Ukraine-Russia war latest: Macron warns strong action needed if Putin continues to ‘buy time and refuse peace’ – UK Times

Restarting the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant — currently occupied by Russia — would be unsafe and extremely difficult under wartime conditions, according to Ukraine’s nuclear energy chief, Petro Kotin.

He warned that restarting even one reactor during the war is “impossible” due to a lack of cooling water, personnel, and power.

If Ukraine regains control, it could take two months to two years to safely bring the plant back online after full demilitarisation and safety checks, the chief executive of Energoatom said, according to The Guardian.

Russia has said it intends to restart the plant when conditions allow, but experts have raised serious safety concerns, especially given the degraded infrastructure, risk of mines, and untrained staff.

In February this year, Alexey Likhachev, head of Russian nuclear operator Rosatom, said it would be restarted when “military and political conditions allow”.

Days after a Russian ballistic missile killed 20 people in Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky’s home town, French president Emmanuel Macron called for “strong action” if Russia continued to “refuse peace”.

He wrote on X on Sunday: “My thoughts are with the children and all civilian victims of the bloody attacks carried out by Russia, including on 4 April in Kryvyi Rih.

“A ceasefire is needed as soon as possible. And strong action if Russia continues to try to buy time and refuse peace.”

Mr Macron said that although Ukraine accepted US president Donald Trump’s proposal for a full ceasefire, and European nations were also working to broker peace, “Russia is continuing the war with renewed intensity, with no regard for civilians”.

A Russian court in Vladivostok has slightly reduced the prison sentence of US soldier Gordon Black, who was jailed last year for stealing $113 (10,000 rubles) from his girlfriend and threatening to kill her, Russian state news agencies reported on Monday.

According to RIA and TASS, which cited court proceedings, the court lowered Mr Black’s sentence from three years and nine months to three years and two months.

When she heard her front door open almost two years ago, Kostiantyn Zinovkin’s mother thought her son had returned home because he forgot something. Instead, men in balaclavas burst into the apartment in Melitopol, a southern Ukrainian city occupied by Russian forces.

They said Zinovkin was detained for a minor infraction and would be released soon. They used his key to enter, said his wife, Liusiena, and searched the flat so thoroughly that they tore it apart “into molecules.”

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Sir Alex Younger said people in the UK must realise that the threat from Russia – and its closeness to the US – is real, adding: “Putin and Trump together have done their best to persuade us that the rules have changed.”

Polish and allied aircraft were activated early on Sunday morning to ensure the safety of Polish airspace after Russia launched air strikes targeting western Ukraine, the Operational Command of the Polish armed forces said.

“The steps taken are aimed at ensuring security in the regions bordering the areas at risk,” the Command said on X.

All of Ukraine was under air raid alerts as of 2am GMT today after the Ukrainian Air Force warned of Russian missile attacks.

The Bobryk school was forced to move to the basement due to endless alarms. Teachers had to divide the classes into two shifts and also hold lessons on Saturdays.