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Shelling killed civilians, damaged residential buildings and knocked out power lines in nine regions of Ukraine on Thursday, the country’s presidential office said.
At least four people were killed and 10 more were injured in 24 hours as explosions rocked cities including the frequently targeted Mykolaiv and Nikopol, a city close to the country’s biggest nuclear power plant officials said.
Shelling killed five civilians and wounded six others in the eastern city of Donetsk, Russian-backed local authorities said. The separatist officials blamed Ukrainian forces for the shelling, which Ukrainian officials denied. Mandatory evacuations in the Donetsk province began Wednesday, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Telegram, as the first evacuation train arrived in Kropyvnytskyi.
About 50 residential buildings were damaged by Russian rockets in Nikopol, located across the river from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which was occupied by Russian troops early in the war. The projectiles also hit power lines leaving residents without electricity, Ukrainian officials said.
Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the Associated Press this week the power plant is “completely out of control” and urged Russia and Ukraine to allow experts in to assess the situation.
“Every principle of nuclear safety has been violated,” he told the outlet. “What is at stake is extremely serious and extremely grave and dangerous.”
Latest developments
►A ship that Ukraine says is carrying 10,000 tons of grain stolen by Russia has left a Lebanese port after an investigation, Lebanon’s transport minister said Thursday.
