Europe’s largest nuclear power plant has caught fire, amidst Russia’s attack

With the second round of ceasefire negotiations making no substantial progress, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday called on Russia’s Vladimir Putin to “sit down and talk with me,” emphasizing that it was the only option “to halt the conflict.” Zelenskyy, Kyiv’s face of resistance, has also requested the West for further military help, saying that if his nation falls, the Baltic States may be attacked next.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power facility in Ukraine, the largest of its type in Europe, caught fire early Friday after being attacked by Russian soldiers.

Here are the top ten updates on the Ukraine conflict:

1. The war for Ukraine’s southern energy powerhouse, Enerhodar, has begun after Russian soldiers gained control of the port city of Kherson on Thursday, the first major Ukrainian city to fall in nine days of fighting. Concerns have been raised about inadvertent damage to 15 nuclear reactors outside the city, which account for one-quarter of the country’s electricity output, according to the news agency Reuters. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power facility is on fire as a consequence of persistent enemy shelling of structures and units at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.

   

2. With the loss of Kherson, a Black Sea port, Moscow is attempting to shut Ukraine off from the sea. Fighting has also erupted in Mariupol, another vital port city on the Azov Sea, according to the news agency Reuters. Losing another port city would be a double blow to Kyiv: it would suffer a significant economic loss, and the Kremlin would gain an advantage in building a land corridor to Crimea, which was taken in 2014.
3.  On Thursday, the second round of ceasefire discussions took place, with both sides agreeing to establish humanitarian corridors in places where fighting is most intense. This was the first visible movement in the discussions, which started earlier this week. The next round of negotiations will take place next week.
4.  On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin informed French President Emmanuel Macron that he was prepared to continue his offensive “to the finish.” He wanted to state unequivocally that the special military operation is progressing according to plan. Everything went as planned. All the assigned duties have been completed effectively.

   

5. Over a million people have left the Ukraine war in the first seven days, according to the UN, with tens of millions of lives at stake.
6. In a move that might save thousands of Ukrainians from deportation to a war-torn nation, the US has suspended deportation for up to 18 months under the federal programme known as Temporary Protected Status. Individuals must have been in the United States since at least Tuesday to be eligible for the protection, according to the Associated Press.
7. As a result of Putin’s decision to attack Ukraine, Russia is facing increasing global isolation. In the midst of reports of civilian fatalities and property devastation, Putin has denounced an “anti-Russian misinformation campaign” and stressed that Moscow employs “only precise weaponry to solely attack military facilities.”
8. “You’re deceiving yourself. It will cost your country dearly; your country will be isolated, diminished, and subject to sanctions for an extended period of time.” France’s Emmanuel Macron met with Putin.

   

9. According to Kyiv, Russia has lost thousands of troops in the attack, while the Kremlin maintains that only a few hundred have been killed. In only one week, nearly 350 civilians have been killed in Ukraine.
10.  The West has imposed the worst sanctions on Russia in decades. The UN General Assembly backed a historic resolution demanding Moscow to withdraw its troops

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