Russian forces battered the Ukrainian capital in a single day with a barrage of air strikes. Ukrainian forces mentioned it was the biggest drone assault on Kyiv because the begin of the warfare.

Volodymyr Zelensky's troops, nonetheless, mentioned they managed to down 52 out of the 54 drones lounged by Russia.

Ukraine's Air Force mentioned Russia focused army infrastructure services in central Ukraine and within the capital's area.

The assault got here as Ukraine's army intelligence has claimed, with out providing proof, that Russia is plotting a “large-scale provocation” at a nuclear energy plant it occupies within the southeast of the nation with the purpose of disrupting a looming Ukrainian counteroffensive.

An announcement launched Friday by the intelligence directorate of Ukraine's Defence Ministry claimed that Russian forces would strike the Zaporizhzhia nuclear energy plant, the most important in Europe, after which report a radioactive leak so as to set off a global probe that will pause the hostilities and provides the Russian forces the respite they should regroup forward of the counteroffensive.

In order to make that occur, Russia “disrupted the rotation of personnel of the permanent monitoring mission” of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency that was scheduled for Saturday, the assertion mentioned. It did not supply proof to again up any of the claims.

The IAEA mentioned in an emailed response to the AP that it didn't have any quick touch upon the allegations, and Russian officers didn't instantly touch upon the Ukrainian claims.

The White House mentioned it's watching the scenario intently and has seen no indication that radioactive materials has been leaked.

The declare mirrors related statements Moscow frequently makes, alleging with out proof that Kyiv is plotting provocations involving varied harmful weapons or substances so as to then accuse Russia of warfare crimes.

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It comes as Moscow’s army in Ukraine braces for a looming counteroffensive by Kyiv’s forces, which hasn’t began but however may start “tomorrow, the day after tomorrow or in every week, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, Oleksiy Danilov, instructed the BBC in an interview Saturday.

The Zaporizhzhia energy plant is likely one of the 10 largest nuclear crops on the earth. It is positioned within the partially occupied Zaporizhzhia area in southeastern Ukraine. The plant's six reactors have been shut down for months, nevertheless it nonetheless wants energy and certified employees to function essential cooling methods and different security options.

Fighting close to it repeatedly disrupted energy provides and has fueled fears of a possible disaster just like the one at Chernobyl, in northern Ukraine, the place a reactor exploded in 1986 and spewed lethal radiation, contaminating an enormous space on the earth’s worst nuclear catastrophe.