Ukraine-Russia war latest: UN brokers limited ceasefire to allow vital repairs at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

Russia is preparing for more strikes on Ukraine’s energy facilities, including those that ensure smooth operations of nuclear power plants, Ukrainian energy minister Denys Shmyhal said.

“Just had an important conversation with @rafaelmgrossi. I informed him about [Russia’s] preparations for another massive attack on energy infrastructure, including facilities and networks that ensure the operation of NPPs (nuclear power plants).

“We agreed to jointly hear briefings from the heads of [Ukrainian] NPPs and the leaders of @IAEAorg missions in the near future,” he said on X.

Shmyhal said the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA – an intergovernmental agency that promotes the safe use of nuclear energy – was working to send a new expert mission to Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, including to the Zaporizhzhia plant, which is currently occupied by Russia.

Russia claimed to have taken control of two settlements in Ukraine on Monday.

The defence ministry said forces had taken Pavlivka, in the Zaporizhzhia region, and Novopavlivka, in the Donetsk region.

The Independent could not independently verify the battlefield report.

The UN nuclear watchdog said the 330-kilovolt (kV) Ferosplavna-1 line was reconnected to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant after a ceasefire was observed in the area.

The Ferosplavna-1 line is one of two high-voltage lines supplying electricity to the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, and was disconnected earlier this month.

“The 330 kV Ferosplavna-1 back up line was reconnected to Ukraine’s ZNPP at 19:17 local time today after successful repair work was carried out by Ukrainian technicians under an IAEA-brokered ceasefire,” the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a post on X.

Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has captured a Russian soldier accused of allegedly shooting and killing nine Ukrainian prisoners of war in Kursk oblast in October 2024, Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Zelensky shared the report after his briefing with SBU’s first deputy chief Oleksandr Poklad yesterday.

“The Russian serviceman responsible for the execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war in October of last year in the Kursk region has been taken captive,” Zelensky said. “Every Russian murderer must be held accountable for their actions. And so it will be. We are also countering Russian sabotage in the rear,” he said.

Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office started investigation into reports of Russian soldiers killing Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered as prisoners, in violation of Geneva Convention on war crimes.

Russian forces have carried out a major overnight attack on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv with a combined drone and missile onslaught, officials reported in the early hours today.

The attack has triggered cuts in power and water supplies, at a time Ukraine is reeling under its worst winter attack from Russian forces.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said a strike on the east bank of the Dnipro river had disrupted both power and water supplies. A non-residential building had been hit and one person injured, he said.

Unofficial Telegram news channels posted photos of darkened high-rise apartment buildings.

Tymur Tkachenko, head of the capital’s military administration, said a storage area had been damaged and several cars set ablaze.

Ukraine is introducing a new facet of air defence to transform its system as it faces a sustained wave of nightly Russian attacks, Volodymyr Zelensky announced.

The war-hit nation is reeling from an unusually strong period of Russian airstrikes that have knocked out power and heating to thousands of apartment blocks, particularly in the capital Kyiv.

President Zelensky has repeatedly called for air defences to be strengthened, including increased assistance from Ukraine’s Western allies.

Zelensky also announced the appointment of a new deputy Air Force Commander, Pavlo Yelizarov, to oversee and develop the innovation.

“There will be a new approach to the use of air defences by the Air Force, concerning mobile fire groups, interceptor drones and other ‘short-range’ air defence assets,” he said in his nightly video address.

“The system will be transformed,” he said.

Sir Keir Starmer praised Trump for his role in pushing for a ceasefire in Ukraine during a press conference this morning to address the spiralling situation in Greenland.

He reiterated the importance of the UK-US relationship and urged calm in resolving differences on the Danish territory.

European partners have been threatened with fresh US tariffs over their support for Denmark.

Polish pipeline operator Gaz-System will increase gas transmission capacity to Ukraine between February and April, it said in a statement on Monday.

Russia has been attacking Ukraine’s energy sector on an almost daily basis since last year, targeting electricity producers and transmission systems as well as gas production and transportation facilities.

Gaz-System said it was increasing the total capacity of gas transported to Ukraine to 720,000 cubic metres per hour from 600,000 cubic metres per hour.