Deadly Strikes in Ukraine, Nuclear Plant Update, and Syria Return Flight

A girl holds her doll in the central square in Kherson, Ukraine. (file)

More civilians have been killed and injured in Ukraine over the past three days, with most casualties reported in the Kherson, Sumy, Donetsk, and Kharkiv regions, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told journalists in New York on Thursday.

Substations, power plants, and oil depots were damaged in Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, and Donetsk, temporarily cutting off electricity for hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in those areas.

“As colder weather sets in, strikes on critical infrastructure are deepening humanitarian needs,” warned Mr Dujarric. “Despite growing challenges, we, along with our humanitarian partners, continue to support the response.”

In the first half of this year, UN partners provided essential care to nearly one million people, while food and livelihood programmes supported more than 1.1 million displaced and vulnerable families across the country.

Following intensive consultations with the Russian Federation, a process has begun to restore external electricity to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director Rafael Mariano Grossi announced on Thursday.

On 23 September, the ZNPP lost connection to the national grid for the 10th time since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Both sides blamed the outage on military activity.

Since then, the ZNPP has been forced to rely on emergency diesel generators to power its cooling pumps, further complicating an already precarious nuclear safety situation.

Mr Grossi said he had been engaging both sides in discussions to enable the plant to regain off-site power for cooling its six shutdown reactors and spent fuel.

“While it will still take some time before the grid connection is restored, both sides have engaged constructively to achieve this important objective for the sake of nuclear safety and security,” he stated. “No one stands to gain from further deterioration.”

The IAEA team on site confirmed that there has been no temperature increase in the reactors’ coolant or spent fuel pools.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has facilitated the voluntary return of 152 vulnerable Syrians from Libya to Damascus.

“IOM is expanding its operations and services in Syria with the primary goal of supporting the country’s recovery after years of conflict and ensuring dignified and sustainable returns of Syrians, whether displaced internally or returning from abroad,” said Othman Belbeisi, Director of IOM’s Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa.

Marking the first Voluntary Humanitarian Return (VHR) flight to Syria organized by IOM in 2025, the Tripoli–Damascus flight was arranged at the request of Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and supported families who had lived in Libya for over a decade.

Since 2015, IOM Libya has assisted over 105,000 migrants to return safely to their countries of origin.

“This flight is a testament to IOM’s ongoing commitment to voluntary, safe, dignified, and sustainable returns for the most vulnerable Syrian migrants,” said Eleonora Servino, the agency’s Acting Chief of Mission in Syria.

In July, IOM received approval from Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to re-establish its presence in Damascus and expand operations nationwide.

Active in northwest Syria since 2014, IOM continues to provide life-saving assistance and support programmes, including displacement tracking, protection, mental health and psychosocial support, shelter, and relief aid.