Russians advance into city that supplies 25% of Ukraine's power production

[bluewater]

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces captured a strategic Ukrainian port and besieged another Thursday in a bid to cut the country off from the sea, as the two sides met for another round of talks aimed at stopping the fighting that has set off an exodus of over 1 million refugees.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian media reports said Russian troops had entered the southern city of Enerhodar, a major energy hub on the Dnieper River that accounts for about one-quarter of the country’s power generation. It is the site of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, the biggest in Europe.

Moscow’s advance on Ukraine’s capital has apparently stalled over the past few days, with a huge armored column north of Kyiv at a standstill, but the military has made significant gains in the south as part of an effort to sever the country’s connection to the Black and Azov seas.

The Russian military said it had control of Kherson, and local Ukrainian officials confirmed that forces have taken over local government headquarters in the Black Sea port of 280,000, making it the first major city to fall since the invasion began a week ago.

Heavy fighting continued on the outskirts of another strategic port, Mariupol, on the Azov Sea, plunging it into darkness, isolation and fear. Electricity and phone service were largely down, and homes and shops faced food and water shortages.

Without phone connections, medics did not know where to take the wounded.

Cutting Ukraine’s access to its Black Sea and Azov coast would deal a crippling blow to the country’s economy and allow Russia to build a land corridor stretching from its border, across Crimea, which has been occupied by Russia since 2014, and all the way west to Romania.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/russian-forces-seize-key-ukrainian-port-pressure-others_n_6220e3f5e4b0b533818818a5

While world attention seems focused on the heroic Ukrainian defense of its capital, the Russian invasion continues its seizure of Ukraine's vital coastline on the Black Sea.

The US and NATO need to do more to change the military balance before it's too late. The Russians seem to be surrounding the major Ukrainian cities and picking them off one by one. Something more needs to be done to support the Ukrainian reistance.

[Wicked Blue]

1. If they cut off power in Ukraine, won't they also deprive themselves?

Their own cell phones and other electric powered equipment will run out of juice. I'm sure they have generators, but those will run out of fuel at some point.

'Svoloch'es. (bastards)

[yaesu]

2. Russian forces are closing in on two key nuclear power plants in the south of Ukraine, the acting

head of Ukraine’s state-run nuclear company Energoatom, Petro Kotin, said