• 

The Ukrainian armed forces have launched an artillery strike on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and the suburbs of Enerhodar using long-range weapons given to Kiev by western countries, the Enerhodar administration's press service told Sputnik on Saturday.

"Artillery strikes were recorded on the territory of the Zaporizhzhia NPP. According to the provided data, Kiev used Western long-range weapons, and the shelling was conducted from the opposite side of the Dnipro river," the city administration's spokesperson said.

"The munitions exploded in the immediate vicinity of one of the administrative buildings of the station. The NPP's critical facilities were not damaged," he added.

The data on injured employees at the NPP is being clarified, the spokesperson concluded.

A high-voltage line of the Kakhovskaya substation of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (NPP) has been damaged as a result of shelling by the Ukrainian armed formations, Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the regional military-civil administration previously said.

Furthermore, he underlined that "the station specialists have been instructed to move to safe premises. At present, no contamination is being registered at the station. The radiation background is normal," after at least three shells were identified in ​​the storage of radioactive isotopes area.

"[Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky's terrorists continue shelling the Zaporizhzhia NPP. A high-voltage line of the Kakhovskaya substation has been damaged. The line has been grounded to carry out restoration work," Rogov said. 

Rogov also underlined that the Zaporozhye NPP is operating normally after the Ukrainian armed forces shelled it yet again.

Just last week, the Ukrainian armed forces struck the city of Enerhodar and the Zaporozhye NPP, which the Russian military has had under its control since March.

The city's thermal power station was also struck by Ukrainian troops. Drone attacks by Ukrainian forces have regularly targeted the facility, leading Russia to request help from the IAEA to address security issues.

"The nuclear power plant itself was not damaged and is operating normally. The air defense of the Russian army once again protected the site from the nuclear threat, which is being constantly provoked by Ukrainian nationalists," he added.

Rogov said days earlier that the nuclear power plant could be mothballed if Ukrainian troops continue to shell its territory and infrastructure.

Attempt on life of Mariupol mayor

An assassination attempt on Mariupol Mayor Konstantin Ivashchenko has taken place at the entrance to the city zoo, with the territory cordoned off by the law enforcement forces, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Saturday. 

The local sources said that earlier in the day, while the mayor's car was proceeding near the zoo, the detonation of an explosive device was heard, adding that nobody was injured or killed. 

An explosive ordnance disposal team of the Donetsk People's Republic's (DPR) internal ministry is operating at the accident scene.

The DPR's law enforcement forces are identifying the persons involved in the detonation of the explosive device near the zoo, the republic's internal ministry said.

"Law enforcement officers are establishing the circumstances of the explosion... identifying individuals involved in the detonation of the explosive device in the central part of Mariupol," the ministry's public relations center said on its official Telegram channel. 

It has been established that the explosive device was improvised and contained submunitions, it added.