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The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency announced on Friday that negotiations were underway plans with Moscow and Kyiv to reconnect off-site power to the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, calling it a “question of political determination”. The biggest in Europe atomic energy station has been disconnected from external power since late September, with the reactor cores being maintained by backup power systems. IAEA chief, Rafael Grossi, stated: “Each party claim readiness to carry out the essential fixes on their respective sides of the battle line. But for this to happen, the security situation on the ground must improve so that the technicians can perform their vital work without risking their lives and safety.”

French War Photographer Killed in Moscow’s Drone Attack in Eastern Ukraine

French photojournalist Antoni Lallican has been killed by a Russian drone attack in eastern Ukraine on Friday. The 37-year-old award-winning photographer was working with Ukraine’s Fourth Armoured Brigade near the frontline in the eastern Ukraine when killed, officials in Kyiv said. Local reporter Georgiy Ivanchenko was injured in the identical incident. “The two media professionals were wearing safety gear, and their protective armor had identification marks with the word ‘PRESS’ on them,” the military unit noted on social media.

Union Leader Condemns Attacks on Journalists

The leader of the Ukrainian Union of Journalists, Serhiy Tomilenko, told Ukrainian media that Lallican had been slain near the town of Druzhkivka, one of the most active areas of the extensive eastern battlefront. “By targeting reporters, the Russian army is intentionally hunting those seeking to record war crimes,” Tomilenko said. “For journalists, every mission to the frontline zone is a deadly risk. Antoni Lallican took this peril again and again, coming to Ukraine, travelling to Donbas, recording what some ignore.”

France’s leader, Emmanuel Macron, expressed “profound sorrow” for Lallican’s passing, saying on X he was “the victim of an attack by Russian drones”.

Global journalist groups condemned Lallican’s demise in what it termed a “war crime”. Kyiv’s top diplomat, Andriy Sybiga, asserted Russia “continues to deliberately target media personnel”, labeling it “a heinous crime and breach of global norms”.

Moscow Launches Largest Assault on Ukraine’s Gas Network

Russia has carried out its most extensive offensive on Ukraine’s gas network since Moscow first invaded in 2022, Kyiv’s state-owned gas operator Naftogaz reported on Friday. “Due to of this assault, a large part of our installations have been damaged. Some of the destruction is severe,” the company head, Sergiy Koretsky, declared. About 35 missiles and 60 drones were fired at its facilities in the eastern Ukraine and central Ukraine, Naftogaz added. “A number were intercepted. Sadly, not all,” it said. This led to electricity outages in several regions, Ukraine’s energy ministry said.

Massive Livestock Losses in Drone Attack

Roughly thousands of swine were lost in the northeastern part of Ukraine overnight on Friday after a Russian drone attack caused a fire on a farm, the national rescue agency announced, adding that a worker at the site was also injured. Photos shared by the agency showed pig carcasses stacked in tight enclosures that were partly burned down, some with their coverings collapsed. The animals were held in multiple pens covering just over a large area, all of which burned down in the fire, the emergency service explained.

Ukraine Severs Relations with Nicaragua

Ukraine has severed official relations with the Central American country in response to it recognising occupied Ukrainian territory as Russian, Ukraine’s diplomatic office declared. The nation was one of only five UN countries to oppose condemning Moscow’s aggression of Ukraine in the previous year. In a letter to Vladimir Putin in July, the leader of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, described the invasion as a “valiant fight against Western-supported Ukrainian neo-nazism”. The Ukrainian foreign ministry stated it viewed Nicaragua’s move “an effort to undermine the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine”. The country does not have significant trade ties with Nicaragua or an embassy in the country.