Facts about Russia-Ukraine conflict: Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant reconnected to grid

BEIJING, Aug. 27 — The following are the latest developments in the Ukraine crisis:
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (NPP) in southern Ukraine has been reconnected to the electricity grid, Ukraine’s state-run nuclear energy operator Energoatom said on Friday.
The plant has already started generating electricity for Ukraine’s needs after one of its units shut down on Thursday was reconnected to the power supply system, Energoatom said on Telegram.
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The Russian Defense Ministry said Friday that the Zaporizhzhia NPP had been shelled twice by Ukrainian forces with large-calibre artillery over the past day.
Four munitions exploded following the shelling in the area of the nuclear power plant’s oxygen-nitrogen unit, and another one in the area of the special building No. 1, the ministry said.
After identifying the position from which the Ukrainian armed forces shelled the power plant west of the Margarets settlement in the Dnepropetrovsk region, Russian forces used precision-guided ammunition to destroy a U.S.-made M777 howitzer at the site.
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Deputy head of the Kherson region Kirill Stremousov said Friday that air defence systems were able to repel a large missile attack from Ukrainian forces on the Kherson region, Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency reported.
“There was a lot of shelling. Almost everything was shot down by air defences. A massive missile attack was repelled. There was no damage,” Stremousov said.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Thursday to increase the size of the country’s armed forces by 137,000.
The amount of military staff will be increased to 1,150,628 from 1,013,628 as was stipulated in a presidential decree signed in November 2017.
The new order will enter into force on Jan. 1, 2023.  (Xinhua)