Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now
* A Russian-installed official in Ukraine suggested President Vladimir Putin's defence minister should consider killing himself due to the shame of the defeats in the Ukraine war, an astonishing public insult. * Ukraine's armed forces have advanced up to about 55 km (34 miles) over the last two weeks in a counteroffensive against Russian forces in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine, a Ukrainian general said.
A Russian missile demolished an apartment block in a Ukrainian region that Moscow says it has annexed, killing at least three people, as discontent mounted within Russia about the handling of the war by the top brass. CONFLICT
* The missile attack on the city of Zaporizhzhia in the southern region of the same name left some people buried under the rubble, the regional governor said, and was a reminder of Moscow's ability to strike targets even at a time when its forces have been pushed back in the south and east. * A Russian-installed official in Ukraine suggested President Vladimir Putin's defence minister should consider killing himself due to the shame of the defeats in the Ukraine war, an astonishing public insult.
* Ukraine's armed forces have advanced up to about 55 km (34 miles) over the last two weeks in a counteroffensive against Russian forces in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine, a Ukrainian general said. Reuters could not independently verify the remarks. ENERGY
* International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi said the U.N. nuclear watchdog considered the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to be a Ukrainian facility. * A crime scene investigation of the damages on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines has strengthened suspicions of "gross sabotage", Swedish security police said.
* Norway said it would impose limits on Russian fishing vessels using its ports, in a further tightening of security following last week's leaks in the pipelines. RAMIFICATIONS
* Putin said he expected sanctions pressure on the Russian economy to intensify, in televised remarks from a meeting with government officials. * The Kremlin denied reports that 700,000 Russians have fled the country since Moscow announced a mobilisation drive to call up hundreds of thousands to fight in Ukraine.
* U.S. intelligence agencies believe parts of the Ukrainian government authorised a car bomb attack near Moscow in August that killed Darya Dugina, the daughter of a prominent Russian nationalist, the New York Times reported. QUOTES
Kirill Stremousov, the Russian-installed deputy head of the annexed Kherson region: "Many say: if they were a defence minister who had allowed such a state of affairs, they could, as officers, have shot themselves." Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy: "In Zaporizhzhia, after the first rocket strike today, when people came to pick apart the rubble, Russia conducted a second rocket strike. Absolute vileness, absolute evil." (Compiled by Robert Birsel and Andrew Heavens)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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