The situation in Ukraine gets heated as Russian troops retreat and Macron calls Putin

On September 11, five eastern regions of Ukraine were left without electricity. Partial or total blackouts occurred in Kharkiv, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy and Odessa regions. The authorities of the regions confirmed blackouts and power outages, TASS reports.

The US State Department accused Russia of intentionally shelling power lines. The Russian Defence Ministry in turn reported that Russian Aerospace Forces, rocket troops and artillery carried out tasks to destroy units and reserves of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) in the Kharkiv region.

On September 12, Alexander Malkevich, a member of the Civic Chamber said that the Russian troops launched missile counterattacks on Ukrainian thermal power plants in central and eastern regions of the country. According to him, the shelling came in response to the actions of the Ukrainian side, which, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, attacked energy infrastructure in the territory of the Donetsk People's Republic and Russia-controlled areas.

On September 11, the last operating power unit of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was shut down. The procedure was carried out in a safe mode. The station will not operate until its shelling stops. The head of the Enerhodar administration, Alexander Volga, said that electricity was being supplied to Enerhodar by reverse from the city of Melitopol. IAEA employees still remain at the station.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, Europe's largest nuclear power plant, supplied electricity to almost the entire south-east of Ukraine, including Dnepropetrovsk and Krivoy Rog, where the country's largest enterprises are located.

Hostilities intensified in the Kharkiv region late last week. The Russian troops retreated to preserve personnel to regroup in the Izyum region, the Russian Defense Ministry reported. Pantsir air defense systems and heavy flamethrower systems TOS-1A Solntsepek are being deployed to the combat zone, the ministry said.

The Ukrainian army attempted to launch an offensive on Liman in the Donetsk People's Republic but was stopped, Denis Pushilin, the head of the DPR said. According to war correspondent Yevgeny Poddubny, the Russian troops set up a trap for the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the crossing over the Seversky Donets River. Nothing threatens the Kherson region: defence lines have been built along the perimeter of the region, Kirill Stremousov, a representative of the regional administration said.

On September 12, Roman Starovoit, the Governor of the Kursk region of Russia, reported that the border village of Tetkino was shelled. No one was injured, but eight houses were damaged. In addition, three Russian soldiers were injured during a drone attack on military positions near the border village of Zernovo in the Bryansk region of Russia.

On September 11, French President Emmanuel Macron called Russian President Vladimir Putin. Macron urged Putin to stop the special operation and sit down at the negotiating table with the Ukrainian authorities. The Kremlin website says that the Russian president asked his counterpart to address the situation with the shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and also discussed food security issues.

Earlier, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that negotiations with Russia were impossible, as he "does not want to talk to people who put forward ultimatums." The last talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations took place in Istanbul on March 29.