File photo taken on March 10, 2022 shows the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. (Xinhua/Bai Xueqi)
BEIJING, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments in the Ukraine crisis:
Putin signed a decree on the partial mobilization in Russia, the Kremlin said Wednesday, which the president said in a televised address that a partial mobilization is necessary to defend Russia's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
According to the decree, the partial mobilization in the Russian Federation will begin on Wednesday.
"… To protect our motherland, its sovereignty and territorial integrity, to ensure the security of our people and people in the liberated territories, I consider it necessary to support the proposal of the defense ministry and the general staff on the conduct of partial mobilization in the Russian Federation," Putin said.
"… Citizens of the Russian Federation called up for military service by mobilization have the status of military personnel serving in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation under a contract," said the decree.
According to the president, only citizens in military reserve will be subject to prescription, and they will undergo additional training.
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Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Wednesday that the Ukrainian side continued to shell the city of Energodar and the area around the Zaporozhzhia nuclear power plant. The shelling damaged a pipe in the technical water supply system of the fifth power plant, and hit the power supply line of it.
Ukrainian firepower was suppressed by Russian artillery, he said, adding that the radiation levels at the nuclear facility remained normal.
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The Russian Defense Ministry said Monday that the country's aerospace forces, missile troops and artillery units have attacked seven command posts of the Ukrainian armed forces over the past day.
The Russian army destroyed 52 artillery detachments, as well as Ukrainian forces and military technical equipment in 134 districts, the ministry said.
In addition, Russia's aerospace forces struck Ukrainian production workshops at the Iskra military plant in the city of Zaporizhzhia, which provided services for the U.S.-made HIMARS multiple rocket launcher system.
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Ukraine's state-run nuclear energy operator Energoatom on Monday accused Russian forces of shelling the Pivdennoukrainsk nuclear power plant (NPP) in Ukraine's southern Mykolaiv region.
"At night, a missile fell 300 meters from the Pivdennoukrainsk NPP. There was a short-term power outage," Energoatom said on Telegram.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the Deputy Head of Ukraine's Presidential Office, said that three power lines were disconnected by the shelling. ■