Russia-Ukraine War News LIVE updates: Ukrainian forces shelled Zaporizhzhia plant, says Russia

Shelling hit a high-voltage power line on Friday at a Ukrainian nuclear power plant captured by Russia, but Ukrainian authorities said the plant still worked and no radioactive leak had been detected. Ukraine's state nuclear power firm Energoatom blamed Russian shelling for the damage at the Zaporizhzhia power station, Europe's largest. Earlier, the Russian-installed administration of the occupied Ukrainian city of Enerhodar said Ukrainian shells struck the lines. International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi had said on Wednesday that the plant, occupied by Russian forces since early in Moscow's invasion, is "completely out of control" and that "every principle of nuclear safety has been violated". "If an accident occurs , we will not have a natural disaster to blame ," he said. The Interfax news agency cited the city administration as saying fire had broken out on the plant's premises, and that power necessary for the safe functioning of reactors had been cut off.

Three grain ships left Ukrainian ports on Friday while the first inbound cargo vessel since Russia's invasion was due in Ukraine later in the day to load, as Kyiv called for the safe passage deal to be extended to other cargoes such as metals. "We expect that the security guarantees of our partners from the U.N. and Turkey will continue to work, and food exports from our ports will become stable and predictable for all market participants," Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Facebook after the ships set off. "This agreement is about logistics, about the movement of vessels through the Black Sea," Ukrainian Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kachka told Financial Times. "What's the difference between grain and iron ore?"

Three ships loaded with grain under a recently concluded deal have left Ukrainian ports, the Turkish defenсe ministry and Reuters witnesses said on Friday. Read more

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken joined the foreign ministers of Russia and China at a meeting Friday with top diplomats from Southeast Asia at a time when the global powers are riven by tensions. The East Asia Summit of the ongoing Association of Southeast Asian Nations meetings in Cambodia's capital was the first time the three men were scheduled to take part in the same forum. It came a day after WNBA star Brittney Griner was convicted of drug possession and sentenced to nine years in prison by Russia in a politically charged case amid antagonisms over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine has called for the deal that relaxes Russia's blockade of its Black Sea grain exports to be extended to include other products, such as metals, the Financial Times reported on Friday. "This agreement is about logistics, about the movement of vessels through the Black Sea," Ukraine's Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kachka told FT. "What's the difference between grain and iron ore?"

Ending the war in Ukraine and starting a new one in Syria are expected to dominate talks on Friday between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan will be riding high from the diplomatic success of helping orchestrate the resumption of Ukrainian grain shipments across the Black Sea when he visits Sochi for his second talks with Putin in just over two weeks. Read more