Amid ongoing tensions, the Moscow-appointed governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, Yevgeny Balitsky, on Tuesday, claimed that the entire area had plunged into darkness after Ukrainian shelling. According to reports, the attacks had destroyed key high-voltage equipment in the northwestern part of the Zaporizhzhia region, Reuters reported.

According to Balitsky, there is a complete blackout in the region. Meanwhile, Russia’s TASS news agency reported that the nuclear power plant, located within Zaporizhzhia, however, remained unaffected and is operating as before under Russia’s control. The claim comes at a time when tensions continue to escalate between the two countries. Ukrainian special forces continue to carry out simultaneous strikes in Russian-held territory to weaken the rival country’s grip.

As reported by TASS, the power outages after the Ukrainian drone assault have impacted at least 100,000 residents of the Kherson region. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took to X to share the news that the two sides have agreed to swap prisoners, ” After the conclusion of the Bucharest Nine and Nordic countries summit, I spoke with journalists and shared some details of today’s negotiations with the Russians in Istanbul: an unconditional ceasefire, the exchange of prisoners, the return of children, and, importantly, the return, not exchange, of civilians. Then comes a leaders-level meeting.”

He further stated, “As for a meeting of the leaders, the Russians believe that this can be worked on by the end of this month or early next month. As for the ceasefire, they basically don’t see it happening yet. According to the Russians, they’re ready for a 2–3 day ceasefire just to collect their dead from the battlefield. I think — idiots, because the whole point of a ceasefire is to stop people from becoming dead in the first place. So, you see the mindset. For them, it’s just a short pause in the war.”