Russia's war on Ukraine latest news: UN warns of disaster as nuclear plant shelled

Russia said that shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant risked unleashing a grave nuclear accident and repeated accusations, denied by Kyiv, that Ukrainian forces were to blame. FIGHTING * Russian forces are pounding Ukrainian positions with artillery fire and in the eastern region alone launched almost 400 strikes on Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address. * Around 60 Russian soldiers were killed in a long-range Ukrainian artillery attack this week, Kyiv said on Saturday, the second time in four days that Ukraine claimed to have inflicted major casualties in a single incident.

Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is under Russian control, was rocked by shelling on Sunday, drawing condemnation from the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog who said such attacks risked a major nuclear disaster. Moscow and Kyiv both blamed the other for the shelling of the facility. NUCLEAR PLANT

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged NATO members to guarantee the protection of Ukraine's nuclear plants from Russian sabotage, a day after the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia plant was rocked by heavy shelling. Russia said that shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant risked unleashing a grave nuclear accident and repeated accusations, denied by Kyiv, that Ukrainian forces were to blame.

FIGHTING * Russian forces are pounding Ukrainian positions with artillery fire and in the eastern region alone launched almost 400 strikes on Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address.

* Around 60 Russian soldiers were killed in a long-range Ukrainian artillery attack this week, Kyiv said on Saturday, the second time in four days that Ukraine claimed to have inflicted major casualties in a single incident. The Russian defence ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment. * Reuters could not immediately verify the battlefield reports.

DIPLOMACY, WAR AIMS * Russia's leading war hawks rallied behind the humiliating decision for Moscow's forces to retreat from the Ukrainian city of Kherson this month, but the commander who argued in favour of the move is now under growing pressure to prove it was worth it.

* President Volodymyr Zelenskiy marked Ukraine's annual Day of Dignity and Freedom by celebrating the sacrifices made by Ukrainian people since Russia's invasion and saying his country would endure and prevail. * Italy's government will ask parliament to approve a new law on military and civilian supplies to Ukraine throughout 2023, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said in an interview.

* The Kremlin said it was not discussing calling up more Russian soldiers to fight in Ukraine through a second round of mobilisation. The Kremlin said it would bring to justice those responsible for the alleged execution of Russian prisoners of war in Ukraine, and that it would do everything possible to draw attention to what it has called a war crime. (Compiled by Shri Navaratnam and Alex Richardson)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)