Russian administration

Day 560 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

The head of the pro-Russian administration of the Zaporizhzhia region, Yevhen Balytskyi, said today that it is possible that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant will be shut down.
The reason, he says, is the constant shelling of the Ukrainian army.

A Russian administration official was killed in Kherson, Ukraine.
The leaders of the European Union granted Ukraine and Moldova the announced status of official candidates for joining the European bloc, which is a brave geopolitical step that Kyiv and the EU itself welcomed as a "historic moment".

Republican senator Rand Paul was accused by John McCain on Wednesday of being pro-Russian after he blocked the passage of a treaty in the US Senate that would allow Montenegro to move forward towards NATO membership. 

Economic sanctions imposed by the Kremlin after Ankara shot down a Russian warplane last year have begun to take their toll on Turkey's economy, with the country's set to lost upwards of $8.3 billion in 2016After Turkey shot down a Russian war plane along the Syrian border on Nov. 24, 2015, the Russian administration decided on a series of economic sanctions against Turkey.

Turkey is set to fully finance the construction of Crimea?s largest mosque, Crimea?s grand mufti said Sept. 28.

Crimea Autonomous Republic Grand Mufti Emir Ali Ablayev said the Russian administration had approved the project, which they had been trying to implement for 10 years ? before the time Crimea joined Russia.

The head of Renaissance (Rönesans) Holding, the biggest Turkish contracting firm in Russia, Dr. Erman Ilıcak, who I happened to meet during the Saint Petersburg Economic Forum last May, is very happy nowadays. He, indeed, has reason to be.

The Russian tourists would prefer to go on vacation in Sochi and Crimea, rather than in the Bulgarian sea resorts, shows an analysis of the Green Life real estate company.

Russia will not pull out of the four-party talks on the Ukraine crisis scheduled for Thursday in Geneva, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed.