Ukrainian forces liberated more than 30 settlements in the Kharkiv region during the counteroffensive against Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on September 9, reports Radio Free Europe.
In a video address, he also said that forces are successfully continuing operations in several areas.
Ukraine's advance in the Kharkiv region was "very sharp and fast," and Ukrainian forces recaptured numerous settlements, Russian official in this part of Ukraine Vitaly Ganchev said, as reported by Reuters.
"The enemy has slowed down as much as possible, but several settlements have already come under the control of Ukrainian armed formations," said Ganchev, head of the Russian-backed administration in the Kharkiv region.
He stated this in the daily stream of state television host Vladimir Solovyov.
Director of the International Nuclear Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi said that the conditions at the Ukrainian nuclear power plant Zaporozhye are becoming less and less safe and that a safety zone should be established immediately around the plant to prevent a nuclear disaster.
Grossi said in a written statement that reliable power lines to the plant are unlikely to be restored and that the Ukrainians are considering shutting down the only remaining operating reactor.
"This is an unsustainable situation and it is becoming increasingly unsafe. The power plant has no external electricity. When the infrastructure is repaired, it will be damaged again. This is completely unacceptable," Grossi said.
Grossi called for an "immediate cessation of shelling in the entire area."
"It is the only way to ensure that there is no nuclear catastrophe," the IAEA director added.
Ukraine would like to receive an additional 50 to 80 multi-barrel missile systems from foreign partners, Mihailo Podolyak, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said, according to Reuters.
The Russian invasion caused direct damage to Ukraine by June 1 of more than 97 billion US dollars, and the rebuilding of the country could amount to close to 350 billion dollars, according to a report by the World Bank (WB), the Ukrainian Government and the European Commission (EC).
The report states that Ukraine suffered $252 billion in losses due to disruptions in economic flows and production, as well as additional costs associated with the war, reports Hina.
It is expected that the displacement of a third of the total population of Ukraine will increase the poverty rate from the pre-war two percent to 21 percent.
The report estimates that as of June 1, Ukraine's reconstruction needs reached $349 billion.
Of that amount, $105 billion is needed in the short term to address urgent priorities, such as rebuilding thousands of damaged or destroyed schools and more than 500 hospitals. It is also necessary to prepare for the coming, possibly harsh winter, by repairing homes and restoring heating, and by purchasing gas.
The report said all sums were preliminary and likely to rise as the war continued.
"The invasion will leave consequences for generations - displacing and separating families, disrupting progress, destroying cultural heritage and reversing a positive economic trajectory," the report concluded.
The center of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, was hit by Russian rocket fire, injuring ten people, including three children, governor Oleg Sinegubov wrote on Telegram, Reuters reports.
The rockets hit the children's art center and school, as well as private houses, Mayor Igor Terehov wrote on Telegram.
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the country's forces destroyed the American HIMARS missile launcher in the Kharkiv region in eastern Ukraine.
In a statement on Telegram, the Ministry also added that it had destroyed an American-made M777 howitzer in the Zaporozhye region, in southeastern Ukraine.
Reuters said it could not immediately verify these reports.
A hospital in the northeastern Ukrainian region of Sumy was hit in a Russian airstrike.
The governor of the region, reports Reuters, said that a building was destroyed in the attack and that it is feared that there are victims.
Official Dmytro Zivicki said the hospital is located in the Velika Pisarovka district, which borders Russia. Moscow denies targeting civilians.
Reuters could not immediately verify the reports.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the agreement on the unblocking of Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea is being fulfilled "poorly" and that its extension will depend on how it is implemented, Reuters reports, RIA writes.
On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the deal, which was brokered by Turkey in July, had "deceived" Russia and the developing world.
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