German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock paid an unannounced visit to Kyiv, where she arrived on Saturday morning.

This is his second visit to Ukraine since the Russian invasion.

Baerbock said his presence in the country was intended to show “that we will continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes – with the delivery of arms, as well as humanitarian and financial support.”

Baerbock said his visit was to counter potential war fatigue in Germany.

“It is clear to me that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is counting on the fact that we are tired of sympathizing with the suffering in Ukraine,” she said. “He believes he can divide our societies with lies and blackmail them with energy supplies. And that he can drain us of the energy needed to defend ourselves against this brutal attack on all our values.”

But Putin’s calculation was wrong, she said. “Because all of Europe knows that Ukraine defends our peaceful order.”

Baerbock took a special night train to Kyiv from Poland on Saturday evening, accompanied by a small delegation.

She plans to meet Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, among others, although her exact schedule has been kept secret for security reasons.

Baerbock last visited Ukraine in May – a visit that included a trip to Bucha, where Russian soldiers are believed to have committed massacres of civilians and war crimes.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Kviy two days ago, where he pledged more than $2 billion (2 billion euros) in additional military aid to Ukraine and its neighbors .

Here’s a look at some of the other big stories about Russia’s war in Ukraine on September 10.

Moscow admits losses

In a rare acknowledgment of losses on the Russian frontline, a Moscow-based regional official said Friday that territory previously held by Russia in the east had changed hands after a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

“The enemy is delayed as much as possible, but several settlements have already come under the control of Ukrainian armed formations,” Vitaly Ganchev, head of the Russian-backed administration in the Kharkiv region, told TV. State.

This was confirmed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said his troops had taken over more than 30 towns and villages in the Kharkiv region of eastern Ukraine. He added that the fighting in the eastern Donbass region and in the south continued unabated.

Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces were conducting active engagements in several areas. “They’re doing it successfully,” he said in a video address Friday.

Russia-backed administration says it is trying to evacuate civilians

Vitaly Ganchev said his administration was trying to evacuate civilians from towns including Izium.

Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to President Zelenskyy, said in a YouTube video that the Russian defenders in Izium were almost isolated.

Videos released by Ukraine showed troops well inside territory that was previously held by Russia, including the city of Kupiansk, previously more than 50 kilometers (31 miles) inside the Russian front line.

Western military experts say the development could signal a turnaround and essentially mean the disruption of Russian supply lines to the east.

“We’re seeing success in Kherson now, we’re seeing some success in Kharkiv and so that’s very, very encouraging,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in Prague.

Meanwhile, Russia said reinforcements were on their way to Kharkiv.

Ukraine investigates war crimes allegations

Ukrainian officials have exhumed two bodies in the village of Grakove as part of an investigation into possible war crimes committed by Russian troops, according to the AFP news agency.

The exhumation in the Kharkiv region was carried out by Ukrainian officials and regional police in the presence of journalists.

A village resident, Sergiy Lutsay, told reporters he was forced to bury the two bodies by Russian soldiers near the start of the Russian invasion in February. He added that the unidentified victims appeared to be in their 30s.

The prosecutor’s office will pursue the case after the autopsies.

The situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is becoming unstable

The situation at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is becoming increasingly critical as renewed shelling near the facility caused a power outage seriously compromising its safety, Ukraine’s atomic watchdog said on Friday. UN.

Reports indicate that Russian troops controlling the Zaporizhzhia station killed two employees of the facility

“The shelling caused a complete blackout in Energodar (city) and compromised the safe operation of the nearby Zaporizhzhia power plant,” International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Magnified.

“It’s totally unacceptable. It can’t last,” he added.

Meanwhile, reports from Europe’s largest nuclear power plant indicate that Russian troops controlling the plant have killed two staff at the Zaporizhzhia facility and detained and abused dozens of others.

“Two people were beaten to death. We don’t know where about 10 people are now, they were taken away (by the Russians) and after that we have no information about their fate.” Petro Kotin, the head of Ukraine’s nuclear energy agency said on Friday.

He added that around 200 people had been arrested.

“Russians are looking for pro-Ukrainians and persecuting them. People are psychologically broken,” he said.

A 14-member mission sent by the IAEA last week in its report called for “the immediate establishment of a nuclear security safety and protection zone ‘around the plant as it faces a situation’ untenable”.

ss/aw (Reuters, AFP, dpa)