Belarus fighter jets 'ready to carry Russian nukes'

• French oil giant Total accused of fuelling Russia’s ‘war crime’ jets

• International Army Games makes ‘mockery’ of Russian troops

• Undercover Russian GRU spy lured Nato commanders into honeytraps

• Russia burning $10m of gas a day close to Nord Stream 1

• Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant: The real worst-case scenario

• Listen to the latest episode of our daily Ukraine podcast

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Friday said his country’s SU-24 warplanes had been modified to carry nuclear weapons, warning that Minsk would respond immediately to any Western “escalation”.

Mr Lukashenko said the modernisation of Belarus’s fighter jets had been agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Belta news agency reported.

Belarus does not have its own nuclear weapons but is a close ally of Russia and allowed its territory to be used for the invasion of Ukraine.

"They [the West] must understand that, if they opt for escalation, no helicopters or planes will save them," Mr Lukashenko said.

"It's not a good idea to escalate things with Belarus because that would be an escalation with the Union State [of Russia and Belarus] which has nuclear weapons. If they start to create problems ... the response will be immediate."

Earlier on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the world narrowly avoided disaster when electricity to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was cut for hours because of Russian shelling in the area.

Technicians at the plant reconnected one of its reactors to the Ukrainian national grid on Friday afternoon.

Follow the latest updates below.

06:59 PM

Here's a summary of today's developments

• Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has been reconnected to the national grid.

• An investigation has uncovered how a Russian spy living undercover in Naples as a Peruvian jewellery designer lured Nato commanders into honeytraps.

• The United States is creating the position of Arctic ambassador as competition from Russia and China intensifies in the region.

• German and French electricity prices for 2023 soared to new record-highs.

• Politicians from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD party are calling on the government to negotiate with Russia.

06:41 PM

Ukraine takes out key bridge in Kherson

Ukrainian rocket fire struck an important bridge being used by Russian forces in southern Kherson region on Friday, taking it out of action, Ukraine's southern military command said.

"Rocket artillery units continued to conduct missions, including ensuring control over the Daryivskiy bridge. Its operation is currently halted," the southern command said in a statement.

The Daryivskiy bridge, which spans nearly 100 metres, is the only Russian-controlled crossing across the Inhulets river, a tributary of the vast Dnipro.

The Inhulets splits the Russian-occupied land west of the Dnipro into two parts. Those parts are in turn connected to the eastern bank of the Dnipro - towards Russia - by one bridge each.

Both of those bridges have been hit by Ukrainian strikes in recent weeks but are still functioning crossings.

Rendering the Daryivskiy bridge unusable could severely complicate routes between the two halves of Russian-controlled territory west of the Dnipro.

If one of the two Russian-held bridges across the Dnipro was also taken out of action, it could cut off some Russian forces completely.

06:15 PM

TotalEnergies to sell stake in Russian gas field

French energy firm TotalEnergies is divesting its stake in a Russian gas field that was reported this week to be providing fuel that ends up in Russian fighter jets.

The company said that it had signed a deal on Friday with its local Russian partner Novatek to sell its 49 per cent stake in the Termokarstovoye gas field.

It said the divestment had been agreed in July and submitted to Russian authorities in early August, with approval coming on August 25.

TotalEnergies also said it was considering legal action in a bid to end an "unfounded controversy which is damaging the reputation of the company."

The company on Friday said Novatek had denied that its products were being used to make Russian military jet fuel.

05:57 PM

Ukraine to expand mandatory evacuations from frontline areas

Ukraine plans to expand the number of districts on the war's front lines where civilian evacuations will be mandatory, as those areas could be occupied and face central heating problems this winter, a deputy prime minister said on Friday.

The Ukrainian government launched a campaign of mandatory evacuations in July for people in the eastern Donetsk region that it began implementing this month.

"If they stay there, people will suffer, especially children," Iryna Vereshchuk said on national television, announcing the campaign's expansion.

Evacuating women with children and the elderly would be a priority from some districts of the eastern Kharkiv region and the southern Zaporizhzhia and Mykolaiv regions, she said, urging residents not to resist.

"I know very well what the enemy can do to force people to collaborate. That's why I call on people to evacuate so often and not to hope for the enemy to show mercy and ... follow international humanitarian law. This will not happen," she said.

04:56 PM

Poland and Slovakia open gas link to shore up supplies

Poland and Slovakia on Friday inaugurated a gas pipeline linking their networks that could boost their energy security amid a European energy crunch.

Russia has reduced or halted gas supplies to Europe in recent months, with Poland cut off and Slovakia receiving only 40 per cent of the agreed volume.

The connection will allow Slovakia to receive gas from Norway as well as liquefied natural gas transiting through Poland, Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger told a press conference to inaugurate the facility alongside Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki.

"This link gives us a new feeling of security and a feeling of freedom, because we will no longer be dependent on Russian gas,"Mr  Heger said in Strachocina, a town in Poland near the Slovakia border.

The facility will enable Poland to receive gas from Algeria via Italy and Slovakia.

Mr Morawiecki used the occasion to take another swipe at Germany's Nord Stream gas connection with Russia.

"It's a peace pipeline, unlike the one that was built by Germany and Russia with the support of other countries, Nord Stream I and II, which were war pipelines," he said.

04:29 PM

Bomb kills traffic police officer in occupied Ukrainian city

Russian-installed authorities in the occupied Ukrainian city of Berdiansk have blamed Ukraine for the death of the deputy chief of traffic police in a bomb blast.

In a statement shared on Telegram, the Berdiansk authorities said Alexander Kolesnikov, who died in hospital on Friday, was the victim of a "terrorist attack" by "the Kyiv regime".

The incident was the latest in a series of apparent assassinations of Russian-backed officials in occupied areas of Ukraine.

The deputy head of the Russian-imposed administration of Nova Khakovka was shot dead in his home earlier this month, while a senior official in Kherson region's Russian-installed administration was killed by a car bomb in June.

04:03 PM

Socialite 'Peruvian jeweller' who charmed Nato staff was a Russian spy

A femme fatale Russian spy living undercover in Naples as a Peruvian jewellery designer lured Nato commanders into honeytraps, a new investigation has revealed.

Olga Kolobova, whose 30-year-old husband had died suddenly and mysteriously in Moscow, actually sold cheap Chinese rings and bracelets bought off the internet when she spied for the Kremlin.

"It provided cover as she sought to access the highest echelons of Nato’s Allied Joint Force Command in Naples, Italy," said the Bellingcat investigations agency.

You can read James Kilner's report in full here.

03:38 PM

Boris Johnson gifted discounted Ukrainian train pass

Boris Johnson will receive a discount the next time he travels by rail in Ukraine after Ukrainian Railways gave him a loyalty card, writes James Kilner.

Ukrainian Railways said the British Prime Minister deserved the loyalty card, recorded as #001, because he had visited Kyiv for the third time by train since the start of the war in February.

On his first visit to wartime Kyiv in April, Mr Johnson called Ukrainian railway workers “iron people” for keeping the railways running despite Russian bombardment.

On Twitter, Alexander Kamyshin, head of Ukrainian Railways, described Mr Johnson as “one of our most beloved frequent travellers”.

Mr Johnson had been in Kyiv on Aug. 24, Ukraine’s Independence Day, on a farewell trip to see Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky before he quits as Prime Minister next month.

International leaders have travelled into Kyiv on the railway from Poland, through Lviv.

03:14 PM

US creates Arctic ambassador amid competition with Russia

The United States will create a position of Arctic ambassador to step up diplomacy as Russia and China increase their presence in waters opened up by climate change.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will soon name an ambassador-at-large who will engage with other Arctic nations, indigenous groups and other stakeholders, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said on Friday.

"An Arctic region that is peaceful, stable, prosperous and cooperative is of critical strategic importance to the United States and a priority for Secretary Blinken," Mr Patel said.

Russia has been stepping up its presence near the North Pole, both with submarines and warplanes, while China has been building Arctic research stations, widely seen as a prelude to a larger presence.

02:40 PM

EU presidency to convene 'urgent' energy talks as prices soar

The Czech prime minister on Friday said the EU presidency held by his country would convene urgent talks to deal with the current energy crisis following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The Czech presidency "will convene an urgent meeting of energy ministers to discuss specific emergency measures to address the energy situation," Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Twitter.

It came as German and French electricity prices for 2023 soared to new records.

The year-ahead contract soared to €850 (£718) per megawatt hours (MWh) in Germany while in France it surged past €1,000 euros - a stark contrast from €85 euros in both countries last year.

01:59 PM

German politicians push for peace talks with Russia

A group of politicians from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD party have called on the government to negotiate with Russia.

More than a dozen Bundestag members and MEPs signed an appeal to the government, saying a ceasefire was needed “as soon as possible as a starting point for comprehensive peace negotiations”.

The appeal, first reported by Der Spiegel, also warned against the continued delivery of heavy weapons to Kyiv. It was widely criticised in Germany and provoked anger in Ukraine.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said: “I invite everyone who calls on Germany to stop helping Ukraine to visit Bucha. We will discuss your arguments with the families of murdered Ukrainians.”

01:33 PM

Finns urged to cut back on Sauna time to save energy

Finns are being urged to spend less time in their beloved saunas this winter as part of a nationwide campaign to save power after Russia cut energy supplies.

The campaign, called “A degree lower” will be launched on October 10, AFP reported.

Finns will be encouraged to lower their heating, take shorter showers and save petrol by driving slower.

With an estimated three million saunas for a population of 5.5 million people, the steam bath is a traditional Finnish institution.

"Maybe people don't need to turn on the sauna everyday. Maybe just once a week," said Kati Laakso, a spokeswoman at state-owned company Motiva which is behind the campaign.

12:51 PM

Reactor at Zaporizhzhia plant reconnected to Ukraine's national grid

One of the six reactors at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been reconnected to the Ukrainian grid is supplying Ukraine with electricity, Ukraine's state nuclear company has said.

"Today, August 26, at 2.04pm, one of the power units of the ZNPP that was stopped yesterday was connected to the power grid," Energoatom said in a statement on Friday, hailing the "heroes" working at the plant.

"They tirelessly and firmly hold the nuclear and radiation safety of Ukraine and the whole of Europe on their shoulders and work selflessly so that their native country has life-giving electricity," it said.

The plant was disconnected from the Ukrainian grid on Thursday after a fire caused by shelling damaged a power line.

12:43 PM

Most Ukrainain refugees taken in by Britain are still here

The vast majority of the Ukrainian refugees who had arrived in the UK by April are still in Britain, the Office for National Statistics has found.

Some 93 per cent of the refugees surveyed said they were still in the UK, with only seven per cent having left.

The number of Ukranians now in jobs has risen to 42 per cent, an increase from only nine per cent in April.

Almost half (47 per cent) said they had encountered difficulty in finding find jobs, with English language skills the most common barrier.

12:16 PM

Ukraine's nuclear energy facilities 'must be protected', Macron warns

French President Emmanuel Macron warned that civilian nuclear infrastructure must not be used as an instrument of war in Ukraine.

"War in any case must not undermine the nuclear safety of the country, the region and all of us. Civil nuclear power must be fully protected," he said.

The French president was speaking during a visit to Algeria, where he hopes to mend ties between France and its former North African colony.

12:02 PM

Today's top stories

• Staff at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant are working to reconnect it to the national grid, after it was cut off from Ukraine's power network.

• German security forces say they believe Russia spied on Ukrainian soldiers being trained to use Western weapons in Germany.

• France's TotalEnergies says its Russian partner confirmed it was not supplying fuel for Russia's jets. Read our report on the accusations here.

• Russia is burning off large amounts of gas worth millions of dollars every day at a facility near the Finnish border.

11:32 AM

Belarusian fighter jets ready to carry Russian nukes, says Lukashenko

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday that Belarusian SU-24 warplanes had been re-fitted to carry nuclear weapons.

Mr Lukashenko told reporters he had previously agreed the move with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Belarus does not have its own nuclear weapons but is an ally of Russia and allowed its territory to be used for the invasion of Ukraine.

11:09 AM

Turkey downplays US sanctions threat over Russia ties

Turkey's finance minister on Friday said businesses should not be concerned by the threat of sanctions that Washington warns will follow if they do business with sanctioned Russians.

Earlier this week, US Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo warned Turkish banks and companies they would face secondary sanctions if they co-operated with Russians sanctioned over the invasion of Ukraine.

Turkey has tried to stay neutral in the conflict and refused to join the international sanctions, but the value of its trade with Russia shot up by nearly 50 per cent between May and July.

Mr Nebati said the warning should not "cause concern in our business circles. Turkey is one of the most important political and economic power centres in the world".

10:48 AM

Zaporizhzhia plant 'cut off' from supplying power to Ukraine

A Russian-installed official in the occupied part of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region has said Ukrainian forces had broken the final power line connecting the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant with Ukraine, state-owned news agency TASS reported.

TASS quoted Vladimir Rogov, a member of the Russian-backed local administration, as saying that the plant is currently not supplying electricity to Ukraine.

On Thursday, Ukraine's state nuclear energy company said that the plant's six reactors had been disconnected from the country's national grid, and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy blamed Russian shelling.

10:36 AM

Russia fires Grad missiles, in pictures

10:11 AM

Russians 'spied on Ukrainian soldiers' training in Germany

German security forces have "indications" that Russian secret services spied on Ukrainian soldiers who are in Germany to receive training on Western weapons, Spiegel magazine has reported.

German military forces have spotted suspicious vehicles outside two sites where Ukrainian recruits were being trained.

Small drones were also used to fly over the training sites before quickly disappearing, Spiegel said, without citing its sources.

The two affected locations are Idar-Oberstein in the western state of Rhineland Palatinate where Ukrainian soldiers are being trained to use the tank howitzer 2000 and Grafenwoehr in Bavaria where the US army is teaching Ukrainians to use Western artillery systems.

Security sources also believe that Russian services used scanners in a bid to access mobile phone data of Ukrainian soldiers, said the magazine.

Germany has put several suspects on trial for spying for Russia.

Last year, a German court sentenced a Russian man to life in prison for shooting dead a former Chechen commander in a Berlin park in broad daylight, a murder prosecutors say Moscow ordered.

A German man is currently on trial for allegedly passing information to Russian intelligence services while working as a reserve officer for the German army.

09:46 AM

Staff work to reconnect Ukraine nuclear plant

Staff at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant occupied by Russian soldiers were on Friday working to reconnect its reactors to the national power grid, the state energy operator said.

The plant - Europe's largest facility - was cut off from Ukraine's power network for the first time in its history on Thursday due to "actions of the invaders", Energoatom said.

Early Friday, the operator said on Telegram that all reactors remain "disconnected from the electrical grid" as of 9:00 am local time (7:00am London).

However, a severed power line - the cause of the outage - has been "restored" and "work is ongoing to prepare the connection" of two of the plant's six reactors.

A Russian-installed official in the occupied part of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region has said that electricity from the plant was being supplied to Ukraine as normal.

State-owned news agency TASS quoted the head of the Russian-installed administration in Enerhodar, where the nuclear plant is located, as saying the plant was working "without outages".

09:26 AM

TotalEnergies says Russian partner denies fuelling Ukraine strikes

France's TotalEnergies has said that its Russian joint venture partner had confirmed it was not supplying Moscow with jet fuel to carry out strikes in Ukraine, following an investigative report by French daily Le Monde.

While most global energy giants have quit operating in Russia since its invasion of Ukraine, TotalEnergies has kept its lucrative natural gas operations in the country, though it has vowed to wind down purchases of Russian oil.

In particular it owns 49 per cent of Terneftegaz, a company that extracts gas from the Termokarstovoye field, according to its 2021 annual report.

The other 51 per cent is held by Russian company Novatek, in which the French firm also owns a direct 19.4 per cent stake.

Le Monde reported this week that Termokarstovoye is a source of natural gas condensates - a liquid hydrocarbon recovered when extracting the gas itself - that are sent by pipeline to a Novatek processing plant in Purovsky.

They are then sent by rail for further refining into jet fuel in the southern Siberian city of Omsk, which in recent months has been sent to Russian airbases near the Ukrainian border, Le Monde said, citing data from financial information firm Refinitiv.

You can read our full report on the accusations facing Total here.

09:07 AM

Latvia topples Soviet monument

Latvia has torn down the 80-meter-high Soviet monument glorifying the Red Army in Riga.

Groups of angry Russian protesters had gathered in the area while masses of Latvians could be seen celebrating.

08:46 AM

Mystery over Russia burning $10m of gas a day in huge flare close to Nord Stream 1

Russia is burning off $10m (£8.4m) of gas a day at a plant near its border with Finland, according to analysis.

Experts said the release of the gas, which would have previously been exported to Europe, was unprecedented.

The burning has raised further concerns about rising energy prices and the environmental impact.

The huge flare has been burning at the new liquified natural gas (LNG) plant at Portovaya, northwest of St Petersburg, situated close to a compressor station at the start of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.

You can read Verity Bowman's report in full here.

08:27 AM

Turkey, Finland and Sweden officials meet to discuss Nato concerns

Officials from Turkey, Finland and Sweden were expected to meet at an undisclosed location in Finland on Friday to discuss security concerns which Turkey raised as a precondition for allowing the two Nordic countries to join the Nato military alliance.

Finland's Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said earlier the first meeting between officials would aim to establish contacts and set goals for cooperation that the three countries agreed to by signing a memorandum of understanding at Nato's Madrid summit at the end of June.

The two Nordic countries applied for Nato membership in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but were faced with opposition from Turkey which accused them of imposing arms embargoes on Ankara and supporting groups it deems terrorists.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has demanded Sweden and Finland extradite suspects Turkey seeks over terrorism-related charges while the Nordic countries argue they did not agree to any specific extraditions by signing the memorandum.

Finland's foreign ministry remained tight-lipped about Friday's meeting, refusing to reveal its location or even timing.

"This is a matter of security. If we would tell where Turkey's high officials are at which time, it would give quite a careless picture of us," Haavisto's state secretary Jukka Salovaara told Finland's public broadcaster YLE.

08:06 AM

Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant 'still disconnected from grid'

All six reactors of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine are still disconnected from Ukraine's electricity grid, state nuclear company Energoatom said.

Energoatom said electricity for the plant's own needs was currently being supplied through a power line from Ukraine's electricity system.

07:38 AM

US warns Moscow not to divert power from Ukraine nuclear plant

Washington has warned Russia against diverting energy from a nuclear plant Kyiv says was cut off from its grid, as calls for an independent inspection of the facility mount.

Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant is under occupation by Moscow's troops and was disconnected from the national power supply on Thursday, the state energy operator said.

The United States cautioned Russia against redirecting energy from the site.

"The electricity that it produces rightly belongs to Ukraine and any attempt to disconnect the plant from the Ukrainian power grid and redirect to occupied areas is unacceptable," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.

"No country should turn a nuclear power plant into an active war zone and we oppose any Russian efforts to weaponise or divert energy from the plant."

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre urged Russia to agree to a demilitarised zone around the plant and "allow the IAEA to visit as soon as possible to check on the safety."

07:13 AM

Ukraine captures Russian spy hunting for Himars - while wearing a Nasa t-shirt

06:47 AM

UK's Ministry of Defence calls out Russia's 'deliberate misinformation'

The Ministry of Defence has called Russia's excuse for slowing the pace of its military campaign in Ukraine "deliberate misinformation".

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Russia had stalled military operations in order to reduce civilian casualties.

"Russia’s offensive has stalled because of poor Russian military performance and fierce Ukrainian resistance," the ministry said on Friday.

"Under Shoigu’s orders, the forces operating in Ukraine have repeatedly missed planned operational timelines.

"It is highly likely that Shoigu and President Putin have fired at least six generals for not advancing quickly enough."

05:43 AM

Another Chernobyl? Zaporizhzhia stand-off raises nuclear safety concerns

When Chernobyl melted down in 1986 it led to a radioactive wind, radiation poisoning deaths and an exclusion zone the size of Derbyshire, Joe Pinkstone writes.

When Fukushima was devastated by Acts of God in 2011, millions of tons of ocean water was polluted with radiation.

Now, Europe’s biggest nuclear reactor, Zaporizhzhia, is in the spotlight, with concerns it could be the next name on this infamous list of nuclear reactor disasters as it remains in the crossfire of Putin’s war, reduced to a strategic propaganda pawn.

But exactly what a worst-case scenario for Zaporizhzhia would look like remains unknown, as it was built, and retrofitted, to be as robust as possible, but not with missile strikes in mind, as they were – and are – prohibited by the Geneva Conventions.

Read more: Another Chernobyl? Zaporizhzhia stand-off raises nuclear safety concerns

03:30 AM

International Army Games makes a ‘mockery’ of Russian troops in Ukraine

Russian military high command has been accused of making a “mockery” of troops fighting in Ukraine by lavishing valuable resources on an Olympics Games-style competition including tank racing and field cookery, Roland Oliphant writes.

The week-long International Army Games opened in Russia last week and run until Saturday, with events held concurrently in several countries.

The games, which see soldiers compete in everything from field cookery to parachute assaults and ship handling, are meant to build ties with Russian allies and showcase the country’s military kit. But critics have slammed this year’s games as inappropriate.

The elimination stages of this year’s tank biathlon, the games headline event, have produced some dramatic moments, including a collision between an Iranian and Zimbabwean tank, the Armenian crew nearly flipping their T-72 by taking a corner at speed, and a number of teams leaving the track altogether, apparently lost, and driving across fields. Russia has less advanced tanks than the T-72 fighting in Ukraine.

Read more: International Army Games makes a ‘mockery’ of Russian troops in Ukraine

02:55 AM

MPs vow to keep Ukrainian refugees

Two Tory MPs say they will continue to accommodate Ukrainian refugees beyond the minimum six-month period expected of hosts under the Homes for Ukraine (HfU) scheme.

In March, the Government launched HfU so people could sponsor refugees fleeing the war-torn country by offering a spare room or home for at least six months.

North Oxfordshire MP Victoria Prentis, an environment minister, started hosting a Ukrainian refugee, Vika, then 25, in March.

She told PA: "I will continue to host Vika under 'Homes for Ukraine' for as long as she needs the help and support.

"I would also like to say that I feel host families are doing an amazing job and I'm sure will continue to host where they can.

"They should be thanked enormously for what they have done, if they feel six months is enough."

North Norfolk MP Duncan Baker has also agreed to continue hosting under HfU, after he opened his home to a mother, 35, and her six-year-old son in April.

02:21 AM

In pictures: Latvia tears down Soviet-era monument

A concrete obelisk topped by Soviet stars that was the centerpiece of a monument commemorating the Red Army's victory over Nazi Germany was torn down on Thursday in Latvia's capital – the latest in a series of Soviet monuments brought down after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Heavy machinery was spotted behind a green privacy fence at the foot of the 260ft obelisk shortly before it was pulled down. The column, which had stood like a high-rise in downtown Riga, crashed into a nearby pond, causing a huge splash at Victory Park.

A Latvian media outlet broadcast the event live as onlookers, some with Latvian flags wrapped around their shoulders, cheered and applauded.

The obelisk, made up of five spires with three Soviet stars at the top, stood between two groups of statues – a band of three Red Army soldiers and on the other side a woman representing the "Motherland" with her arms held high.

The monument was built in 1985 while Latvia was still part of the Soviet Union. It has stirred controversy since Latvia regained independence in 1991 and eventually became a Nato and European Union member.

On Twitter, Latvia's foreign minister said by taking down the monument, Latvia was "closing another painful page of the history and looking for better future".

Russia's invasion of Ukraine in late February has prompted authorities in several eastern European countries to remove symbols from their communist eras.

01:30 AM

Zelensky: The world has narrowly avoided disaster

Volodymyr Zelensky said the world narrowly avoided a radiation disaster on Thursday as the last regular line supplying electricity to Ukraine's Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was restored hours after being cut.

President Zelensky blamed shelling by Russia's military for fires in the ash pits of a nearby coal power station that disconnected the reactor complex, Europe's largest such facility, from the power grid.

He said back-up diesel generators ensured power supply and keep the plant safe.

"If our station staff had not reacted after the blackout, then we would have already been forced to overcome the consequences of a radiation accident," he said in an evening address.

"Russia has put Ukraine and all Europeans in a situation one step away from a radiation disaster."

International Atomic Energy Agency officials should be given access to the site within days, he said, "before the occupiers take the situation to the point of no return".

01:04 AM

Power cut in southern Ukraine after nuclear plant shelled

Parts of southern Ukraine were left without power on Thursday after a fire near Europe’s largest nuclear power plant forced its reactors offline.

The Russian-controlled power plant was disconnected from the Ukrainian grid when blazes in the ash pits of a neighbouring coal-fired power plant twice severed transmission lines, its operator said on Thursday afternoon.

The fire was caused by shelling, industry sources told The Telegraph. Ukraine blamed the “actions of the invaders” for the cut.

An engineer at the plant told The Telegraph this week that he believes Russia wants to cut the plant off from the Ukrainian power system.

Read more: Power out in southern Ukraine after shelling cuts Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant from grid

01:03 AM

Today's top stories

• Swathes of southern Ukraine were left without power after a fire near Europe’s largest nuclear power plant forced its reactors offline, raising fears Russia was moving to cut off the country’s electricity

• Russian military high command has been accused of making a “mockery” of troops fighting in Ukraine by lavishing valuable resources on an Olympics Games-style competition including tank racing and field cookery

• Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian army to recruit an extra 137,000 soldiers to boost it to more than 1.15 million – roughly 15 times larger than the British Army

• Russian forces have lost an area of captured territory larger than Denmark as they struggle to turn territorial gains into operation successes, according to military analysts

• Russian security forces are torturing personnel at the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant to prevent them from telling UN inspectors about safety risks, workers there have told The Telegraph

• French oil giant TotalEnergies has been accused of helping to fuel Russian fighter jets that have bombed Ukrainian civilians, including the victims of the Mariupol theatre airstrike, in an NGO and French media investigation