MOSCOW (Dispatches) - Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Friday that its forces had destroyed a U.S.-made M777 howitzer which it said Ukraine had used to shell the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
In its daily briefing, the Defense Ministry said that the howitzer had been destroyed west of the town of Marganets, in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, was captured by Russian forces in March. It remains near the frontline, and has repeatedly come under fire in recent weeks. Both Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of shelling the facility.
The power plant remains near the frontline and has repeatedly come under fire in recent weeks. Russia and Moscow blame each other for attacking the plant.
It was disconnected from the Ukrainian grid for the first time in its history on Thursday after a fire caused by shelling damaged a power line.
The plant, which is now operating, used to generate more than 20 percent of Ukraine’s electricity supply before the conflict broke out after Russia launched its “special military operation” in late February.
On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to increase the size of the country’s armed forces by 137,000, representing a 10-percent increase in troop numbers.
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.
On Wednesday, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said that the Russian army defeated the 18th battalion of the 35th marine brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces while its members tried to covertly cross the Ingulets River in the Kherson region. More than 80 Ukrainian soldiers were killed and six cars destroyed, he said.
According to Konashenkov, Russian forces destroyed seven Ukrainian command posts, 47 artillery units at firing positions, and 212 personnel and equipment concentration areas over the past day.
Russian air defense systems shot down seven drones and intercepted two Ukrainian multiple launch rocket systems shells, he added.