Kyiv Post Daily Thread – The Latest News From and About Ukraine on March 9

The European Union's top diplomat said Thursday that the Russian strikes in Ukraine, which caused the disconnection of the Zaporizhzhia plant from the grid, was a "serious breach" of nuclear safety.

"This is a serious breach to the nuclear safety, caused by Russia," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters during a meeting the EU's development ministers in Stockholm, adding that the plant's temporary need to use diesel generators to cool the plant for several hours before power was restored had "significantly" increased the risk of a nuclear accident.

Ukraine's national energy provider said Thursday it had restored power to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which was disconnected earlier during a wave of Russian strikes across the country.

"Ukrenergo specialists have restored energy supplies to the Zaporizhzhіa nuclear power plant, which was interrupted by today's missile strikes," the company said in a statement on social media.

A Ukrainian mother has identified the POW killed in a shocking execution video as her son, Olexander Matsievsky.

In an interview with Suspilne media, Paraska Matsievsky confirmed his body had already been returned to the family and buried in his native Nizhyn, in the Chernihiv region, but the circumstance of his death had been a mystery until earlier this week.

Read the full story here.

Russia has claimed the overnight wave of strikes against Ukraine had come in response to a border incursion earlier this month.

"In response to the March 2 terrorist actions organised by the Kyiv regime in the Bryansk region, Russia's Armed Forces dealt a massive retaliatory strike," the defence ministry said in a statement.

The "incursion" Russia refers to was rubbished by Ukrainian officials as a Kremlin provocation manufactured to stoke Russian public hostility towards Ukraine.

You can read more about the incident here.

Poland on Thursday said it had delivered to Ukraine the additional 10 Leopard 2A4 tanks it had promised, while allies would send theirs shortly.

"We're talking about a battalion of heavy tanks, which in the case of Poland's share have already been delivered, and in the case of our allies, they will be delivered to Ukraine very soon," Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak told reporters.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who visited Ukraine for the third time since the beginning of full-scale Russian aggression.

 Welcoming António Guterres, the Head of State emphasized that Ukraine was now at the forefront of a real war for the principles underlying international law.

 “Right now, it is Ukraine that is defending the goals and principles of the UN Charter. Hence, it is now and in Ukraine that the future of the UN and the global role of the United Nations are being decided,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized speaking to the media after talks with the UN Secretary-General in Kyiv.

The death toll after yet another Russian missile attack hit cities across Ukraine overnight, has risen to six.

Ukraine's commander in chief Valery Zaluzhny said in a statement that 81 missiles had been fired by Russia, 34 of which were shot down.

Read the full report here. 

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday lashed out at Russia after the largest barrage of missiles across Ukraine in weeks, hitting at least ten regions out of 27 across the country.

"The enemy fired 81 missiles in an attempt to intimidate Ukrainians again, returning to their miserable tactics. The occupiers can only terrorize civilians," Zelensky said in a statement online listing regions across Ukraine hit by the strikes.

Ukraine said Thursday its air defence shot down nearly three dozen missiles fired by Russia at targets across the country, in Moscow's latest barrage targeting critical infrastructure.

"Last night, the enemy launched a massive missile attack on the critical infrastructure of Ukraine. It launched 81 missiles from different bases. Ukraine destroyed 34 cruise missiles," the Ukraine's commander in chief Valery Zaluzhny said in a statement on social media.

Ukraine's second-largest city Kharkiv was left without power, water or heating on Thursday after Russia launched more than 80 cruise missiles at energy facilities across the country.

"There is no electricity in the whole city. We have switched to generators at critical infrastructure. Electric-powered transport is not working. There is no heating and water supply, due to the lack of voltage in the electricity network," Kharkiv mayor Igor Terekhov said on local television.