UN nuclear inspection team ‘on its way’ to Zaporizhzhia plant; Ukrainian forces begin counter-offensive to retake Kherson

Finnish mobile phone companies Ericsson and Nokia will wind down their business activities in Russia by the end of this year, representatives from the companies said.

“By the end of the year, the vast majority of our employees in Russia will have moved on from Nokia, and we have vacated all of our offices,” a spokesperson for Nokia said. “We will retain a formal presence in the country until the legal closure is completed.”

Ericsson announced in April that it was indefinitely suspending its operations in the country following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while Nokia said it would leave the country entirely.

Ericsson had about 400 employees in Russia and put them on paid leave earlier in the year, and reported a $95 million loss as a result of halting its activities there. It said it would provide financial help to its employees hit by the departure. Nokia had about 2,000 employees in Russia, and says its remaining presence in the country is related to critical maintenance work and fulfilling contractual obligations.

The Finnish firms are among hundreds of Western and other foreign companies that have left Russia since it invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

— Natasha Turak

Ukrainian troops are beginning their long-awaited counter-offensive to recapture the southern region of Kherson from Russian forces, Ukraine’s military command has announced.

“Today we started offensive actions in various directions, including in the Kherson region,” the spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern command, Natalia Humenyuk, was quoted as saying by local media.

Ukraine’s strikes on some of Russia’s vital supply routes and bridges in the south, as well as several ammunition depots, had “unquestionably weakened the enemy,” she added, without further elaborating on the details of the counter-offensive.

Kherson is highly strategic for Russia, as it provides a land bridge to the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014. Ukrainian and U.S. officials have warned that Moscow is planning a “sham” referendum to justify annexing Kherson. The Kremlin denies this, saying it will simply be following the will of the people.

Sporadic acts of resistance by Ukrainians have been reported in Kherson since its occupation, including several protests in the first months of the war.

— Natasha Turak

The United Nations has confirmed 5,663 civilian deaths and 8,055 injuries in Ukraine since Russia invaded its ex-Soviet neighbor on Feb. 24.

The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said the death toll in Ukraine is likely higher, because the armed conflict can delay fatality reports.

The international organization said most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, as well as missiles and airstrikes.

— Amanda Macias

Several towns in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region came under fire from Russian forces overnight, Ukraine’s military said, resulting in civilian deaths. Russian shelling hit civilian and military infrastructure around the towns of Bakhmut, Kodema, Shumy, Zaytsevo and Yakovlyvka, Reuters reported, citing the military.

The attacks killed eight civilians in the battered Donetsk province, its governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said. Moscow says it does not target civilians.

Russia as of July occupied roughly half of Donetsk and the whole of Luhansk province, putting it in majority control of the long-fought-over Donbas province, which the Kremlin calls an “unconditional priority.”

— Natasha Turak

Ukraine could be seeing its coldest winter in decades over the coming months, the head of its state gas company Naftogaz said, as centralized heating infrastructure will turn on later in the season and be turned off earlier than normal.

Temperatures indoors will be kept about four degrees lower than in previous years, Naftogaz chief Yuriy Vitrenko said, at between 62 and 64 degrees Fahrenheit (between 17 and 18 degrees Celsius) as the country grapples with shortages of power — and revenue to pay for that power — due to the Russian invasion, now in its seventh month.

Vitrenko said that people should make sure to have a supply of warm clothing and blankets. Average winter temperatures in Ukraine can fall below 14 degrees Fahrenheit (-10 Celsius).

Ukraine’s centralized heating figures also depend on the financial aid they receive from allies to be able to import sufficient gas supplies, as well as whether Russian forces harm vital gas and power infrastructure.

— Natasha Turak

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has lost some of his authority as commanders are starting to report directly to President Vladimir Putin instead, Britain’s Ministry of Defense wrote in its daily intelligence update on Twitter, citing independent Russian media reports.

“Recent independent Russian media reports have claimed that due to the problems Russia is facing in its war against Ukraine, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu is now being side-lined within the Russian leadership, with operational commanders briefing President Putin directly on the course of the war,” the ministry wrote.

It added that “Shoigu has likely long struggled to overcome his reputation as lacking substantive military experience, as he spent most of his career in the construction sector and the Ministry of Emergency Situations.”

— Natasha Turak

A team from the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog is at last on its way to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe, after months of fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces around the facility and amid growing fear of a potential nuclear catastrophe.

“The day has come, the IAEA’s support and assistance mission to Zaporizhzhia (ISAMZ) is now on its way,” the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, said via Twitter.

“We must protect the safety and security of Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest nuclear facility. Proud to lead this mission which will be in ZNPP later this week.”

The mission will inspect physical damage to the plant and evaluate its safety and security, assess the conditions of the staff there and carry out urgent safety protocols, the agency said.

— Natasha Turak