Volodymyr Zelensky fears that the Russians will blow up the Zaporizhzhia plant: "Even if they handed it over - he said - we are sure they would do it with mines, so that later they would have the possibility to blow it up remotely. This is very dangerous,” the Ukrainian president said.

Meanwhile, about a hundred employees of the plant who collaborate with the Russians have left the occupied city of Enerhodar, Mayor Dmytro Orlov announced on Ukrainske Radio. The mayor says that there are currently about 5,000-6,000 employees of the nuclear power plant in the city of Enerhodar who are held hostage by the Russian army and adds that the occupation authorities do not allow them to leave the city, while they cannot work because their passes are blocked if they do not sign a contract with Rosatom.

Meanwhile, Kiev continues to claim successes in its counter-offensive. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar reports that Ukrainian forces have liberated a total of more than 37 square kilometers in the east and south of the country in one week: «In the last week, following the improvement of the operational (tactical) position and the alignment of the front line, the liberated area was increased by 9 square km to the east. To the south the liberated territories increased by 28.4 square km. In total, the cleared area in the south is 158.4 square km.

(Unioneonline/L)