Day 609: Russia launches drone strike at Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant

Russian drone attacks overnight damage buildings at the site of the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant, knock out electricity to more than a thousand people. Russian forces are destroying Avdiyivka. They might raze the city to the ground in several weeks. A Ukrainian is among the world’s ten best teachers.

Russian drone attacks overnight damage buildings at site of Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant, knock out electricity to more than a thousand people

Russian drone attacks overnight struck near the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant near Netishyn, western Ukraine. The strikes damaged nearby buildings and knocked out electricity to more than a thousand people in the cities of Netishyn and Slavuta, Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said.

As a result of the explosion, windows in administrative and laboratory buildings at the site have been damaged. Some 1,860 people in the cities of Slavuta and Netishyn experienced power outages after power lines were damaged, the ministry said in a statement.

“Electricity generated by Ukrainian power plants is enough to meet the demand of the country. Repair works will start as soon as energy workers could access the damaged sites,” the government said.

It marked the fourth day in a row that Russian forces had targeted Khmelnytskyi region. Ukraine’s Air Force said all 11 Shahed drones that Russia launched at Ukraine overnight were intercepted. 

Falling debris from an intercepted drone fell at the site of a critical infrastructure facility in Shepetivka district, local authorities said. According to Ukraine’s Interior Ministry, the drone strikes damaged 20 buildings, educational facilities, a shop, and an administrative building in Slavuta, and fire stations and a police station in both Slavuta and Netishyn. Officials said 20 people were wounded in the attacks.

Russian forces are destroying Avdiyivka

Russian forces are destroying Avdiyivka, in Donetsk region. If they maintain the same intensity of attacks, they will raze the city to the ground in two-three weeks, head of the Avdiyivka city military administration, Vitaliy Barabash told Ukrainian public radio. 

Since October 10, dozens of apartment buildings have been fully destroyed, Barabash said. Some have been hit by several missiles, others by guided bombs, he added.

“The city is being destroyed not in a matter of days, but in a matter of hours. Seeing the damages, it is clear that if they maintain the same intensity of attacks, Avdiyivka will turn into Maryinka in two-three weeks. Everything will be razed to the ground, that’s for sure,” he said.

Barabash added that 1,599 civilians remain in Avdiyivka. They survive thanks to humanitarian supplies that are delivered to the city, he said.

On Tuesday, October 24, the evacuation was interrupted due to unrelenting attacks, Barabash said. He urged the residents to leave “regardless of everything, because life is the main value.” 

“I hope we will be able to take out the people who have signed up for evacuation. But we will watch the security situation,” he added.

Ukrainian is among world’s ten best teachers

A Ukrainian participant is among the ten finalists for the Global Teacher Prize, often referred to as the Nobel Prize for teaching. A Ukrainian makes it to the top ten for the first time.

Arthur Proydakov, a teacher of the Ukrainian language and literature and the winner of the Global Teacher Prize Ukraine 2021, is among the top-ten outstanding teachers, the Global Teacher Prize web page said.

Proydakov said that his achievement is illustrative of Ukrainian teachers and educators who maintain high-quality performance even during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

“It is very hard to believe and realize that. Ten people on the Earth, 10 educators. And me, a Ukrainian teacher, is one of them. It inspires and motivates me,” Proydakov said.

Proydakov is from the town of Kadiyivka, in Luhansk region, which is occupied by Russia.

He lived there until November 2014, and then moved to work in a public school in Romny, in Sumy region, and later in the MIDGARD school in Kyiv.

After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Arthur Proydakov organized Ukrainian language classes for internally displaced persons, and held distance learning classes.

He also developed distance learning classes and now serves as the executive director at the MriyDiy educational foundation. 

“We have been developing the Global Teacher Prize movement in Ukraine for seven years, and during this time our teachers were on the top 50 a lot of times. But being on the top 10 is for star-level teachers who represent the educational avant-garde,” Zoya Lytvyn, founder of the Global Teacher Prize Ukraine said.

“These are the people [world’s ten best teachers] who will talk with the world leaders, take part in high-profile educational events, influence education globally and be a role model for hundreds of thousands of teachers across the world,” she added.