Ukraine updates: UN body warns Russia on power grid strikes

• UN radical says "reasonable grounds to believe" Russian strikes connected Ukrainian powerfulness grid interruption humanitarian law
• Russian commandant claims advances successful Kursk counteroffensive
• Ukraine says it downed 42 drones and 1 rocket overnight, six radical injured successful Kupyansk

Here's the latest quality from Russia's warfare successful Ukraine connected Thursday, September 19, 2024:

09/19/2024September 19, 2024

Energy grid strikes whitethorn interruption humanitarian law, UN ngo says

Russia's airstrikes targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure apt interruption planetary law, a UN monitoring assemblage successful Ukraine said connected Thursday, with winter accelerated approaching successful the region. 

During its two-and-a-half-year full-scale invasion, Russia has fired hundreds of projectiles and drones astatine Ukrainian energy generation, transmission and organisation facilities. Russia has launched concentrated waves of attacks connected vigor infrastructure up of each winter, with monolithic strikes connected energy accumulation and transmission facilities successful October 2022. 

Ukrainian cities person often been near without power, successful utmost cases for days oregon weeks connected end, and assorted electricity-saving measures are often utilized astir the country. Emergency powerfulness procreation solutions similar diesel generators are besides communal connected metropolis streets. 

Diesel generators are communal sights and invaluable assets, peculiarly connected the precocious streets of towns and cities, successful this lawsuit Odesa, for businesses similar restaurants oregon shopsImage: Nina Liashonok/Avalon/Photoshot/picture alliance

The UN's Human Rights Monitoring Mission successful Ukraine (HRMMU) focused its study connected 9 waves of attacks betwixt March and August this year. 

"There are tenable grounds to judge that aggregate aspects of the subject run to harm oregon destruct Ukraine's civilian energy and heat-producing and transmission infrastructure person violated foundational principles of planetary humanitarian law," it said. 

HRMMU said it had visited 7 powerfulness plants either damaged oregon destroyed by attacks, arsenic good arsenic 28 affected communities. 

Ukraine has called the targeting of its powerfulness grid a warfare crime, and the International Criminal Court has issued apprehension warrants for 4 Russian officials and subject officers connected to the bombing of civilian powerfulness infrastructure. 

Russia, meanwhile, argues that powerfulness infrastructure is simply a morganatic subject people and has dismissed the charges against its officials. 

The HRMMU said the attacks did not conscionable hazard compromising energy supply, but could person knock-on effects for h2o supply, sewage and sanitation, heating and blistery h2o provision, nationalist health, acquisition and the wider economy. 

Even cities similar Lviv, astir arsenic acold westbound and arsenic acold from Russia arsenic it is imaginable to get wrong Ukraine, person been taking portion successful power-saving drivesImage: Anastasiia Smolienko/Avalon/Photoshot/picture alliance

The study cited experts arsenic saying that Ukrainians should expect emblematic powerfulness outages of betwixt 4 and 18 hours per time this winter. 

Ukraine's nationalist grid operator, Ukrenergo, reported a impermanent overnight power chopped successful the northeastern Sumy portion aboriginal connected Thursday pursuing a Russian onslaught connected vigor infrastructure.  

09/19/2024September 19, 2024

Russian commandant claims advances successful Kursk region

Russian forces person retaken 2 villages adjacent the borderline to Ukraine successful Russia's Kursk region, a Russian commandant has said.

Ukraine launched a astonishment incursion into the confederate portion of the occidental Russian region, which lies connected the borderline to bluish Ukraine, connected August 6, gaining a meaningful sliver of territory. 

Russia precocious launched a counteroffensive, trying to propulsion backmost into the country Ukraine took power of from the occidental side, moving east.

Major General Apti Alaudinov, the commandant of Chechnya's Akhmat peculiar forces and deputy head of the Russian Defense Ministry's military-political department, said Russian troops had retaken Niolayevo-Dar'ino and Dar'ino, a brace of neighboring villages connected the Ukrainian border.

"Our full beforehand has moved forward," Alaudinov said.

His assertion would besides suggest that Russian forces had safely crossed the tiny stream lying conscionable to the westbound of those settlements.

Although Russia's sluggish effect to the Kursk incursion raised eyebrows and prompted disapproval astatine home, it started sending forces into the occupied territory this monthImage: Russian Defense Ministry/AP/picture alliance

The beforehand would supply Russia with a amended level to effort to propulsion further east, archetypal towards the municipality of Sverdlikovo, which Ukrainian forces person been utilizing arsenic a logistical center, and past perchance connected toward the larger colony of Sudzha.

A Ukrainian subject spokesperson had told the AFP quality bureau a time earlier that the Russian counteroffensive successful Kursk had been "stopped." Another official, however, aboriginal said that it was excessively aboriginal to marque this assertion and that Russian attempts to beforehand were inactive ongoing. 

09/19/2024September 19, 2024

Ukraine says 42 drones downed overnight, 1 of 4 missiles intercepted

Ukraine's aerial unit said aboriginal connected Thursday that it had changeable down each 42 drones and 1 of 4 missiles launched by Russia during overnight attacks.

It said that aerial defenses were activated successful 9 regions crossed the country.

The determination politician of the Kharkiv Oblast, Oleh Syniehubov, said that six radical were wounded successful a Russian onslaught connected the eastbound municipality of Kupyansk, adjacent to the beforehand lines.

He said connected Telegram that civilian infrastructure, a schoolhouse and a kindergarten, and 10 flat buildings were damaged successful the metropolis of Kharkiv. 

Serhiy Lysak, the politician of the cardinal Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, said that the aerial unit had changeable down 1 rocket implicit that territory and that cipher was hurt. 

Ihor Taburets, politician of the Cherkasy region, reported harm to an acquisition installation there.

msh/sms (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)