The UN is conducting a fact-finding mission in response to requests from both Russia and Ukraine after 53 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed in an explosion at a barracks in separatist-controlled Olenivka. The warring nations have accused each other of carrying out the attack.

Ukraine’s president wants to talk directly to China’s leader, Xi Jinping, in the hope China can use its influence with Russia to bring the war to an end: “It’s a very powerful state. It’s a powerful economy. So (it) can politically, economically influence Russia. And China is [also a] permanent member of the UN security council”.

Ukraine is pulling out its 40 peacekeepers from the NATO-led mission in Kosovo, which totals 3,800 members, according to Ukraine news.

A Russian official in Ukraine has claimed Ukrainian forces are using western arms to attack the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Europe’s largest nuclear plant is now controlled by Russian forces and being used as a military base, according to Reuters.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken said Ukrainian forces are not firing against Russian forces “lest there be a terrible accident involving the nuclear plant”.

Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Governor Valentyn Reznichenko reports that Zelenodolska and Apostolivska communities were targeted by Russian artillery. In the village of Velyka Kostromka, a kindergarten and a church have been damaged. Reznichenko said there are no reported casualties.