Russia-Ukraine war latest: what we know on day 195 of the invasion

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Original Article: Russia-Ukraine war latest: what we know on day 195 of the invasion

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• Ukraine’s southern offensive has prompted Kherson separatists to “pause” a planned referendum on whether to become part of Russia. Russian state news agency Tass reported that the head of Kherson’s Russian-appointed authorities, Kirill Stremousov, said plans for a referendum on joining Russia had been “paused” because of the security situation.

• Ukraine has repelled Russian offensives in the east as well as hindering Russian positions near Kramatorsk, a key town in eastern Donetsk region, its armed forces claimed. In a situational update, it also claimed that Ukrainian troops had successes in disrupting Russian crossings near Kherson and in using long-range artillery in Kharkiv. In a rare acknowledgment of the Ukrainian counter-offensive, Russia said it pushed back assaults in Kherson.

• The backup power line at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia power plant in Ukraine has been disconnected to extinguish a fire, officials said on Monday. “Due to a fire caused by shelling, the [backup] line was disconnected, that is the last line linking the ZNPP/ZTPP hub to the power system of Ukraine.” As a result, the plant’s sixth and last functioning reactor was disconnected from the grid, Ukrainian operator Energoatom said. However the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the line itself was not damaged. “The ZNPP continues to receive the electricity it needs for safety from its sole operating reactor,” it said. The back-up line “will be re-connected once the fire has been extinguished”, the UN nuclear watchdog added.

• Four of the six UN mission members at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant have left the site, Energoatom, Ukraine’s state enterprise operating all four nuclear power stations in the country, has said. The remaining two IAEA experts will stay on a permanent basis, it said. The agency is drawing up a report to be released this week.

• Liz Truss’s imminent arrival as British prime minister has been greeted with scorn from the Kremlin and praise in Ukraine. “I wouldn’t like to say that things can change for the worse, because it’s hard to imagine anything worse,” Vladimir Putin’s chief spo...