damaged Ukraine’s power grid and left many Ukrainians without heat, light and water supply for long periods during the coldest and darkest months of the year.

Western states have bolstered Ukraine’s air defences with new launchers and ammunition since then, and provided more long-range missiles that can strike Russian positions and arms and fuel depots deep inside occupied territory. Ukrainian drones also now frequently hit Russian cities and military bases near the border.

Mr Zelenskiy said officials also briefed him “on the arrival of equipment [and] ammunition” and the situation on the eastern front, where he said the towns of Kupiansk and Avdiivka were facing “tough, hard battles – but our soldiers are holding their ground”.

[ Russian navy losing grip on Crimea, Ukraine says ]

Russia said its defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, visited troops in occupied eastern Ukraine and heard reports from commanders on the state of what Moscow calls its “special military operation” – a full-scale invasion, launched in February 2022, that has killed or injured hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians and displaced millions of Ukrainians.

“The situation today suggests the enemy has fewer and fewer opportunities. And they will continue to be reduced, thanks exclusively to your combat work,” Mr Shoigu told Russian troops.

Ukraine said Russian bombing killed one person in the southeastern Kherson region, and two people were killed by shelling in the northeastern Kharkiv region.

Ukraine has announced the mandatory evacuation of families with young children from 23 towns and villages in the western part of Kherson region, which is being shelled by Russian forces that still occupy areas of the province on the eastern bank of the Dnipro river.

Russia’s upper house of parliament unanimously approved a bill to revoke its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty on Thursday. The bill was passed earlier by the lower house of parliament and will become law when signed by Russian president Vladimir Putin.

The Kremlin says it does not intend unilaterally to resume nuclear tests, but wanted to respond to the failure of the United States to ratify a pact that Moscow and Washington signed in 1996. Russia ratified it four years later.

“As our president said, we must be on alert, and if the United States moves towards the start of nuclear tests, we will have to respond here in the same way,” said Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov.