22 December 2024,   06:53
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183rd day of war - list of key events

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station was temporarily taken off the Ukrainian power grid. The plant in eastern Ukraine is under Russian occupation and was disconnected from the national power supply for several hours before a last remaining line supplying electricity that cools the reactors was reconnected.

Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to increase the size of Russia’s armed forces from 1.9 million to 2.04 million, Reuters has cited the Russian state-owned news agency Ria as saying. The figure, which includes a 137,000 increase in the number of military personnel to 1.15 million, will come into effect on 1 January.

The death toll from Russia’s rocket strike on a Ukrainian train station has risen to 25 people. Russian forces attacked a train in the village of Chaplyne, Dnipropetrovsk oblast on Wednesday. Four trains caught fire and the deputy head of the president’s office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, reported that 2 children were killed in the attack. Russia has since confirmed it was behind the attack.

Russia’s defence ministry confirmed its forces struck the railway station, prompting condemnation from the US and the EU. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said the attack “fits a pattern of atrocities” while the EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, said those responsible would be held to account.

The mayor of the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, has said a building allegedly used by Russian-backed officials in the region has been “blown up”. Fedorov, who is not in the city, posted a video showing damage to the building, which he said was being used to plan a “pseudo-referendum” by Russia-backed authorities on whether the region should join Russia.

The head of the Kyiv regional military administration said Russia launched a rocket attack on the region’s Vyshgorod district. Oleksiy Kuleba said there were so far no casualties or damage to residential buildings or infrastructure facilities. Ukraine’s armed forces said “several” explosions were heard at about 3am.

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