Ukraine says it has killed Zaporizhzhia NPP security chief

Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (GUR) has claimed responsibility for the killing of the head of security at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, branding him a “war criminal” and a “collaborator” with Russia.

The GUR posted a video on its Telegram channel showing a SUV exploding and hours later, the Russian Investigative Committee confirmed that Andrei Korotkiy was killed in Enerhodar, where the nuclear plant is located.

The GUR claimed that Korotkiy, a Ukrainian national, “voluntarily collaborated” with Moscow after it seized control of the nuclear facility in the early weeks of the war.

The agency alleged he had passed on personal data of the facility’s workers to Russian forces, highlighting those with a “pro-Ukrainian position”, as well as organising events which supported the “occupation”.

“The Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence reminds people that every war criminal will be fairly punished,” the GUR said in a post on Telegram.

But Zaporizhzhia authorities quickly condemned the killing and vowed those responsible for Korotkiy’s would be punished.

“This is a horrific, inhumane act,” said the facility’s director, Yuri Chernichuk.

“An attack on employees ensuring the safety of the nuclear facility is a reckless, outrageous step.”

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, located in southern Ukraine, is the largest in Europe and prior to the 2022 Russian invasion, supplied Ukraine with around 30% of its electricity.

Meanwhile, at least three people – including a six-year-old girl – have been killed when the Russian military hit a car carrying liquefied natural gas in the northern village of Hirsk.

Village head Andrii Apryshko said the strike caused the gas cylinders to explode causing a fire which spread to a nearby house.

“They dropped a shell later when we were already putting out the fire here. And there were three more drones, I think. They did not let us put out the fire,” he said.

Local officials said one man had a leg blown off in the blast while one other suffered shrapnel wounds and burns.

Pokrovsk strikes

And in eastern Ukraine, residents of Pokrovsk have begun patching up their homes after overnight Russian strikes caused extensive damage and injured four people.

According to the regional police, the Russian military dropped six bombs on the city damaging a multi-story building, three houses and a shop.

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Around 80% of the city’s infrastructure was wiped out as a result of the assault, according to international media reports.

In July, Russia made a renewed effort to seize Pokrovsk, prompting authorities in the city to urge residents, particularly the elderly and families with children, to evacuate.

The city’s military administration said that as of 4 October, around 13,000 people remain in Pokrovsk, down from its pre-war population of around 60,000.

And in Sumy, near the border with Russia, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenksyy met soldiers recovering in hospital, handing out state awards.

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“Thank you for defending our country,” he said.

Sumy lies some 32 kilometres from Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops have been deployed since 6 August in a bid to divert the Kremlin’s military focus away from the front line in Ukraine.

Zelenskyy’s visit to Sumy comes a day after he met new NATO chief Mark Rutte in Kyiv where he repeated his appeal for faster deliveries of Western weapons to the battlefield.