Rafael Grossi says ‘security situation’ around plant must improve for repairs to be carried out; French photojournalist Antoni Lallican killed by Russian drone strike. What we know on day 1,319

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The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog said on Friday he was discussing proposals with Russia and Ukraine to restore off-site power to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant , calling it a “question of political will”. Europe’s largest nuclear power plant has been cut off from external power since 23 September, with the fuel in its reactors being cooled by emergency diesel generators. The International Atomic Energy Agency director general, Rafael Grossi, said: “Both sides say they stand ready to conduct the necessary repairs on their respective sides of the frontline. But for this to happen, the security situation on the ground must improve so that the technicians can carry out their vital work without endangering their lives.”

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 embedded with Ukraine’s Fourth Armoured Brigade near the frontline in the Donbas region when killed, Ukrainian authorities said. Ukrainian journalist Georgiy Ivanchenko was wounded in the same attack. “Both journalists were wearing personal protective equipment, and their bulletproof vests had identification marks with the word ‘PRESS’ on them,” the Fourth Armoured Brigade said on Facebook.

The head of the Ukrainian Union of Journalists, Serhiy Tomilenko, told Ukrainian media that Lallican had been killed near the town of Druzhkivka, one of the most active sectors of the 1,250km Donbas frontline. “By targeting journalists, the Russian army is deliberately hunting those trying to document war crimes,” Tomilenko said. “For journalists, every trip to the frontline zone is a deadly risk. Antoni Lallican took this risk again and again, coming to Ukraine, travelling to Donbas, documenting what many prefer not to see.”

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, expressed “deep sadness” for Lallican’s death, saying on X he was “the victim of an attack by Russian drones”. The European and International Federations of Journalists condemned Lallican’s death in what it termed a “war crime”. The Ukrainian foreign minister, Andriy Sybiga, said Russia “continues to deliberately target journalists”, calling it “a heinous crime and violation of international humanitarian law”.

Russia has carried out its largest attack on Ukraine’s gas network since Moscow first invaded in 2022, Kyiv’s state-owned gas operator Naftogaz said on Friday. “As a result of this attack, a significant portion of our facilities have been damaged. Some of the damage is critical,” the Naftogaz chair, Sergiy Koretsky, said. About 35 missiles and 60 drones were fired at its facilities in the north-eastern Kharkiv region and central Poltava region, Naftogaz added. “Some were successfully shot down. Unfortunately, not all,” it said. There were power cuts in several regions, Ukraine’s energy ministry said.

Approximately 13,000 pigs were killed in Ukraine’s north-east overnight on Friday after a Russian drone attack caused a fire on a farm, the state emergency service said , adding that a worker at the farm was also injured. Photos released by the service showed pig carcasses piled up in cramped sheds that were partly burned down, some with their roofs shattered. The pigs were held in eight stalls spanning just over 13,000 sq metres, all of which burned down in the fire, the emergency service added.

Ukraine has severed diplomatic ties with Nicaragua in response to it recognising occupied Ukrainian territory as Russian, Kyiv’s foreign ministry said. Nicaragua was one of only five UN countries to vote against condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In a letter to Vladimir Putin in July, the Nicaraguan president, Daniel Ortega, described the invasion as a “heroic battle against Nato-backed Ukrainian neo-nazism”. The Ukrainian foreign ministry said it considered Nicaragua’s move “an attempt to undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine”. Ukraine does not have significant trade ties with Nicaragua or an embassy in the country.