Ukraine’s nuclear energy operator said Monday a Russian missile struck near a nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.
Energoatom said in a statement the missile landed 300 meters from the Pivdennoukrainsk Nuclear Power Plant but did not damage its reactors.
The strike did damage nearby buildings, Energoatom said.
“Russia endangers the whole world,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram in response to the missile strike. “We have to stop it before it’s too late.”
The Pivdennoukrainsk plant is Ukraine’s second-largest nuclear power plant. The largest, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, has been shut down since early September following shelling that Russia and Ukraine have blamed on each other.
Zelenskyy said Sunday there would be no letup in the effort by his country’s military to retake territory from Russian forces.
Zelenskyy’s comments — made during his regular nightly address — followed gains by Ukrainian forces in the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine during a counteroffensive this month.
“Maybe now it seems to some of you that after a series of victories we have a certain lull,” Zelenskyy said. “But this is not a lull. This is preparation for the next series… because Ukraine must be free — all of it.”
U.S. President Joe Biden said in an interview with CBS News broadcast Sunday night that Ukraine, with the aid of the United States and other allies, as well as “the incredible bravery and the incredible determination of the Ukrainian people” is not losing the war.
Biden said winning the war means getting Russia “out of Ukraine completely” and recognizing Ukraine’s sovereignty.
Asked about the military and humanitarian aid the United States has committed to Ukraine, Biden said the U.S. will continue to support Ukraine “as long as it takes.”
On Sunday, Ukraine searched for its war dead in Izium and other towns in the northeastern part of the country it reclaimed from Russia.
Izium Mayor Valery Marchenko told state television that graves are being dug up and remains are being transported to Kharkiv.
“The work will continue for another two weeks, there are many burials,” Marchenko said. “No new ones have been found yet, but the services are looking for possible burials.”
Zelenskyy said Saturday that investigators had discovered new evidence of torture inflicted against some of the soldiers buried in Izium, one of more than 20 towns that Ukraine recaptured in the Kharkiv region that Russia had held for months. He said 17 bodies were found at one site, some of which bore signs of torture.__VOA News
