Zelenskyy says world narrowly avoided nuclear catastrophe; Putin to boost size of Russian

Authorities in the Zaporizhzhia region have begun to distribute potassium iodide to residents living near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, a Ukrainian official confirmed to NBC News.

The distribution of potassium iodide tablets to residents in a 50-kilometer radius of the plant began today. Regional health authorities are telling residents to save the tablets in case there is a future radiation leak.

Volodymyr Marchuk, a spokesman for the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration, told NBC News that the government would instruct people to take the tablets.

Potassium iodide can be used as a medication to treat radiation emergencies.

— Amanda Macias

The organization overseeing the export of agricultural products from Ukraine said it approved two vessels carrying grains and other crops to leave Ukrainian ports.

The vessels are carrying a total of 58,750 metric tons of grain and food products under the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

So far, the Joint Coordination Center, or JCC, has approved the departure of more than 30 ships from Ukrainian ports.

— Amanda Macias

The State Department confirmed an American citizen was killed in Ukraine due to Russia’s war.

“We can confirm the death of a U.S. citizen in Ukraine,” a State Department spokesperson told NBC News when asked about the death first reported by Newsweek. “We are in touch with the family and providing all possible consular assistance.

“Out of respect to the family during this difficult time, we have nothing further to add,” the spokesperson said, adding that the State Department offered condolences “to the families of all whose lives have been lost as a result of Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war against Ukraine.”

— Amanda Macias

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he spoke with NBC late-night talk show host Jimmy Fallon.

“We discussed options for cooperation that would bring even more world attention to the events in Ukraine. This topic needs to be continuously raised to the top, and famous people can help us with this,” Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

“Jimmy, thank you for your attention to Ukraine and our struggle for freedom. We will be glad to see you on Ukrainian land,” Zelenskyy added.

Andriy Yermak of Zelenskyy’s office shared a photo of the video call on Twitter.

“The president invited Jimmy Fallon to Ukraine,” Yermak wrote.

— Amanda Macias

Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of NBC and CNBC.

A Ukrainian official in Luhansk told reporters that Russian forces took the region’s entire grain harvest to Russia. 

Serhii Haidai, the head of the Luhansk RMA, said that Russian forces took at least 200,000 tons of grain from the region.

The Kremlin has previously denied that its troops in Ukraine have targeted agricultural products.

— Amanda Macias

The State Department reiterated that U.S. citizens should not travel to Ukraine and cited new reports that Americans will be targeted by Russian troops.

“Russian forces and their proxies are singling out U.S. citizens in Ukraine for detention, interrogation, or harassment because of their nationality,” the State Department wrote in an updated travel advisory.

“U.S. citizens have also been singled out when evacuating by land through Russia-occupied territory or to Russia or Belarus,” the advisory added.

The State Department added that U.S. citizens seeking emergency assistance should email KyivACS@state.gov.

— Amanda Macias

The British Ministry of Defense said Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu have likely “fired at least six generals for not advancing quickly enough” in capturing Ukrainian territory.

Moscow’s claim that it has ordered the war to slow in Ukraine is “deliberate misinformation,” the British ministry added.

“Russia’s offensive has stalled because of poor Russian military performance and fierce Ukrainian resistance,” the British wrote in an intelligence update posted to Twitter.

“Under Shoigu’s orders, the forces operating in Ukraine have repeatedly missed planned operational timelines.”

— Amanda Macias

U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley spoke on the phone with his British counterpart Chief of the Defense Staff Adm. Sir Tony Radakin about the war in Ukraine.

“The military leaders discussed items of mutual interest and shared assessments regarding the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine,” according to a Pentagon readout of the call.

“The United Kingdom and the United States share a long history of mutual support and cooperation, which are cornerstones of the strong alliance and special relationship,” the readout added.

Milley met with his British counterpart last month in Sydney, Australia.

— Amanda Macias

Ukraine’s state nuclear company Energoatom says one reactor at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been reconnected to the Ukrainian grid and is once again supplying the country with electricity, Reuters reported.

It comes one day after Europe’s largest nuclear power plant was disconnected from the grid for the first time in its history.

— Sam Meredith

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says the eastern European country’s SU-24 warplanes have been refitted to carry nuclear armaments.

Lukashenko said Belarus had agreed on the move with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Belarus is a close ally of Moscow and allowed its territory to be used for Russia to invade Ukraine.

“If god forbid some serious provocation against Belarus happens, our targets have been locked in. Decision-making centers. We know them,” Lukashenko told reporters, according to Belarusian state-owned news agency Belta.

“If they start making problems, Belarus may be worse off but the answer will be instantaneous,” he added.

— Sam Meredith

Ukraine’s state nuclear company Energoatom says all six reactors of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine are still disconnected from the country’s power grid, Reuters reported.

The company added there are currently no issues with the plant’s machinery or its safety systems.

— Sam Meredith

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the world narrowly escaped a radiation disaster on Thursday when Europe’s largest nuclear power plant was disconnected from Ukraine’s power grid.

Zelenskyy said it was only thanks to backup electricity kicking in that the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia power plant was able to operate safely. He said the power plant had been cut off as a result of Russian shelling causing nearby fires, allegations that the Kremlin has denied.

“The emergency protection of the power units worked — after the last working line of the plant’s power return to the Ukrainian power system was damaged by Russian shelling,” Zelenskyy said in an evening address.

He called on the international community to help force Russian forces to immediately withdraw from the power plant, warning that “every minute the Russian troops stay at the nuclear power plant is a risk of a global radiation disaster.”

— Sam Meredith

The world “is experiencing the worst food security crisis any of us have ever seen,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said.

The ongoing food crisis was triggered by Covid-19, strained supply lines, higher energy costs and rising temperatures, she said.

“In many conflicts around the world, food is intentionally blocked or destroyed and dictators use starvation as a weapon of war,” Thomas-Greenfield said in a speech at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

“We see this no more acutely than with Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Before the war, Russia and Ukraine accounted for almost a quarter of global grain exports. But now Ukraine’s once rolling wheat fields have become battlefields,” she said, slamming Moscow’s weaponization of food.

“It matters because it affects us economically. Food security is directly linked to economic growth. And it matters because food insecurity leads us to political and social instability. And that endangers us all,” she said.

— Amanda Macias

President Joe Biden called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to congratulate him on Ukraine’s Independence Day.

Biden also “expressed his admiration for the people of Ukraine, who have inspired the world as they defended their country’s sovereignty over the past six months,” according to a White House readout of the call.

The president reaffirmed U.S. commitment to support Ukraine and provided an update on additional military aid.

“The two leaders also called for Russia to return full control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to Ukraine and for International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA access to the plant,” the readout added.

— Amanda Macias

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to increase the size of the Russian military from 1.9 million to 2.04 million, an announcement on its government web portal said, as the war in Ukraine passes its six-month mark.

The order will be effective January 1 and will see a rise in combat personnel of 137,000 to 1.15 million.

Russia has steadily cast a wider net as to who it’s willing to recruit as conscripts, including prisoners, retired military personnel, older men and those with only a middle-school level education. Putin reportedly expected the invasion, which the Kremlin calls its “special military operation,” to last only a few days before taking the capital Kyiv.

Russia’s military has instead lost several generals and is estimated by U.S. intelligence to have lost around 15,000 servicemen, though Moscow has not released any recent military casualty figures itself.