Europe

NIKOPOL, Ukraine (AP) — The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in the middle of the fighting in Ukraine was temporarily cut off from the electrical grid Thursday because of fire damage, causing a blackout in the region and heightening fears of a catastrophe in a country haunted by the Chernobyl disaster.

NOVO-OGARYOVO, August 24. /TASS/: Fires in the five-kilometer zone from populated areas in the Ryazan Region are of particular concern, it is necessary to eliminate the hotbeds as quickly as possible, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday at a meeting on combating forest fires in the country's regions.

"In the Ryazan region, unfortunately, due to strong winds, fires continue to spread, and their hotbeds in several areas are within five kilometers from populated areas. This is of particular concern," the head of state stressed.

BELGRADE, August 24. /TASS/: Serbia’s Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin has asked US Ambassador to Belgrade Christopher Hill to abide by about the rules of decency and avoid treating Serbs like Indians on a reservation. Serbia’s Interior Ministry released Vulin's statement on Wednesday.

NOVO-OGARYOVO, August 24. /TASS/: The total area charred by wildfires in Russia is nearly two-thirds less than last year’s expanse, but the situation is still difficult, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, Aug 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Russian-installed head of the Ukrainian town of Mykhailivka in the Russian-controlled part of Zaporizhzhia region was killed in a car bomb on Tuesday, an official in the region’s Russian-backed administration said.

Writing on Telegram, Zaporizhzhia region administration member Vladimir Rogov said that Mykhailivka head Ivan Sushko had been critically injured when a bomb placed under his car exploded, and died shortly afterward in hospital.

Mykhailivka has a population of 11,000.

Aug 24 (Reuters) - Russia has launched missiles at a railroad station in Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told a Ukraine-focused meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday.

"This is our life every day. This is how Russia got prepared for this U.N. session," Zelenskiy said over video link. There were deaths and injuries in the missile strikes, Zelenskiy said, warning that the death toll could rise.

Aug 24 (Reuters) - Jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny said on Wednesday that prison authorities had transferred him to a punishment cell for the second time this month at the facility where he is being held on charges he says are trumped up.

Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's most vocal critic inside Russia, is serving an 11-1/2 year sentence after being found guilty of parole violations and fraud and contempt of court charges. He says all charges against him were fabricated as a pretext to smother dissent and thwart his political ambitions.

KYIV, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Ukraine's top military intelligence official said on Wednesday that Russia's military offensive was slowing because of moral and physical fatigue in their ranks and Moscow's "exhausted" resource base.

The remark on television by Defence Intelligence agency chief Kyrylo Budanov was one of the strongest signals by Kyiv that it believes Russia's offensive power may be waning.

ATHENS, Aug 24 (Reuters) - A Greek parliamentary committee approved on Wednesday the appointment of diplomat Themistoklis Demiris to head the country's intelligence service (EYP) after his predecessor's sacking over a wiretapping scandal.

Demiris, 70, a secretary general at Greece's foreign ministry, has served as ambassador to Italy, Cyprus and the European Union.

His appointment was cleared by the parliament's 19-member institutions and transparency committee after a closed-door hearing, the parliament's president said in a statement.

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Cabinet approved legislation Wednesday that ensures basic protective measures against the coronavirus pandemic are continued during the fall and winter when more virus cases are expected.

The presentation of the rules — which also include the new obligation to wear N95-type face masks during all long-distance travel by train and bus as well as on planes — coincided with the publication of photos showing the chancellor and German Economy Minister Robert Habeck flying to Canada earlier this week without wearing masks.